The air is crisp, leaves are falling, and you finally get to spend time with your family over a great meal. Did I say meal? Forget Thanksgiving, I’m talking about deals. It’s Black Friday! The Thanksgiving we know and love is nothing more than a barrier between retail companies and the ever-hungry consumer. Corporate greed. Consumer over-consumption. Capitalist excess. Free-market frenzy. If any of these phrases sound familiar to you, then you must know what time of year it is.” ‘ class=”inline-comment collapsed”>
I’m here to give some tips on Black Friday shopping, but first I feel a small history lesson is in order. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving where there are sales abound and insanely cheap deals on useless plastic such as $10 toasters and $60 flat screen TVs. The word black is used to signify the day that many companies see their net profits go from red (or losing money) to black (making money). It’s an ideal day for shopping since most people are off from work and school the day after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving night has historically seen the recent buildup to the midnight store openings, but in recent years companies like Wal-Mart and Best Buy creeped up on Thanksgiving Day by opening their doors around 8pm or 10pm on Thanksgiving night to allow customers to get in line or grab some early deals.
Then there’s K-Mart. In a desperate plea for customers to feel a slight need to shop at K-Mart again, the store announced it will open at 6am Thanksgiving morning. I’m not even joking. I don’t mind companies like Wal-Mart opening around 8pm, long after many families have had time to eat and spend time together, but 6am? Is that necessary? Not only from a consumer standpoint, but for the thousands of K-Mart employees that will be asked to give up their Thanksgiving morning or afternoon just so someone can buy a $30 microwave- has this all gone too far? That’s for the consumers to decide, by voting with their wallets.
But enough about the moral and economic ideas of Black Friday. Here are my thoughts on your Black Friday shopping:
Black Friday midnight shopping is actually a lot of fun. To go with some friends or family just to see the crazy lines and devout bargain-seekers is in itself a night of great fun. Especially after being cooped up with your family inside all day. Wal-marts are mad houses, and Lenox Mall and the Mall of Georgia offer a playground of consumerism to play in. I suggest you go one year just to experience it.
The next day, however, not so fun. Long lines, crowded streets, traffic, and perturbed staff are what the actual Black Friday is all about. Most of the best items will already be gone by the late afternoon and after that it just marks the first day in the busy holiday shopping season.
Also, about those “deals.” Most really aren’t worth your time. The deals too good to be true usually are. The first 50-100 people might get that $60 video game for $10, but after the initial quantity the company sells at that price is out, the price will be back to normal retail.
Companies do this strategically to pull shoppers into their store. They know for a fact they will lose money on what they call “doorbusters” (maybe because people have literally busted doors down to get them?) but shoppers will buy more things at retail price and the company will see the profits roll in. It’s basic Marketing 101. You go to a store for a TV that’s cheaper than any other store. While there, you need to buy a Blu-ray player and an iPad as well, so instead of going to two other stores, you stay and buy all three items. This three item scenario leads to big profits for companies.
So, honestly, unless you are determined to get a specific doorbuster, Black Friday is a waste of your time and money. In the time it takes you to drive to a store and wait in line, the $20 you save on those Beats headphones starts to feel like a stupid idea when you could just buy them online or the next week.
Finally, speaking of online, just make your life easier and do your holiday shopping on Amazon.com. Not only do they have similar doorbusters, or ‘Lightning Deals’, but they are often better than brick and mortar stores and Amazon’s other products are overall cheaper – on sale or otherwise. Plus there are zero lines and zero driving costs!
Black Friday has taken over retail stores like a plague. A certain free-market virus that seems to be getting worse each year. If the pattern K-Mart has ‘pioneered’ continues, Thanksgiving day will, in the eyes of companies, become nothing more than “Black Friday: Part One.” For now, I’ll vote with my wallet and skip out on spending anything in stores that day.
