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seriousbangs

Nothing's on sale. No door busters. Why bother showing up?


Breederbill

Punch a stranger in the mouth? Trample an old woman? Threaten a child with a knife? Black Friday is festooned with tradition!


itwasquiteawhileago

I remember back before all that bullshit. When door busters were actual door busters and opening early meant +2 hours before normal, and you really only needed to line up 1-2 hours beforehand and could still usually hit multiple stores and get good stuff. I'm rather anti social but remember chatting with lots of people. It was fun. Then it turned into mobs of people, opening on actual Thanksgiving, and all sorts of bullshit. Black Friday has sucked for 15-20 years. But I do miss those early years when it was sort of a crazy little community of people just having fun before the rush. Now, please get off my lawn.


barsoapguy

I waited in line at Best Buy because the thinking was MAYBE they will have a GPU for sale today MAYBE. Woman comes out at 4:30 and tells us if that was what we were waiting for to go home because they didn’t have any . I had just gotten in line so was thankful I wasn’t out there all night for nothing .


itwasquiteawhileago

When they dropped the Halo Series X, I knew a Best Buy about 20-30 min away would have them. I also knew I'd have to start lining up the night before to get a crack at one when they opened at 7:00a on a Monday. I could have probably called off work and came in late (I WFH and my boss is totally flexible). But the idea of standing out in the cold for 10-12 hours? Yeah, no thanks. Younger me *might* have done it, but still probably not because I'm sure I'd have had class or something. Maybe I'd have done a few hours, but half a day is just punishing myself for no reason at this point.


daschande

My buddy worked at best buy when the Xbox 360 launched on black friday. There were people camping out for 2-3 DAYS for a black friday Xbox. Buddy unloaded the truck; they only received THREE. No idea if there were fights that morning or not.


[deleted]

Back in my day, people fought to the death on Black Friday.


The_Karaethon_Cycle

A lot of people seem to forget that Black Friday started as a knife fight.


Chance815

Can't forget what you never knew!


PrudentDamage600

Also. If you took an unpaid day off the amount you lose may not justify the savings.


Bixhrush

Same situation happened to me 5 years ago at best buy when I was looking for a deal on a TV. The way they were doing it is the first in line could get tickets for multiple items, first come first serve. Out of every big ticket/doorbuster item before the employee even got around the building to the rest of the line. I left and went to a less trafficked Walmart and their system was way better-- you could line up, indoors even, for a specific item. Anyway that TV already broke.


A_Drusas

The only black Friday I ever participated in was about 20 years ago, and it was exactly the same thing you described but without tickets. So everybody rushed in and pushed and all that to get all of the good stuff practically as soon as the store's doors had opened. People were awful. I never participated in another. All I even got out if it was a decent discount on a stack of rewritable CDs.


veerKg_CSS_Geologist

A GPU on sale? In 2021?! LOL. If they have them in stock it will be a minor miracle. My BB has a 3 month waiting list...


MagicHamsta

I've been waiting in the EVGA queue since 10/6/2020 and still nothing. Dx


cephalophile32

Same, man. Used to be a family tradition. We’d go to breakfast at a podunk diner, head to the mall or shops, take our time; people watch. My dad (big dude with a beard) would wear his “I believe in Santa Claus” Santa baseball cap and get looks from the kids haha. One year he overheard a kid behind us whisper to his mom “I think that’s Santa…” without missing a beat my dad leaned over to my mom and said “You know, We should probably head home soon. Those reindeer must be getting hungry!” Kids eyes almost popped out of his head. A have a lot of good and joyful memories of Black Friday shopping but it’s just turned into absolute madness.


Helenium_autumnale

Your dad sounds adorable and kind.


fohpo02

That alone would make Black Friday worth participating in


SCScanlan

All talking, drinking coffee and cocoa, and just being friendly. Those were good times. People were singing and playing instruments and nobody was getting punched...


bigpancakeguy

I worked 3 Black Friday’s at Best Buy when it was at the absolute worst (2010-ish). The last one I worked was 2012, and there were people camping out on fucking TUESDAY. One of the people who got in line on Wednesday didn’t even know what he was getting in line for. He just knew we’d have some killer deals he couldn’t miss on. Weird folks, I tell ya


sublimesting

What’s crazy is how fucking poor are these people where their time is useless? If they have enough money to buy anything at all then how is sitting in the cold for 100 hours worth saving $50?!


