Three women did Fukubukuro shopping to celebrate the new year at a Coach store. They ended up with at least $1,250 worth of Coach bags, yet they paid only $500, something that shocked many viewers on TikTok who had never heard of the custom before.
@macyandmaliaunfil, a TikTok content creator posting from Hawaii, posted her and her friends’ Coach Fukubukuro haul on Jan. 2nd, garnering more than 3 million views in the span of a few days. In it, she showed off a few high-value items she and her friends got for extraordinarily low prices—a mere $500 for each person’s bag despite some of the items costing more than $600 individually.
But not every Coach store offers Fukubukuro shopping. In fact, many U.S shoppers have never even heard the term before. So, how did I end up with thousands of dollars of Coach merchandise in each woman’s Fukubukuro surprise gift bag?
What is Fukubukuro shopping?
In @macyandmaliaunfil’s video, she stated that if you don’t know what Fukubukuro is, you can “look it up.”
Many commenters assumed based on the video that it was a Hawaiian custom, but that’s not actually the case. It’s technically a custom in Hawaii and in Japan, prominently seen during the New Year period.
In Japan and Hawaii on New Year’s Day, many stores offer surprise bags with multiple items, oftentimes at a discounted price. These bags traditionally have surplus items that retail stores may want to sell going into the New Year, or general items that the store normally offers all year.
These purchases always have surprise items that shoppers do not get to see until they open the contents. They are generally not returnable, and therefore, those who purchase them “get what they get.”
In Japan, these gifts range from electronics to luxury clothes. A variety of stores participate in the New Year’s event, with customers buying in so they can “get lucky.” Contrary to some commenters’ claims, Fukubukuro isn’t always associated with luxury brands, as some bags only cost the equivalent of $30–$50 USD.
Why is this not an event at stores in the U.S?
Traditionally, stores in the U.S. don’t have Fukubukuro customs. They therefore do not participate in the activity.
That means, if a customer wants to engage in Fukubukuro shopping during the New Year, they’d have to go to an area like Hawaii or Japan that actively engages in the tradition.
@macyandmaliaunfil ♬ original sound – macyandmaliaunfiltered
How was the girls’ ‘haul’?
Ultimately, many commenters thought that the girls in the video had an inordinately positive haul, receiving three to five incredibly expensive items per bag.
As one commenter described, “That first denim chain Coach tabby was almost $600 by itself, ask me how I know!” There was also an olive Lana Bag that retails for $495 included in one of the bags. TikTokers have even dumpster dived looking for the bags due to their high value, making them a competitive commodity.
With that in mind, some commenters thought the women in the video were “disrespecting” the Coach bags by throwing them around in their TikTok clip. Others said they didn’t seem as “excited” as they should be, considering the impressive haul they received.
“Why is yall throwing these bags around… I’ll take whatever y’all don’t want,” said one commenter. Other commenters noticed this behavior as well and thought the women didn’t like many of the items they received.
But there was only one item that each of the women seemed to dislike. According to the video, a backpack opened in the second Fukubukuro package was “ugly,” which many commenters disagreed with. Some offered suggestions on how to improve the bag, but the women weren’t necessarily interested in it.
Later on, one of the girls from the video stated they would do a giveaway for the backpack, considering none of them cared for the item, as described in the comments section.
We’ve reached out to Coach via email and @macyandmaliaunfil via TikTok direct message for comment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
