What are your opinions about black friday sales? Do you think that buy shopping on this day that you are saving money on your Christmas items or do you think you spend more money shopping on this day? Personally it's a little of both for me. I tend to find really great deals on items that I intend on buying -- but because of it I tend to spend more money than I budgeted for because I know I wont find those items that cheap again for a while. What are your thoughts?
I've actually heard that it's not saving you a whole lot of money in the long run. Somewhere I read (don't remember where, sorry!) said that they actually increase the prices weeks in advance, and when Black Friday comes around they drop the prices to just SLIGHTLY under the original price. The vast change in price differences makes people think that they're getting a huge deal but they really aren't. I guess this would be different if you've been shopping around for a particular item and know the exact price at the end of every week, but most consumers don't really think about that.
That may be true in some cases, Tangela, but I know the prices of things I plan to buy. I usually do some research on anything that's more than a few bucks. I have saved a lot of money with Black Friday deals in the past, Nikki. I don't really like to deal with the chaos these days. I did it more so when my kids were little. Cyber Monday is more my speed these days.
Last year was the first time I really shopped on black friday and cyber monday. I think the big ticket items like TV's that everyone wants aren't really worth it. The deals aren't as good as they seem, most of the time is cheap brands. I notice lots of stores advertised cameras but the models where old and a couple of months later that special price was the regular price. I did find great sales for clothes in stores and a pair of shoes online. The shoes where on my wish list but too expensive to justify the purchase, and on cyber monday I got them 60% off. For clothes I went to Torrid when they opened at midnight and the store was mostly empty, they had a good sale on top of already clearance merchandise. Then I went to other clothes stores and just browsed all the sales racks. I have to say I really liked shopping late at night, I wish the mall was open like that every day. They where handing out free coffee, chocolate and juice. I probably will go again this year, it was a nice experience if you stay away from big stores like WalMart, Sears, Best Buy, etc
You definitely save a lot of money if you already know exactly what you want to buy and research the prices way before Black Friday. In my opinion, everything you buy on a sale that you were planning to buy is a saving, but some people buy things they never planned to buy in the first place just because it's on sale.
I actually enjoy the tradition of getting up and going shopping in the wee hours of the morning with a few of my family members. I definitely agree with staying away from the huge chain stores -- at least until much much later in the day when some of the flash sale crowds have gone. The items that everyone shows up for usually aren't anything I want anyway. I do liked visiting the mall and certain other small stores where their sales are actually worth taking the time to look through.
It used to be crazy fun for me. A friend and I would plan our attack. Each of us would grab a cart and we'd go down opposite sides of the aisle. I'd grab extra of everything on my side and give the extras to her and vice versa. I had four kids and she had 3, so we saved a ton on toys and such, and we just had a blast doing it. The kids are grown now, so I'll leave it to them.
You always need to remember that you are only saving money during a sale when you are buying something that you would need to buy anyway. Buying something that you don't need just because it's 75% off is costing you a lot more money in the long run than simply buying only the things that you need and not spending frivolously.
You are absolutely right! The best way to save on black Friday is to stick to your list with no exceptions. When you start getting sidetracked and suckered in buying impulse items you are definitely costing yourself money. It's true, everyone gets tempted by sale tickets of popular items, but unless you have set aside a small budgeted amount to cover impulse expenses, purchasing them is likely to screw up your budget immensely.
Well if Black Friday are offering some great, exclusive sales that I won't find around Christmas time, then I don't mind gravitating to it at all. I'm the type that sets a budget and often I don't go over it. I just spend money on the items I really want or need and call it a day and by doing that, I don't end up overspending or realizing that I could have saved money in one way or another.
If there is a big ticket item I am looking for and I know of a good discount, I'll go out and brave the crowds. I'd say 4 out of 5 times this is not the case. Many of the sales do not apply to what I am looking for so I don't waste the time and effort on black friday. Even more so now with Cyber Monday. Many good deals can be found online the following week.
No, I do not waste my time in that mess at all. The stores are not that stupid to lose tons of money on merchandise all in one day. They merely try to give the impression you are saving a ton of money when in reality those sales could be attained many different times leading right up to Christmas, or you may find an even better sale online. Even a few days before Christmas you can often find last minute sales or X% off deals that are just as good, without all the hassle of Black Friday. It never ceases to amaze me how people continue to fall for this year after year. I think the proliferation of those hyped up reality shows about coupon cutters, which themselves are exaggerated and unrealistic to begin with, have only inflamed the whole Black Friday madness even further. Many of the electronics such as TV's and Laptops they are selling at cheaper prices are often older models which are about to be discontinued and/or weren't selling well in the first place, possibly got bad reviews for whatever reason, or were using some older outdated technology in them. My friend snagged two Toshiba laptops, and thought he was saving like $700 each on them, but in reality the original price they were comparing them to was when they first came out, like over a year ago, they weren't worth that much when he got them on Black Friday. To make matters worse they both died on him in less than a year. Long story short, it's typically merchandise they need to move anyway and would have gone on sale with or without Black Friday. If you see a TV at WalMart that was "originally $1,500 but is now $750 on Black Friday" I can almost guarantee you if you start looking around on Amazon, you can find it close to that $750 price already.
Heck yes, I love it. Everything from stocking stuffer items - Blu ray movies $5 - to TVs - I don't care right now if it is a cheap brand I don't have a tv and I have been waiting to buy one. Cannot wait. Of course I utilize sites such as dealnews.com and blackfriday.com to review the ads in advance, check prices against Amazon, etc. BTW many B&M stores are now price matching with Amazon. To me Black Friday is the most wonderful day of the year!
I personally don't go Black Friday shopping just because I don't like dealing with all of the people fighting over things. But I think it can save you a lot of money especially if it's something you really want/need, but I think some people just go so they can make a quick buck by getting a bunch of things and reselling them.
People claim to save lots of money participating in on black friday sales but the times I have researched prices during black friday I could not tell the difference between regular prices and black friday deals. Stores claim to dramatically lower prices for this event but in fact they lower nothing. There is always some discontinued television that hasn't been seen in years that all of a sudden is available during black friday. They lower the price of it by a few dollars and only have limited quanities of it to attracte customers. The brands they offer savings on are always on some off brand name or discontinues product that does not last very long. I think black friday is a rip off and a waste of money. People need to wake up and smell the coffee.
