[stonecypher]

Hey, before you drag yourself out of bed at 4 a.m. the day after Turkey Day to snag those doorbuster deals you saw advertised at your local China Mart and others, take a look at this article:

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/108212/dirty-secrets-of-black-friday-doorbusters

Excerpt: "Here's a Black Friday reality check: Of the hordes of pre-dawn shoppers who line up for hours outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving, most will not bag the best bargains that appear in merchants' circulars.

Look at the fine print that appears next to an advertised "doorbuster deal" at the bottom of the page in this year's circulars.

It will either say "While supplies last," "Minimum 2 per store," "No rainchecks" or "All items are available in limited quantities."

A quick scan through a few of this year's Black Friday circulars show quantities as low as a "minimum of 5 per store" on some models of large plasma and HDTVs and popular brands of home appliances such as a washer-dryer pair."

Whew, now I can relax and sleep in. Not that I was going to brave the hordes of crazed sheeple, anyway!

 

[Hick Industries]

With the poor retail climate this year, the sales should only get better as the time before Christmas gets shorter. Make this happen by refusing to buy anything before December 15th.

 

[Grevlin]

I practically bug-in for black Friday.

I always shop late, and this holiday season will be FLAT which equals steep price drops 2 weeks before Christmas.

 

[smoke63b]

"Sales" in stores have been a scam for a LONG time. I work in retail (loss prevention) and the only true sales you can get are when things are being put on clearance to get rid of them. Then they're usually so picked through you can't find anything great. MSRP listed on stickers with a 50% off sign is just marketing. They never paid anywhere near that MSRP OR the sale price.
Good prices for things are almost impossible to find in major retail chains. They're great at marketing and ripping people off.

 

[The Dark One]

I will be out of state for Black Friday.
Not taking any chances.

 

[wevie]

I once - inadvertently - went to a home improvement store on black friday to get some supplies for a weekend project. Needless to say, that project was put on hold. I've never experienced anything like that and I never wish to see it again.

 

[Haffenreffer]

Why would people ever wake up at 4am to buy crap they don't need?

If they were really smart, they would wait till after xmas when the retailers mark down everything.

 

[tadbitangelny]

"Sales" in stores have been a scam for a LONG time. I work in retail (loss prevention) and the only true sales you can get are when things are being put on clearance to get rid of them. Then they're usually so picked through you can't find anything great. MSRP listed on stickers with a 50% off sign is just marketing. They never paid anywhere near that MSRP OR the sale price.
Good prices for things are almost impossible to find in major retail chains. They're great at marketing and ripping people off.

I agree when I was younger I worked retail and 1 month before Black Friday we would go through and raise the prices so when Black Friday hit it only seemed like you were getting a bargain, it's all a sham.

 

[Altarboy]

Most of my shopping is done online baby!

 

[Grevlin]

I was just thinking that the recent blast of "black Friday deals are not deals" media stories may be just enough to prevent a lot of sheeple from dropping cash they don't have.

Flat holiday = MANY retail stores closing during 1st quarter of 2010 = continuing dive of economy

"Black Friday" was named because many retailers go from red ink to black ink during this weekend, finally making money for the first time in the whole year. If they have a flat season, they fold quickly.

 

[sendkeys]

Why would people ever wake up at 4am to buy crap they don't need?

If they were really smart, they would wait till after xmas when the retailers mark down everything.

Because people want it? I wanted a new tv due to my last one going out. I was willing to wake up(or in my case stay up) till 1am to get in line to save 100 bucks.That's 20 bucks a hour waiting in line. Until i saw best buy was doing pre blackfriday prices and i was able to use a coupon on it because it wasnt "black friday". Now i get to sleep in.

As for marking down everything after xmas it's just as bad as black friday. Everything is limited and a lot people are hoping to find deals.

 

[Wild-Will]

Why would people ever wake up at 4am to buy crap they don't need?

If they were really smart, they would wait till after xmas when the retailers mark down everything.

I worked retail for the years I was in college. On Black Friday we were there at 2:30-3:00 am to unload the days shipments. There were people already lined up at the front and back of the store before we arrived and many tried to muscle their way in when we entered to do our jobs. Since I was the other giant there, security would grab us to form a door block until all of the employees could get inside.
Customers are nuts!

 

[bulrush]

Here's what I do: I look at the price on the item. If it's not a good price relative to other stores, I don't buy. Period.

Just because it's on "sale" doesn't mean it's a good deal.

 

[vicdotcom]

Hey, before you drag yourself out of bed at 4 a.m. the day after Turkey Day to snag those doorbuster deals you saw advertised at your local China Mart and others, take a look at this article:

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/108212/dirty-secrets-of-black-friday-doorbusters

Excerpt: "Here's a Black Friday reality check: Of the hordes of pre-dawn shoppers who line up for hours outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving, most will not bag the best bargains that appear in merchants' circulars.

Look at the fine print that appears next to an advertised "doorbuster deal" at the bottom of the page in this year's circulars.

It will either say "While supplies last," "Minimum 2 per store," "No rainchecks" or "All items are available in limited quantities."

A quick scan through a few of this year's Black Friday circulars show quantities as low as a "minimum of 5 per store" on some models of large plasma and HDTVs and popular brands of home appliances such as a washer-dryer pair."

Whew, now I can relax and sleep in. Not that I was going to brave the hordes of crazed sheeple, anyway!

Honestly, I would assume this would be the case rather than being a "dirty trick". Otherwise why else would people start lining up so early? If they were giving rainchecks, why wouldn't anyone just stroll in at noon and get a raincheck instead?

 

[patcash]

Six years ago, I could wait in line four hours, spend $1000 and get $2000 worth of stuff I wanted or needed for the business.
Two years ago, the line was 13 hours long and the deals limited savings to about $300.
Last year, I shopped the online deals. I didn't need much.
This year, the deals look worse and I need less. I'll monitor the sales online, but I'll be picky.

 

[The Saint]

I love black friday, it never fails that there will be a riot somewhere over a playstation or tickle me elmo or something, It only shows how low people can become when thet "percieve" that they need something.

Which now beggs the question, think what its going to be like when there is no gas, food, water, etc, how will these same people react when it IS something they need to survive?

 

[rncmomx2]

I don't do Black Friday...too many idiots running around. We buy all our groceries the week before when they actually have what we need just so we don't have to venture into those places.