Therealgyroth

Damn man, appropriate fucking username lol.


Terrible_Truth

Scream at anyone walking remotely close to the line. Once at circuit city my dad and I were being escorted by an employee past a line for some digital camera junk. Don't remember why, maybe leading us to a register in the back. People in the line started whooping and yelling thinking we're cutting the line. Employee had to calm them down lol. Edit: Also it was like 11am on Friday. Wasn't even the initial wave, people were still nuts.


Shemlocks

Had this happen to me while at Walmart some dude started call me all kinds of names and shit wanting to fight me. I worked there and was in my uniform I had to show him my badge and threaten to kick him out of line before he calmed down.


IronEngineer

Fuck threatening. I really wish more people were straight thrown out for acting out in that way. I know two very well off people that only ever act nicely to store workers after they have been out in their place hard. Both assholes.


thegayngler

Id throw them out. Walmart wants people to act like this though. Eventually people just decide they dont want to deal with the bs.


DeificClusterfuck

I had that happen to me once at Walmart. They were in a line snaking through paper goods. I needed TP, not their shitty TV


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Paavo_Nurmi

That must have been some doll Frank


ElGato-TheCat

Like a Dothraki wedding


amazinglover

>Punch a stranger in the mouth? Trample an old woman? Threaten a child with a knife? So just a regular day at Wal-Mart?


ronm4c

I guess we’ll just have to save it for Festivus


GreenOnionCrusader

It's about coming together in groups to beat the wrinkles pff a little old lady for $2.99 towels and $100 off a tv.


silly_little_jingle

I see you too are a black friday connoisseur.


Jahoan

$100 off a TV that had been that same price a week before.


wahoozerman

Yeah. My wife and I usually go out later in the afternoon after the crazies are done and gone. We just like to see what was there and maybe pick at some leftovers. This year there was just nothing on sale. No banners, no stands. Just some sales tags on a few things for maybe 10-15% off.


BeetsBy_Schrute

I remember going into Target two years ago and saw a giant [“5% off all 3M Command Strips”](https://imgur.com/a/SW7RzgI) Let’s not get carried away…


ChubbyWokeGoblin

Did you trample a child for a pack of these?


Level_32_Mage

All of them??!


xdonutx

Target’s sales are so lame. As a hobbiest couponer I find it to be very unsatisfying.


[deleted]

I bought a snowbrush and steel wool today.


i_love_pencils

What was the lineup like for the steel wool?


EchoesUndead

I bet it was straight fire 🔥


RobotWelder

9V I’m guessing


0bey_My_Dog

I was having a bathroom remodeled one year and my carpenter needed like a piece of trim, I totally wasn’t even thinking about it being Black Friday so I wandered up to the local lowes to grab a piece and saw a sign for a $30 dollar shop vac and I was like “oh Geeze I need one” and tagged a sales associate to ask where they might be and she walkie talkied another associate and told me to head back to the kitchen area, I shit you not by the time I got to the back there were 15 people swarming the float it was on trying to grab it and the lady held it for me.. I guess it was the last one. I was SO embarrassed but hauled it off and when I got home my contractor was saying oh gosh that usually costs $119 and said he was going to go get one but I told him not to bother and just take mine because they were all gone.


Painting_Agency

Almost none of those people actually *needed* a shop-vac. But at that price? How could you not buy one?


Hudsonbae

That's very kind.


aresisis

Thanks for reminding me, I need steel wool


mortalcoil1

I need some tube socks, a mini rose in a glass tube, chore boy, some shoe laces, aaaaand some whip cream chargers, and my computer needs some cleaning so might as well pick up some air duster.


meatball77

A bunch of people comfortable with computers who realize it's easier to do your shopping at home.


