Comebacks follow a schedule that barely varies between agencies, which means you can predict your own deadlines weeks in advance. The useful version of that timeline is not the promotional calendar but the purchasing calendar: the days when something you want stops being available.
Day minus 30 to minus 21: the announcement
A comeback notice and date poster go up. Nothing is buyable yet, but this is when you should confirm your store accounts work and set a budget. Rumors circulate earlier; the official poster is when the dates become reliable enough to plan around. Community accounts usually surface a rumored date a week or two before the poster, which is early enough to start saving but not reliable enough to book anything around. Treat the official poster as the first date worth writing down.
Day minus 20 to minus 10: pre-orders open
Retailers list the album with version images, prices and pre-order gifts. Limited store-exclusive gifts are allocated first-come and often exhaust within 48 to 72 hours. This window is the single most important purchasing moment of the whole cycle, and it usually opens during Korean business hours, meaning late evening or overnight in the US.
Day minus 10 to minus 5: pre-orders close
Stores cut off pre-orders to prepare inclusion packing. Fansign event entry windows typically align with this period. After the cutoff, the album is still buyable at release but the pre-order gift is gone permanently. Some retailers run a short second window a day or two before release for cancelled orders returning to stock, which is worth checking if you missed the main one. Quantities are tiny and gone within minutes, so treat it as a bonus rather than a plan. Fansign entries close at the same time and are not reopened.
Release week and after
Albums ship from Korean stores within one to three days of release and reach a Korean warehouse quickly. Everything else you might want, pop-up stores, tour merch, special broadcasts, clusters into the following four to six weeks. If you are planning one consolidated box per comeback, the natural ship date is about three to five weeks after release.
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Start a buy-for-me order →Frequently asked
When should I submit purchase requests?
The day pre-orders open for albums, and as announced for everything else. Nothing in this cycle rewards waiting except standard restocks.
Do all agencies follow this timeline?
Closely enough to plan around. Smaller agencies compress it and occasionally open pre-orders with under a week of notice, which is another argument for having your accounts ready in advance.
What if I only care about the album itself?
Then you have a wide window and can buy any time after release. The timeline pressure comes entirely from limited inclusions and events.