For about the 4th year in a row, I did not partake in Black Friday. My primary reason: I hate the fact that it has an 'official' name now. Back when I did go as a young adult with my dad and later with various family members and/or a boyfriend, it was just known as The Day After Thanksgiving. That's all you needed to say. "Hey, are you going out the day after Thanksgiving?" or "Wanna go out with me the day after Thanksgiving?" It was inferred that it would be at 3 a.m. for the 4 a.m. store openings.
I'm a traditionalist so I'm not sure how I feel about the midnight starts now. I was intrigued to go out to my local large mall where 22 of the stores (plus the Starbucks cart in the middle of the mall) were opening at midnight and enjoy the 'ambiance' but instead, I was fast asleep by this time, spent from doing my "Day After Thanksgiving" shopping online in which at least one of the businesses had their Friday specials on Thursday night online. One such website (which shall remain nameless in case the recipient reads this) was offering sales and then the use of a promo code via their e-mails and then on top of that, offered free 'ship to store'. Considering I'm near this store 5 days a week, I can easily go there during lunch or after work to pick up the said package. All in all, I saved $84 (and I swear, absolutely nothing on this order was for me).
When I'm notified about how much I'm saving, the slight pessimist in me wonders how much the things were marked up to begin with. This becomes more prominent at a store like Kohls which routinely has sales and then additional percentages off if you use your Kohls card. I bought this really great sherpa fleece throw for $21 with this kind of combo recently. The original price on the sticker was $54. It's a nice throw but who would spend that much when it only seems to cover your midsection (my lone complaint...I guess I'm a bad judge of how little 40" x 60" will actually cover me. Math was never my strong suit)?! Just doing a quick Google of 'sherpa fleece throw', it seems the prices are generally in the $16-24 range anyway. Although to the credit of my Kohls purchase, the other side is a nice microfiber and not something like a thin cotton or regular fleece (nor printed in a manly print as found on the Cabelas website).
I do miss going out the day after Thanksgiving and being among the hubbub in a remote way where I am guaranteed not to get pepper sprayed (It's official. Those Walmart shoppers are crazy!) and just sit and watch while enjoying my midnight Starbucks hot chocolate. Despite complaints about the midnight start and the employees that have to work at that time (Target warns potential employees from the get go about that day being mandatory to work), I'm sure they will be back next year. This time, I will partake!
8 comments:
The mark up on things is incredible--considering that stuff is all made with near slave labor wages. In Mongolia and Siberia, I brought a couple of throws, hand woven and wool or yak hair, for less that that (and I didn't even bargain as hard as some but of course, I had to provide the shipping).
I don't miss it. Amazon is greatest invention in the history of the universe. God bless it.
Cheers.
I burst a Black Friday loving coworker's bubble on Monday. He was talking about the great deal he got on a camera and I went online and found if for $5 cheaper plus free shipping. From my research, especially with electronics, the real cheap deals you hear about especially around large flat screen televisions, are because the ones that are so cheap are the ones that get the worst reviews for quality. The manufacturers know they can't sell them so they 'give' them away while still getting their cost out of it.
R. - I concur. Amazon is the best invention since indoor plumbing!
Sage - Yak hair?!? Why do I have a feeling that you are on your own with that blanket. ;-)
Ed - That was my thought when I saw everyone clamoring over the Westinghouse TVs and wondering what Consumer Reports rated them. Big A said that if it can last a couple of years, it's still a good deal. Also, I've heard that there will still be better deals on larger TVs because most people have them already so the demand isn't what it use to be.
Who needs consumer reports? Just type Westinghouse TV into Amazon and read the reviews. I usually ignore the people who give five stars figuring they are still giddy about the deal and may not have had much actual use yet. I also ignore the ones who give ones because I figure they have an axe to grind. I usually just read the three and four star reviews and pay attention to common complaints that crop in a product. In the case of televisions by Westinghouse, the common complaint seems to be very cheap quality, terrible sounding speakers and a poor user interface. I for one and not surprised.
I disagree with the so cheap you can replace it a few times theory. For one, even if they only lasted a couple years, you would go through four or five before you wore out a normal one and I haven't seen those kind of price discounts. Plus, these days, at least down here, it costs me almost $20 to throw one away, not to mention that hassle of doing so and then going to buy a new one every couple years. I would rather save my money and just buy a good one out of the box when I can afford to buy a good one.
I'm not a tree hugger by any means but don't forget the environmental impact of buying 'disposable' stuff, especially toxic filled electronics.
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