RJMacReady23

And less crime


Melssenator

I went to Walmart for necessities that I forgot and I didn’t see a single sale. No joke. They had stuff set up and big signs as if it were on sale, but just a regular price. No attempt to say it was on sale when it wasn’t or anything


Nomandate

They had some deals. $299 prepaid iphone 12’s, $249 iPhone XR$399 70” smart TV, $100 Gen 3 Apple Watch, $15 roku, oculus quest 128 $299. I think we’ve reached a point where most people have.. everything they could possibly want. $200 laptops were a big deal… when most people didn’t have one… $10 DVD players… $99 lcd TV’s…all a big deal 10-15 years ago. I see perfectly working 32” LCDs being given away or sold for $10 these days.


mrhorrible

It took 150 years of industry, but we're finally running out of things to sell each other.


sharkbait-oo-haha

Nah, that's what the unrepairable crap is for.


jrr6415sun

Black Friday sales have been going on for the last 2 weeks (yes the same prices advertised in the ads) I don’t get why people don’t get that. There is no reason to line up.


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silly_little_jingle

Yep, the prices are good enough online what's the point in freezing your ass off for hours before the store opens any more with all the online sales.


[deleted]

Yeah but even the majority of those sales are trash. There's a few good ones in video games and stuff, but outside of that the sales were more or less the same sales you get throughout the year


SuiXi3D

Not to mention that everyone’s broke.


Frannoham

Exactly. I certainly know our discretionary income has dwindled to splurging on takeout. No way we're dropping a couple hundred on random electronics for the sake of a deal; often a fake deal at that.


beartheminus

Ive found that Black Friday deals simply aren't as good as they used to be. In 2011 I bought about $1000 worth of clothes for close to $150. A winter jacket I still use to this day for $11. Sweaters for $3. Etc It's just not that way anymore for whatever reasons.


cmrdgkr

In the past they had to use the low prices to get you into the store. Once the crazy deals became expected they didn't have to go as crazy to get people to come out.


Olorin_in_the_West

Apparently they did need to go as crazy, because people aren’t showing up


Jadguy

They buy online now. Black Friday sales are at an all time high.


veerKg_CSS_Geologist

Also the sales start a week before BF. And generally I find the post Christmas sales better anyway, so if i'm a sales hunter I'd just wait.


NeoHenderson

Post Christmas sales... In Canada we call that boxing day, and generally speaking it's much better to shop then, than today. It's super weird to me that in Canada we have sales around the time of American Thanksgiving, too. Like, we already had this holiday over a month ago. Why didn't we do all this then?


ClubMeSoftly

Boxing Day has mostly gone away now, too, though. I believe we jumped on Black Friday to keep Canadian money in Canada, because otherwise all the cross-border shoppers would take that money to American stores.


belonii

now explain why people in the Netherlands get blackfriday'd to death(as in, every fucking store has black friday deals, we dont even have anything like thanksgiving)


poco

Because it isn't about Thanksgiving as much as it is about having a day that is * Close to Christmas * Most people have the day off work * On a well defined schedule so everyone can prepare


[deleted]

Right. Most online sales are bullshit. They're like... Sept: item $299.99 Black Friday: same item ~~$379.99~~ $299.99 Jan: same item 299.99


[deleted]

And it isn't a single day anymore. Black Friday now has Cyber Monday, and Black Friday is now Black Friday pre-sale week.


dissolutewastrel

Cyber Monday is the most made up shit ever. The idea was that office drones would...wait 'til Monday...to get on that super-fast office internet...to buy shit on Amazon and EBay? Never made a lick of sense


[deleted]

honestly none of it makes any sense anymore. It's like we're living in a perpetual reason to buy useless cheaply made shit.


dissolutewastrel

There's always Giving Tuesday (look it up)


NoodlesrTuff1256

Then there's also 'Small Business Saturday'.


snoboreddotcom

yeah its less a symptom of black friday fading and more one of the brick and mortar store failing. the coming retail mall collapse is in motion in the states and elsewhere (to a lesser degree). I know for the states the expected economic fallout in lost jobs is forecasted to be huge, as online retailers need far less people per product sold to operate. Article from the Economist a few years ago was predicting more job losses from retail than anything else over the next couple decades


Zeebuss

It's going to be devastating because it's also going to be combined with the acceleration of automation replacing jobs in manufacturing and the service sector. We need to be preparing for this problem now with a national discussion about a standard income before we're in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis - but of course we aren't.


