COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Hundreds of people lined up outside before stores opened to kick off the holiday shopping season in South Carolina, which for the first time featured a break on the state sales tax.

At a Circuit City store here, the line snaked around the building before the 5 a.m. opening. Once inside, they snapped up computers, accessories and digital cameras.

Will Price of Columbia purchased a computer that he hoped to resell on eBay.

In North Charleston, hundreds of people were in line before a midnight opening at the Tanger Outlet.

''There's a lot of people here for midnight,'' said Chaz Campbell of Hanahan. ''Everything with a big name on it has a line of about 50 people.''

Campbell said he thought about getting some Christmas gifts at the Coach outlet, but as store workers let only a limited number of shoppers in at one time, he doubted he would go in.

The biggest line was 160 people outside KB Toys.

Purchases off most items were exempt from the state's sales tax, although local option taxes and accommodations taxes were still being collected.

Based on national economic trends, the 2006 holiday shopping season could turn out to be a boon for both consumers and retailers, said Marianne Bickle, director of the Center for Retailing at the University of South Carolina.