Black Friday (1 Viewer)

scott-atkinson

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Hi Guys,

Again the UK are following our cousins across the Pond and are apparently going big on this concept of Black Friday, which according to the UK news, is an American Sales led retail Day traditionally after Thanks Giving. It is aimed at kick starting people into parting with money in the lead up to Christmas...

My question...

Does this Day / Week really offer good value to the consumer or is it simply a marketing gimmick dreamt up by fat cat execs to fool the masses into parting with their money by inflating prices pre Black Friday only to lower them during the period and hail them as bargains...

What's your views?

Be interesting to here from the American community to see what they think as it has been established there for some time now..

Is the UK offering any real savings or again just hype...
 

ConnorGiles

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Hi Guys,
simply a marketing gimmick dreamt up by fat cat execs to fool the masses into parting with their money by inflating prices pre Black Friday only to lower them during the period and hail them as bargains...

Hit the Nail on the head there mate.

But it isn't just on this day that this happens, it happens all year round.

I went into a shop a couple months back and it had some Laptops for a price of £400 pretty good spec.

Then I walk into the same shop about 3 months later and see them for christmas "Was £530! now £420!" Even when they "lower" prices for deals, they still add more to the original price :D

But hey I'm not american! lets see their opinions :p
 

Frothingslosh

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It's a little bit of both. As a rule, retailers put everything on sale on Black Friday, and a lot of items are discounted quite a lot. Most retailers having a Black Friday sale open ridiculously early Friday morning (4am, 5am, and 6am are common), save for the ones like K-Mart who have decided to start their sales Thanksgiving morning instead.

However, they do play some games, too. It always seems that the items with the biggest discount are also the ones they keep the least of in stock - for example, I went in one Black Friday morning because a computer monitor I wanted was down to $150 from $400. The catch was, the store in question only ever kept 2 in stock at any given location. Black Friday LIVES on the bait-and-switch.

Still, the sales are typically only beaten by the Dec 26th sales. I'm sure there's SOME price inflation/fake 'sales', but not as much as you may think. Retail is too cutthroat, especially these days with them having to compete with the likes of Amazon, for retailers to get away with that.

The other big problem is that, it being the biggest shopping day of the year, stores and malls are packed to overflowing. I hope you like mosh pits, because that's only barely an overstatement of what the crowds are like.
 

ConnorGiles

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I can only imagine what it is like in America FrothingSlosh, I live next to a Shopping Centre and it is seriously overcrowded this time of year. And that's in the little UK!

Good Luck my friend! Don't get trampled for that monitor!
 

Frothingslosh

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I bought the monitor 8 years ago. It is long-since dead.

Mall crowding does get affected by where the mall is, too. Near Flint, MI, where I work, there's a mall in a fairly run-down area called Courtland Center. The crowds there this Friday will be large, but easily bearable and no having to give up your personal space.

In contrast, one closer to where I actually live is called Oakland Mall. It is in the heart of the Detroit suburbs, with millions of people living within 20 miles. It's also quite large. That one's busy on normal days - this Friday, you'll probably have mile-long backups just for traffic waiting to turn into the parking lot. As to the inside, think 'sardine can'.

Then you get ones like Great Lakes Crossing, also near me, which is a mile from end to end and serves the same area as Oakland Mall, and Mall of America, which is, I believe, still the largest mall in the US and still serves 40 million people a year. You couldn't PAY me enough to go to those two.
 

scott-atkinson

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Ive been on a hunt for a Gaming Laptop for my son for his Birthday, Iv'e bought one online after searching for a few weeks..

Lenovo, 8GB, I7 4MB Cache, 1TB HHD, 8GB SSD, Nvidia GT840N 4GB Dedicated

How much do you think I paid for it?
 

ConnorGiles

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Also taking into account it may be Second hand/Refurbished
 

Bladerunner

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The younger female members of my family will start at 8pm Thanksgiving night to get in line for deals at the local stores. The stores mark a few items in each section very drastically in order to entice the masses. The other items while on sale are still higher than what they were as Mr. Frosh stated.

It has been said that some store make upwards to 50% of their earnings from sales that begin on Black Friday and last until Dec. 26th.

