VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift fans were up before the sun in Vancouver to snag some coveted shirts, bags and sweaters to mark her record-breaking Eras Tour.
A line of hundreds of fans snaked around Vancouver's downtown pier Wednesday waiting for the first major in-person sale of official Swift merchandise ahead of three concerts in the city this week.
Armed with camping chairs, toques and coffee, and trading friendship bracelets that have become synonymous with Swift's tour, fans spent hours in the foggy morning chatting and waiting for the sale to start at 10 a.m.
Sadie Hotte and her mother Laura were the first to arrive at 4 a.m., and with no one else around they initially thought they were in the wrong place, but other early risers soon arrived and they settled in for the wait.
Hotte said they have tickets for Swift's Saturday show, but want to get merchandise early so that they don't have to worry about it on concert night.
She's among those hoping to buy the much sought after blue crewneck sweater, which is only available at Swift's tour stops, and felt that arriving early was her best shot at beating out resellers who buy as much as possible just to sell items online at an inflated cost.
“It’s just people who come and they’ll buy the (entire) box and sell them for a lot more than they’re priced here," she said.
"So, it gets hard to get those more popular items if you’re not one of the first 50 people in.”
Eras Tour crewnecks are advertised as costing $95. A search of the online marketplace eBay shows the oversized blue sweater on sale for nearly $400.
By 8 a.m. people standing in line were allowed inside the cruise ship terminal to wait where it was warmer.
Fans Alexandra Boucher-Carter and Nicole Shisko, who have tickets for Friday's show, arrived just before the move.
Both said they were prepared to wait in the cold but were grateful for the indoor space.
They acknowledged they likely weren't early enough to get some of the more popular items, but had contingency plans, and hoped that a limit would be imposed on how much each person in line could buy.
"We're getting stuff for other people as well. So, we've had it in our minds (that) we might not be able to buy too many things," Boucher-Carter said.
"But I don't know, I'm not too concerned about the resellers. If they buy all the blue crewnecks, you know, they're jerks."
Even before getting a chance to shop, Hotte said her early-morning hours in line were worth it.
"Talking to people with similar interests, and just kind of walking around and trading bracelets and things. It's been really fun," she said.
Organizers of the sale say products are restocked daily and sales will be open every day until Sunday.
Swift has concerts in Vancouver on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the last shows of her Eras Tour.
Tourism organization Destination Vancouver has said Swift will bring an estimated $157 million to the city over the weekend, including $97 million in direct spending on items such as accommodation, food and transport.
An estimated 160,000 ticket holders will be at the sold-out Vancouver shows, ending a tour that became the first to take in more than $1 billion in revenue, according to music trade publication Pollstar.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.
Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
