Vietnamese fans buy up Blackpink merch before Hanoi show

The market for Blackpink-related merchandise has been booming after K-pop sensations announced their July 29-30 tour dates in Vietnam.

The shows will take place at My Dinh National Stadium in the capital.

T-shirts and lightsticks have been the hottest sellers as Vietnamese fans prepare for the concerts.

Blackpink’s management company YG released the lightstick shaped like a pink hammer for concert goers. An authentic Blackpink lightstick has an average price of 60,000 won ($46). It glows and changes colors to the melody of the song when connected to Bluetooth during performances.

A standard Blackpink lightstick. Photo courtesy of YG Entertainment

To prepare for the Blackpink concerts in Hanoi, Vietnam’s dancesport queen Khanh Thi bought five lightsticks for VND950,000 ($40) a piece.

She said she bought her two kids lightsticks because they’re both Blackpink fans. Now she just has to wait for tickets to go on sale Friday.

Minh Hoa, a 25-year-old nurse in Hanoi, said she ordered the lightstick three days ago from an online shop.

"A million VND for a lightstick is not too expensive compared to my income. In addition, it’s a memory with my favorite artist so I’m willing to spend money for it," Hoa said.

Hoang My, a 20-year-old student in Hanoi, browsed several different shops until she found a Blackpink T-shirt at the best price possible.

"I will spend money on concert ticket and T-shirt. For the lightstick, I’ll make one myself. I’m planning to buy a toy hammer and stick two pink hearts on it," My said.

Mrs Ao Dai 2018 Phi Thi Thuy Linh is also a Blackpink fan and bought one of the group’s lightsticks for 60,000 during a trip to South Korea in April. Linh already attended a Blackpink performance in Singapore in May, and she plans to go to one of the concerts in Hanoi.

Mrs Ao Dai 2018 Phi Thi Thuy Linh holds her lightstick before a Blackpink concert in Singapore in May 2023. Photo courtesy of Phi Thi Thuy Linh

To meet the demands of local fans, many online shops have ordered lightsticks and T-shirts from South Korea. In Vietnam, lightsticks are now going for anywhere from VND900,000 to 1.3 million, while a T-shirt typically costs around VND750,000 or more.

Hanoi shop owner Tran Viet has been receiving Blackpink merch orders for more than a week now. He sells the lightstick and the T-shirt for the same price: VND950,000, shipping included.

"All products are authentic and bought in South Korea. After ordering, customers will get the products after 3-4 days," Viet said.

On e-commerce sites, many shops sell Blackpink lightsticks made in China for VND300,000.

Hanh Linh, an accountant in Hanoi, said she bought the knockoff version of the lightstick to take photos.

"It can only glow, but can’t connect to Bluetooth and change the colors like the authentic version," Linh said.

The Born Pink world tour merchandise T-shirt. Photo courtesy of YG Entertainment

According to Allkpop, Blackpink’s current "Born Pink" world tour started late last year and has grossed $163.8 million so far, making it the highest-grossing girl group tour ever, breaking the previous Spice Girls’ record ($78.2 million).

Blackpink was formed in 2016 with four members Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rose. After seven years, the group has achieved international success with numerous hits like "Ddu-Du Ddu-du," "Kill This Love" and "Pink Venom." Their YouTube channel is the most-viewed on the platform with 30.399 billion views. Outside of music, four members of the group are also global ambassadors for famous fashion brands.