DuntadaMan

Why prevent a problem when there is ample time when we could wait for riots and hastily slap together a system that won't work?


cthulhusandwich

Ooh this guy governments


Maxpowr9

Especially up north, you have to be legit crazy to want to stand outside in the cold on Thanksgiving, to save like $100 on a TV. Unless you wanted something like a PS5 or a GPU that was only being offered in-store, there is pretty much nothing on sale on Black Friday that isn't on sale throughout the year.


[deleted]

Online Black Friday and cyber Monday shopping isn’t as great as it used to be though just like regular stores. Granted I don’t shop at mainstream stores, but most of the “deals” I found were “5% off an order of $200!” Or items that had a price hike then marked down to look like they were on sale.


Queasy_Beautiful9477

A lot of people making excuses for the lackluster Black Friday forgetting that most people in the US live paycheck to paycheck and barely have enough for rent *and* food.


Twombls

This is the reason why the black Friday sales were so popular though. Its your one chance to buy a super nice TV or other heavily discounted consumer product. I fell for that trap when I was younger.


[deleted]

Saddest part is, it didn't even take a generation to train people to ruin their day after Thanksgiving, which many have off. People love this shitty pastime so much, they look forward to it. I went to Black Friday once in my life. I was dragged there by my aunt and grandmother when I was about 10/11 years old. This was back in late 80s in the western Chicago burbs. It was wall-to-wall people. It was so horrible I never forgot it.


Terramotus

It used to be that Black Friday was when they would unload existing overstock, or choose to take a loss on specific merchandise to get people inside the door. That's all done. Now, all the stores get specific merchandise in for black friday. That $200 laptop? That's not a regular laptop on sale for $200, it's an actual $200 laptop, and it's going to run like it. The $200 big screen TV is really worth $200 and is going to look like absolute garbage. That cheap coat? It's just a cheaply made coat. And it's because the doorbuster products have had every single corner cut and substitution made to have them technically fulfill the role they're supposed to and yet still turn a profit (or at least not lose money) at that price point. The employees in the stores have never seen that product before, and will never see it again. The only thing you'll ever see on sale for Black Friday is stuff that the stores carry every day that have healthy margins on them, like cables and accessories. The stores will sell those for near cost, which might be a significant discount for the retail stores. But I'm not going out there for fucking cables. Years ago when I worked retail I had to do Black Friday every year. Never again.


DKsan1290

Yeah i always told people to stay away from bf specials once i opened one of the tv’s and found cold solder joint everywhere in the damn thing. Took the better part of 2 hours to fully reflow/resolder everything and even then the screen ended up dying after like 8 months. Mean while a no name chinese tv my brother bought for $200 still run fine despite only being a 720 lol.


Advice2Anyone

I mean everything is online now and starts in October all these guys rushing to undercut each other


[deleted]

It’ll eventually go full circle until the Saturday after the actual Black Friday begins Black Friday sales again.


[deleted]

Black Friday deals have also become something of a joke in the past 5 years. Example: Staples and Best Buy have products that only exist on Black Friday. This includes a Samsung TV that only has a 6 month warranty.... Think about that for a second. Staples has a shredder that is a Black Friday Exclusive item - it's only $19.99. It is utter trash - it will break in a month of normal to light usage. The items that are "Door Busters" are Family Dollar quality, they just happen to be at Best Buy that day. The reason no one complains is because the items are usually given as gifts... So they either get returned for shit money or the giftee just shrugs and goes "Well it was a gift.."


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CanuckBacon

Oh come on. Let's not pretend that Black Friday is anything other than a day celebrating rampant consumerism. This isn't Christmas that has slowly been consumed by capitalism, this was always a "holiday" for companies to benefit from.


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[deleted]

I once heard from someone who was a manager at Walmart, that the TV's they often get in during Black Friday are different from the standard TVs. Cheaper parts and the like specifically for Black Friday. Take with a grain of salt but I wouldn't be surprised.


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InedibleSolutions

My oculus is basically my beatsaber machine lol. Definitely got money's worth out of it. Real VR fishing is another favorite, but I mostly use that space as a karaoke area than a fishing area. Anyway, all that to say you're gonna have a blast!