The best deals are on December 26th. Most store owners do not want to be stuck with 2014 products in inventory especially specific toys, electronics, etc. that will not sell throughout the next year. They do cut the prices drastically this day. Of course this day is also known for its Returns of a gift the person either does not like or (in the case of clothes) does not fit.

As Mr. Frosh stated about his areas' Malls, the scenario is played across America in thousands of Malls/Shopping Centers. By some figures, there are 1000 to 1,100 enclosed malls and 47,000 shopping centers in across the USA.
 

Brianwarnock

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I've never heard of Back Friday, when I read the title I thought that it was to do with some mass killing, but discovered that it was only the death of sanity.

Brian
 

scott-atkinson

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Ive been on a hunt for a Gaming Laptop for my son for his Birthday, Iv'e bought one online after searching for a few weeks..

Lenovo, 8GB, I7 4MB Cache, 1TB HHD, 8GB SSD, Nvidia GT840N 4GB Dedicated

How much do you think I paid for it?

I paid £629 for the machine, which looking around all the stores and online was the best I could get, the majority of new machines in that price bracket do not have any form of SSD and only have 2GB of dedicated graphics, so I reckon I got the best deal I could...
 

Bladerunner

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I've never heard of Back Friday, when I read the title I thought that it was to do with some mass killing, but discovered that it was only the death of sanity.

Brian

You got that right. I question their sanity every year (my family). Who wants to go to a place where the only standing room there is, is in someones pocket? lol
 

ConnorGiles

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I paid £629 for the machine, which looking around all the stores and online was the best I could get, the majority of new machines in that price bracket do not have any form of SSD and only have 2GB of dedicated graphics, so I reckon I got the best deal I could...

Got quite a good deal there my friend , 4GB dedicated graphics is very nice!

Sure they will love it :D

If not, Coal in the stockings I think ;)
 

Brianwarnock

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Earlier I said that I had never heard of Black Friday, now not only is it all over the news but my inbox is awash with offers.

:banghead:

The bl**dy yanks should keep their culture to themselves. :mad:

Brian
:rolleyes:
 

Frothingslosh

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Earlier I said that I had never heard of Black Friday, now not only is it all over the news but my inbox is awash with offers.

:banghead:

The bl**dy yanks should keep their culture to themselves. :mad:

Brian
:rolleyes:

That's really amusing, considering that Black Friday is the day after a holiday you folks don't even celebrate.
 

ConnorGiles

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That's really amusing, considering that Black Friday is the day after a holiday you folks don't even celebrate.

You'll find Frothingslosh, The UK seems to jump on most band wagons that the Americans do.

It's just another day for businesses to fake deals (or maybe come across a real one) so people spend more money :D
 

Frothingslosh

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You'll find Frothingslosh, The UK seems to jump on most band wagons that the Americans do.

It's just another day for businesses to fake deals (or maybe come across a real one) so people spend more money :D

But very slowly, apparently. Black Friday's been around for decades.

Enjoy it getting out of hand, though. This year, a number of retailers decided to open for 'Black Friday' on Thanksgiving day. Some opened at 8 pm, some were open as early as 6 am. (One retailer - K-Mart - promised to fire any employee who didn't work Thanksgiving day. One woman made the news for quitting on the spot when forced to choose between being with her dying husband and working Thanksgiving day.)
 

ConnorGiles

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But very slowly, apparently. Black Friday's been around for decades.

Enjoy it getting out of hand, though. This year, a number of retailers decided to open for 'Black Friday' on Thanksgiving day. Some opened at 8 pm, some were open as early as 6 am. (One retailer - K-Mart - promised to fire any employee who didn't work Thanksgiving day. One woman made the news for quitting on the spot when forced to choose between being with her dying husband and working Thanksgiving day.)

It is definitely out of hand here, there has been brawls inside the stores. A woman was dragged across the store clutching a TV... Its silly!

As for that story of the woman. Good on her! Absolutely disgusting what they did.
 

Brianwarnock

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That's really amusing, considering that Black Friday is the day after a holiday you folks don't even celebrate.

We were in Nice Florida for that holiday 13 years ago and enjoyed the celebrations, especially the artificial snow coming from the lamp posts.

Can K Mart legally do what they did, in this country they would lose an employment tribunal case on constructive dismissal and have to pay compensation.

Brian
 
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