Black Friday Deals in the US

TastyReuben said:
Plus, when you tell me you're going to give me something at the lowest price of the year, or the best deal ever, I don't want to see $1000 TVs marked down to $500 - $500 is still a lot of money. I want $1000 TVs marked down to $99.99, that sort of thing. And not just to the first 10 customers, either. :laugh:
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Well, that's just unreasonable :roflmao:
Here's how I've seen the decision made. By around the end of 3rd quarter, a retailer knows the goods that are underperforming in sales or have had newer models announced which makes older models sell slower. They then try to cut their losses like this:
  • Well these $1000 TVs aren't selling themselves, lets blow out the inventory by selling them around "cost".
  • Don't order more of these from the manufacturer, only restock next year's model, which we will not discount.
  • Oh, and get the manufacturer on the phone to see if they'll give us any incentives for clearing old inventory.
  • We've only got 400 left in stock? or ship 10 each to our 40 locations to serve as our "door buster" deal.
 
I had a co-worker who would get up before dawn and go wait before stores would open for whatever she heard was going to be on sale that she might possibly want. It was a big thing for her every year. She'd pick Target or Walmart - something large so she had more selection of what to rush in for. Then of course Black Friday started running into Thanksgiving Thursday, which she didn't do - too many family obligations for her. But I wouldn't be surprised if she hit some places on her way home those Thursdays.

I have never shopped on Black Friday. Massive piles of grabby people don't interest me. I pay good money to AVOID that sort of scene!

There's now Small Business Saturday, an idea I like better - supporting local shops. I suspect they didn't do much in 2020.

And then, Cyber Monday, which already has begun this year, more or less.
 
TastyReuben said:
I went out one time, by myself, on a Blck Friday, just to see what the fuss was about, and I was disappointed in both the offerings and humanity in general.

Plus, when you tell me you're going to give me something at the lowest price of the year, or the best deal ever, I don't want to see $1000 TVs marked down to $500 - $500 is still a lot of money. I want $1000 TVs marked down to $99.99, that sort of thing. And not just to the first 10 customers, either. :laugh:

It goes along with my personality, too. I strongly resent being forced or cajoled into doing something on someone else's terms. If I want a TV, I want to buy it when it's convenient for me to buy it, not when someone else dictates I should buy it.
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When I first moved to Ohio, my husband's cousin Gina would pack up her kids in the van at 3 a.m. and sit in the parking lot and wait for the stores to open at 4 a.m. She tried to get me to go with her one year and I laughed at her. I told her my sleep was worth more than a few hundred dollars, LOL. Plus she had told me already about the previous year when some woman was taking stuff out of Gina's cart and Gina's 10 year old daughter told her to stop, and the woman cussed the little girl out. I want none of that ugliness. Plus I think it was about 4 years ago that I read how Walmart shoppers stampeded the store upon opening and trampled other people, injuring several...and someone died from their injuries. Just awful.

Even without deals, I have always avoided shopping in stores when they are not busy (even before the pandemic). I rarely shop on weekends unless it's late in the day, and after lunch in the early afternoon is a good time of day during the week to avoid other people. I still get the majority of my groceries via curbside pickup, though.

I found some good Black Friday deals at Kohl's department store near my house last night shopping online. I bought a stick blender and a mini food processor that were $19.99 each on sale with an additional 15% off and a $12 mail in rebate on both. I also bought a plush king size reversible bed comforter that was regularly $189...on sale for $58. I also bought one of those cushion mats to put in front of my stove to replace the one that is there: regular price $50, sale price $18. The 15% off coupon applied those as well, plus I earned $30 in Kohl's rewards to use on future purchases. I will use their curbside contactless service to pick my order up tomorrow afternoon.
 
The Velvet Curtain said:
As we all sort of knew, most black friday deals aren't. Which? Showed that 90% of goods on sale were available at the same price or lower in the six months before hand.

Black Friday: Which? warns over price offers
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Yeah, I have been stalking the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for about a year and have never seen it priced so inexpensively. I have found some really great bargains this year for some reason, but in previous years that's not been the norm.

I love shopping in my pajamas from my computer with a cocktail on my desk in the evening or a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I love shopping in my pajamas from my computer with a cocktail on my desk in the evening or a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.
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Not that I wear pyjamas* but I'm with you there. I love on-line shopping!

