Insane footage at DFO Homebush captures the madness of Boxing Day sales as shoppers are warned to stay away: ‘It’s not worth it’
Hordes of shoppers have descended on one of Sydney's biggest outlet malls to browse Boxing Day bargains in wild scenes caught on camera.
Footage from the Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) in Homebush, Sydney's west, shows hundreds of people shuffling through the mall and its more than 100 stores on Tuesday.
As huge crowds queued inside to enter the packed shops, traffic was reportedly backed up for a kilometer as the road to the car park became even more congested.
Shoppers still braved the crowds for a chance to win discounts of up to 50 percent on Nike and Tommy Hilfiger and up to 60 percent off Swarovski.
The nationwide sales were expected to bring in about $24 billion and help fuel what is expected to be a subdued year of holiday spending amid a cost-of-living crisis.
A photo posted to Reddit with the caption 'DO NOT go to DFO Homebush today' received hundreds of comments from Aussies claiming the sales weren't worth the rush.
“What's the point anyway?” one user wondered, adding, “If you lose three or four hours of your day to save $100, that's a false savings.”
“It will mostly be old junk that can't be bought at a small discount in the stores, or second-rate crap manufactured to go straight to the stores,” wrote another.
Other users said the Boxing Day sale had become redundant as online marketplaces have better sales on non-clearance items all year round.
'What's the point of queuing for the Boxing Day sales when online sales happen all year round?' added a bargain hunter.
“You can get better deals online on sale items in stores for much more current end-of-season items, or just through regular rotating sales,” wrote another.
A video of the crowd posted to TikTok received similar reactions, with a user who works at DFO claiming that “they've been having the same sale for a week now.”
Wild footage has revealed hundreds of shoppers descended on DFO in Homebush on Boxing Day to try and take advantage of wild sales (pictured)
Social media users chastised shoppers for fighting the crowd to get a discount on 's**t' products they could buy online instead
Australian Retail Association (ARA) chief executive Paul Zahra said strong Boxing Day sales were still expected to be 1.6 per cent higher than in 2022.
“There is no doubt that Australians love a bargain and despite cost-of-living pressures and economic turbulence, Australians will still spend slightly more than they did last year at the last pit stop before 2024,” Mr Zahra said.
While last year's increase may provide some relief for some retailers, Zahra says it could be a diversion after a turbulent year.
“That's a fair result, but not a great result considering there are a million extra people in the country, and on top of that, prices have generally gone up,” Zahra said, according to the ABC.
'Trying to entice customers to part with their money has been a more difficult time this year than last year. If you remember coming out of lockdown there was a lot of freedom in spending,” he said.