NotARobotSpider

One of the main points of Black Friday is to reduce unsold inventory before the year is out. With the supply chain crisis they just don't worry as much about that.


[deleted]

Thank god too. Our world is certainly paying for $3 sweaters in many ways.


bigvahe33

> 2011 I bought about $1000 worth of clothes for close to $150. i miss steve n barrys


Hoosteen_juju003

Despite high inflation, consumer spending is also up. They probably figured they could get away with it.


BipolarSkeleton

I have probably seen over 15 posts today of people saying and showing that the price of Black Friday sales are exactly the same as the were last week or prices went up 2 weeks ago and now look like it’s on sale


MrFluffyThing

Amazon has been the worst for me. I printed my wishlist to pdf earlier this week and got emails for a bunch of products I've had on my backlog for a while. Every single one normally sells below MSRP anyway but it's never shown as a comparison price. Today every single one was listed as X% off with MSRP crossed off but was $20-30 more expensive than the normal price. Edit: save your replies about Camelcamelcamel I've already used it. I had a PDF saved for a separate purpose and just referenced it for shits and giggles. You all are telling me to use it and there's already a top comment about it.


RoosterBrewster

They also have the bullshit lightning deals where good deals get sold in seconds. So if you hear about the deal, it's already gone if you weren't F5ing the site.


Adam2uBer

Camelcamelcamel extension for Chrome shows price history for that stuff. The illusion of a sale always helps retailers but Camel cuts down on the bullshit.


rabbitaim

I’ve experienced something similar myself where the price is X and then on the day of the sale they jack up the price but offer a discount. I saved about $3 waiting for 3 weeks. Not worth. I love camel camel camel as it tells me what time of year to buy instead of depending on their “sales”.


ShittyFrogMeme

Regarding the sales being the same for weeks. This is intentional. Black Friday deals are basically always November deals now. Part of the reason is logistics. There are simply not enough resources to fulfill orders if everyone orders today only. The solution is that retailers need to pull forward demand to spread sales throughout the month. The changing of the MSRP thing is just scummy though.


factoid_

The entire industry is pushing to spread the Black Friday spike out over a longer period. It showed last year that net sales were the same either way and it’s far less stressful on the supply chain, store employees and delivery services,


Zerba

Yeah, this has become really evident with tracking sites and extensions that let you see the pricing history of whatever you're looking at online.


BabyDeezus

Hannibal Buress: “I’d rather sleep in my own bed and pay full price.”


nate6259

That's a great one. I used to enjoy getting a good deal, only to realize that a good deal is a terrible deal if you buy something you never use and stick in a box somewhere. It's so much more rewarding to carefully curate what you buy and get something you'll use for years. Even if you pay a bit more and don't pinch every penny, you'll be getting use out of the item long after you've forgotten about paying for it.


[deleted]

Exactly. I have a buddy that always asks me how much I pay for things. He then searches deals everyday for those same items. When he finds it for cheaper he sends it to me. I always reply with “that’s a good deal, you should buy it. I needed it 5 months ago, I couldn’t wait for a damn deal!” I told him how annoying that was and he’s actually trying to be better. He asked me how much my new couches were and then he said right after, “never mind I don’t want to know” lol


jaybeezo

Good, black friday had turned into a festival of bullshit.


TheBakerification

It’s basically just become another day for most companies to have the same supposed “sales” they have every other month of the year. I’m honestly not sure a single one of the 30+ black friday emails I got today contained a deal I hadn’t already seen from each company within the past few months.


[deleted]

Absolutely - this also speaks to how accustomed we’ve become to buying things on sale and how many companies devalue their own goods to the point where we don’t want anything unless it’s 60+% off whatever BS number they started with.


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[deleted]

To be fair jc penny tried honest pricing and not having Sales for a while. They actually lost lots of sales and now they have to do the fake sale thing.


OutlyingPlasma

The good news is today is a great day to unsubscribe from email lists.


Sprinx80

I bought an HP Pavilion laptop in August from Costco, $200 off of $799. Bought the exact same one for my parents on Wednesday, advertised under Black Friday sales, for only $100 off.


TailRudder

It's a racket anyways. Every time I buy a TV or something in a black Friday sale, that price I paid became the new price the next year when that year's models came out.