*There was a thread about 'wearing clothes in bed' a while ago which surprised me; it seemed that the younger people wore more clothes in bed than older people. I've not worn clothes in bed since I was a kid.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I love shopping in my pajamas from my computer with a cocktail on my desk in the evening or a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.
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I hate online shopping just because of choice overload. I like going to a store, and if I need a saucepan, here are the six saucepans they have...pick one or leave.

Online...it's saucepan after saucepan after saucepan after saucepan after saucepan, on and on, a never-ending list of saucepans, and I get exhausted with it, mentally.
 
when was the last thing you purchased at "full retail?"

Black Friday / et.al. typically features the new/exotic/hot items - used to be a.k.a. "loss leaders"
 
TastyReuben said:
I hate online shopping just because of choice overload. I like going to a store, and if I need a saucepan, here are the six saucepans they have...pick one or leave.

Online...it's saucepan after saucepan after saucepan after saucepan after saucepan, on and on, a never-ending list of saucepans, and I get exhausted with it, mentally.
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I know exactly what you mean - I try to hone down what I want before searching to limit the results.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
For those who don't live in the US and might not know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving (which is always on a Thursday in November). It's the day that retailers lower prices drastically. In the past it was often mayhem and there were crazy people who would get up at 3 a.m. and camp outside of stores until they opened to the hordes of people who piled in, often fighting over doorbuster deals on electronics, clothing, and more. Then they expanded to include the day after the weekend, calling it Cyber Monday, which kind of melded in with Black Friday after the onset of the pandemic. This year the deals have started now.

I was looking online at Kitchen Aid stand mixers and had mentioned to my husband that I wanted one. I was looking online at Target.com and saw a Black Friday deal for $219.99, which is $130 cheaper than Bed Bath and Beyond (before their 20% off coupon) and $80 cheaper than the Kitchen Aid website. I was getting my credit card out and my husband told me to stop, because he had planned on buying me one for Christmas. He gave me his credit card and told me to order the pasta attachment ($159) too, so I just did. I got it in stainless. With taxes (free shipping) it was $405.63, which is a really good deal. I am pretty stoked! Merry Christmas to me!
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Do other countries have days where retailers lower their prices sensationally? What kind of great deals have you gotten on kitchen gadgets, appliances, etc. by shopping sales?
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We have it here as well, we also have bed bath and beyond here, a 15 min drive. I've never been in one.
We have sales before sales, and after sales. Briscoe have a permanent 24/7 sales.

Russ
 
A quick reminder "Sales" are about shifting slow moving or over stocked product. If you fall for the big banners and shouty adverts then you are just the type of customer they are looking for.

"Save 20% if you buy today" or save 100% if you don't, with the bonus that you don't have to throw it out later.

Cynical about marketing, me? No.
 
Morning Glory said:
Not that I wear pyjamas* but I'm with you there. I love on-line shopping!

*There was a thread about 'wearing clothes in bed' a while ago which surprised me; it seemed that the younger people wore more clothes in bed than older people. I've not worn clothes in bed since I was a kid.
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Depends on the weather. I don't like jacking up the heat in winter, so I go to bed clothed. Not necessarily (or usually) in pyjamas or a nightgown. A t-shirt works wonders. Especially for those of us who have to get up once or twice a night to exercise our kidneys.
 
Morning Glory said:
Not that I wear pyjamas* but I'm with you there. I love on-line shopping!

*There was a thread about 'wearing clothes in bed' a while ago which surprised me; it seemed that the younger people wore more clothes in bed than older people. I've not worn clothes in bed since I was a kid.
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So if you were sitting at your computer in the evening or the morning, you do so in your birthday suit? :laugh:

My husband likes to sleep nude year-round. I usually wear a T-shirt, fleece pants, and socks in the winter to bed. I sleep cold so I can't be nekked in the winter. In the summer I tend to wear sheer, silky sheaths to bed (or nothing). My husband likes summer better than winter around here, LOL.
 
The Velvet Curtain said:
A quick reminder "Sales" are about shifting slow moving or over stocked product. If you fall for the big banners and shouty adverts then you are just the type of customer they are looking for.

"Save 20% if you buy today" or save 100% if you don't, with the bonus that you don't have to throw it out later.

Cynical about marketing, me? No.
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I can't see myself tossing my Kitchen Aid stand mixer in the trash, LOL.
 
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