Naver searches for the drugstore chain jumped to more than twice their usual level on 1 November. The reason is a one-week sale the chain calls Black Friday, separate from its four regular sales. Here is what it is, and how the tax refund works if you are visiting.
Written by the Kverything editors from the sources below. Photograph by Xuedi Liu on Unsplash. Last checked November 3, 2026.
올리브영 is CJ’s health-and-beauty chain: a green sign on most busy streets, shelves of the Korean brands you have seen on your feed, testers you are allowed to use. On Sunday 1 November, Naver searches for it rose to more than double a normal day and were still high on Monday.
The cause is on the calendar. From 1 to 7 November the chain runs what it calls Olive Young Black Friday: coupons, a special price each day, a week-long set of deals, and a limited box of full-size products sold in small numbers.
The chain already holds a regular sale four times a year, in March, June, September and December. November’s is a separate event, and this year it lands in the same week as the big online sales: Gmarket’s runs 2 to 13 November, Coupang’s members’ week 2 to 8, 11st’s 1 to 11.
So the first week of November has become a shopping week in Korea the way late November is elsewhere. Olive Young is the part of it that happens on foot, in a shop, with testers, which is why it travels better than the online deals do.
The discounts are by product, so open the app or ask at the till rather than trusting a headline figure. Daily specials change at midnight.
If you are visiting, bring the physical passport. The instant tax refund at the till needs it, and it applies from 15,000 won per receipt; the per-purchase and per-stay caps are on the customs page below.
Four words on the label carry most of the information: 수분 hydration, 진정 calming, 미백 brightening, 저자극 low-irritation.
Any store with the green sign does the refund. The Myeongdong flagship near Myeongdong station on line 4 has the most staff who speak English, Japanese and Chinese, and the longest queue.
Instant tax refund, please. Here is my passport.