Singles Day in the US: what goes on sale on November 11 and where

When is Singles Day in 2026

Singles Day, also called Double 11 or 11.11, is on Wednesday, Nov 11, 2026. The date never moves, because the four ones in 11/11 are the point of the holiday. In the US the same day is Veterans Day, a federal holiday, so many US stores run their own sales that week.

The sale itself is rarely one day long. AliExpress ran its 2025 11.11 sale from Nov 11 to Nov 19. A Slickdeals sale calendar and a Russian shopper calendar both list Nov 11 to 19 for 2026, with a warm-up from Nov 8 to 10, but AliExpress had not published official 2026 dates at the time of checking (Oct 18, 2026).

Where Singles Day came from and how big it is

The day began as a joke celebration among single students at Nanjing University in 1993. In 2009 Alibaba turned it into a 24-hour online sale on its Taobao Mall platform, and it grew into the largest shopping event in the world. Alibaba also registered the Double 11 term as a trademark in China in 2012.

The headline figures have become harder to pin down. CNBC reported that Alibaba and JD.com together recorded $139 billion in sales over the 2021 event. In 2022 neither company published a total, and Alibaba has not returned to announcing a single sales figure. Estimates for 2025 vary widely by source, so treat any large number quoted for the day as an estimate rather than a reported result.

Which stores run Singles Day sales in the US

• AliExpress: Alibaba's international marketplace calls 11.11 its largest sale of the year. It is the main reason most US shoppers hear about the day.
• Shein and other China-based apps: Shein has run 11.11 campaigns in several countries, such as an Oct 20 to Nov 17 sale in Japan in 2025, but US dates were not published. Check the Shein coupon page and the app in early November.
• Amazon: does not officially take part, according to European deal sites, and focuses instead on its Black Friday week. In 2025 that ran Nov 20 to Dec 1.
• Walmart, Best Buy and other US chains: generally do not use the Singles Day name. Their November sales are built around Veterans Day and early Black Friday events, which often start in the same week.

So for a US shopper, Nov 11 is less about one sale and more about a crowded week: AliExpress 11.11, Veterans Day promotions and the first round of Black Friday prices.

How the AliExpress 11.11 sale works

The AliExpress sale combines markdowns on listed items with tiered codes that only apply above a minimum order. In 2025 the 11.11 codes included $3 off $15, $5 off $29 and $12 off $69, each one use per customer and valid only on items labeled for the sale. European coverage reported coupons that ran out before the sale ended.

A few rules carry over from the rest of the year, according to the PickedBox AliExpress store data:

• One sitewide code per order. It can be combined with seller coupons from the Coupon Center, Welcome Deals for new accounts and coins.
• The minimum is checked after other discounts. If seller coupons pull the subtotal under the code threshold, the code stops applying.
• Choice items ship free on orders over $10 or three items, and can be returned free within 15 days of delivery, up to three times a month.

Before the sale, add the items you want to the cart and note the price. That makes it easy to see whether the 11.11 price is actually lower. PickedBox lists 14 active AliExpress codes on the AliExpress coupon page, valid through Oct 31, 2026, and adds the 11.11 codes once AliExpress publishes them.

The row below is the same row as on the AliExpress page. The code appears after the click; AliExpress opens in a new tab.

$80 off $80 off orders of $559 or more US shoppers only. One code per order. Valid through October 31, 2026. Code · Worked Oct 4, 2026 · listed since Oct 2026 Show code Opens AliExpress in a new tab. The code appears here.

Singles Day vs Black Friday

AliExpress itself follows 11.11 with a Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale that has reached up to 80% off, with a coupon warm-up beforehand. For a gift needed before mid-December, the shipping time is often the deciding factor. For small accessories and generic goods with no deadline, 11.11 is usually the better week to buy.

US import duty on Singles Day orders

Until 2025, US orders under $800 entered duty free under the de minimis rule. That ended for China and Hong Kong in May 2025 and for all countries on Aug 29, 2025. On Jun 24, 2026, US Customs and Border Protection published a rule in the Federal Register making the suspension indefinite.

For an 11.11 order this means duty can apply at any order size. Some listings show an import charge at checkout, and some may be billed on delivery. Compare the final checkout total with the same item at a US store before treating a Singles Day price as the cheapest.

A simple plan for the week of November 11

1. Early November: build an AliExpress cart and note prices. Use the first-week Choice Day for anything that cannot wait.
2. Nov 8 to 10: collect seller coupons during the warm-up if AliExpress runs one again.
3. Nov 11: check out early, since tiered codes can run out, and compare the total with US stores' Veterans Day prices.
4. Nov 20 onward: compare again when Amazon and US chains start Black Friday pricing, and check the Walmart coupon page for the US side.

How we checked this

In October 2026, PickedBox compared this guide with its AliExpress store data (researched Oct 13, 2026), which covers the sale calendar, the 2025 11.11 codes, Choice shipping and returns, drawing on the Alibaba Group Choice document and Slickdeals' AliExpress guide. 2026 11.11 dates come from the Slickdeals AliExpress sale schedule, as AliExpress had not announced them by Oct 18, 2026. The history and the 2021 figure come from Wikipedia's Singles' Day article and CNBC. Amazon's 2025 Black Friday week dates come from European deal coverage. The de minimis status was checked against the Federal Register notice of Jun 24, 2026. AliExpress pages block automated access. Nothing was ordered for this guide.

• AliExpress
• Slickdeals: AliExpress sale schedule
• AliExpress 11.11 2025 dates (AndroidPCTV)
• TuttoAndroid: AliExpress Singles Day 2025
• Alibaba Group: AliExpress Choice
• Wikipedia: Singles' Day
• CNBC: Alibaba and JD Singles Day 2021 results
• Federal Register: indefinite suspension of the de minimis exemption
• SHEIN Japan 11.11 2025 sale announcement

How we test codes and what the labels mean: How we verify coupons.