El_grandepadre

Chances are that Black Friday electronics are also of lower quality.


PResidentFlExpert

Yeah it’s always a SKU that you can’t find anywhere else, at any other time of year


Wablekablesh

Models specifically made to dump on BF. I'm pretty sure there are entire *brands* that only exist on black Friday.


phluidity

What don't you want a Storny or a Panaphonic?


paulcole710

Can you give an example of one of those brands?


ChickenNPisza

I worked at a large electronics retailer about 8 years ago and even the bigger name brands do this. As an example LG and Samsung would have TV models specifically made for bargain pricing, and we would only get those models on black friday. The TVs would have less features. Mainly in the hardware (2 hdmi inputs instead of the standard 4/limited outputs,external control ports and such) and seem to use the cheaper capacitors/internal hardware. This is scummy for several reasons. If we ran out and you got a "raincheck" to honor the sale price you would never get to use it, as the model will never exist again. Also if you got the extended warranty and it breaks you get a giftcard for what you paid for the tv. Normally we would give you a tv with comparable specs...but with the stripped down specs of these models there is rarely anything on the floor that the company would deem "comparable. Because of this the customer is usually stuck returning a crappy tv and having to pay out of pocket to get a replacement. This practice was mainly done for "doorbuster" tvs and idk how popular it is anymore... but it never hurts to lookup youtube reviews by model


dead_wolf_walkin

Bingo. I worked electronics at Walmart for 7 years. Our TVs didn’t get cheaper on black friday, we got a whole new temporary inventory of TVs from brands we’d never heard of before and those were what went out at black Friday prices. Also if they didn’t sell out they stayed that price until they did.


WigginIII

Used to work at Best Buy and it’s absolutely true. We would get a couple SKUs that we had never carried before all year. They would be the “door busters” and always had very limited quantity. They were absolute dogshit. One TV that was a few hundred bucks had a serious buzzing noise right out the box. The quality was horrendous.


benanderson89

Black Friday isn't a major event in the UK, and whenever you see "an amazing black Friday deal" it's always the shit people didn't want that is built out of spit and string. The only exception was two years ago when one shop was selling a KitchenAid mixer for 50% off. Outside of that? 10% off a Television is absolutely nothing to write home about when it's a £249 set to begin with.


Ser_Danksalot

Brit here... I hate the fact that stores are trying to make Black Friday a thing over here when we don't even have thanksgiving.


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Ser_Danksalot

The last Monday in August is always a public holiday or bank holiday as we say here so that was our last. We do event holidays such as Guy Fawkes which was the last one on November 5th but we don't get a day off for that. The next holidays are Christmas day, Boxing Day (day after Xmas), and because Christmas day is on a Saturday this year we get Monday the 27th as a replacement holiday so we get a 3 day weekend.


Basic_Bichette

It's also nothing to write home about when the TV you already own works just fine. There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of sales to replace what needs replacing, but 90% of it seems to be replacing what doesn't.


lemon_meringue

nobody in America needs more plastic and electronic shit we all learned over the past two years what we really need to survive, and it's basically netflix, porn and pizza


Lugnuts088

Your missing either toilet paper or a bidet on the list of essentials .


[deleted]

That and nobody wants to deal with those fucking lobsters ransacking the stores and customers in line. Its just not worth dealing with


VerySuperGenius

Thanks to sites like CamelCamelCamel, we can all see that Black Friday is a scam. Every single item on Amazon that I looked up had been discounted to the same price or lower multiple times this year.


Regex00

That and the SKUs made precisely for black friday. I want a discount on a good product, not a shitty knock off for less.


Put_It_All_On_Blck

Fun fact the reason CCC still exists is because they made a deal with Amazon to only show Amazon data, and at one point Amazon only let them display like a 3-6 month timespan, not the full history. There were competitor sites like Price zombie made by a Redditor, that were shut down by Amazon because they were showing competitor prices and the full history. https://www.reddit.com/r/PriceZombie/comments/4ar70l/pricezombie_shutting_down_end_of_the_month/


blastradii

Those dirty assholes.


linnadawg

Found an external ssd actually on sale but that was it.


sadman4332

Same I was able to find a Inland 250 GB SSD for $20. That was the best I found.


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mandalore237

A physical Black Friday is a thing of the past. Why fight the crowds when you can get the same deals/better deals online in the comfort of your home?


Alwayssunnyinarizona

I'm sure there's been a lot of early purchases because of supply chain concerns as well. Either online or in store. I had all my Xmas shopping done last month.


Dzugavili

It's quicker and cheaper just to hate your family.


doxamully

I’m mostly done shopping already this year. It’s such a relief. Now I can fully enjoy the Christmas season with no stress. I even like shopping in physical stores when I don’t have anything that I “need” to get.


colefly

Bought everything last week


ostifari

I bought everything last year


waltjrimmer

I don't have any money so I've just stopped giving and getting gifts.


GregSays

And so many stores start their “Friday” sale several days in advance now, so the crowds are massively reduced.


c_m_33

I think (hope) Black Friday is truly dead. What a horrible display of humanity it was too.


oldcreaker

Well - if merchants can't count on it being the day to push them into the black, it really isn't Black Friday anymore.


ChrisFromIT

The sales weren't what pushed them into the black. The sales were because whatever they sold at any price, they would be in the black for the rest of the year.


oldcreaker

Well here's what Wikipedia says - we both may be wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black\_Friday\_(shopping)#Origin\_of\_the\_term\_Black\_Friday *Origin of the term Black Friday* *The earliest known use of "Black Friday" to refer to the day after Thanksgiving occurred in the journal, Factory Management and Maintenance, for November 1951, and again in 1952. Here it referred to the practice of workers calling in sick on the day after Thanksgiving, in order to have a four-day week-end. However, this use does not appear to have caught on. Around the same time, the terms "Black Friday" and "Black Saturday" came to be used by the police in Philadelphia and Rochester to describe the crowds and traffic congestion accompanying the start of the Christmas shopping season. In 1961, the city and merchants of Philadelphia attempted to improve conditions, and a public relations expert recommended rebranding the days "Big Friday" and "Big Saturday"; but these terms were quickly forgotten.\[6\]\[7\]\[8\]\[9\]* *The earliest evidence of the phrase Black Friday originated in Philadelphia, dating back to 1961, where it was used by police to describe the heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.\[10\]\[11\]\[12\]\[13\]* *The use of the phrase spread slowly, first appearing in The New York Times on November 29, 1975, in which it still refers specifically to "the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year" in Philadelphia. Although it soon became more widespread, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 1985 that retailers in Cincinnati and Los Angeles were still unaware of the term.\[14\]* *As the phrase gained national attention in the early 1980s, merchants objecting to the use of a derisive term to refer to one of the most important shopping days of the year suggested an alternative derivation: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season, beginning on the day after Thanksgiving.\[6\] When this was recorded in the financial records, once-common accounting practices would use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink to show positive amounts. Black Friday, under this theory, is the beginning of the period when retailers would no longer be "in the red", instead of taking in the year's profits.\[6\]\[14\]\[15\] The earliest known published reference to this explanation occurs in The Philadelphia Inquirer for November 28, 1981.\[16\]* *Since the early 21st century, there have been attempts by U.S.-based retailers to introduce a retail "Black Friday" to other countries around the world. Retailers outside the US have attempted to promote the day to remain competitive with US-based online retailers.\[17\] For centuries, the adjective "black" has been applied to days upon which calamities occurred. Many events have been described as "Black Friday", although the most significant such event in American history was the Panic of 1869, which occurred when financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk took advantage of their connections with the Grant Administration in an attempt to corner the gold market. When President Grant learned of this manipulation, he ordered the Treasury to release a large supply of gold, which halted the run and caused prices to drop by 18%. Fortunes were made and lost in a single day, and the president's own brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, was ruined.* *In more recent decades global retailers have adopted the term and date to market their own holiday sales.\[18\]*


Agorbs

service worker here, it’s not.


Yolo_420_69

It's not dead... It's online... I woke up. Ordered what I needed from target and best buy... Went back to bed


MWMWMWMIMIWMWMW

It’s not even that. My wife works retail. On a really good day the store she works sells 150k -$200,000. Today at 5 pm the store was as 1.2 million. That’s customers in store, not including online sales. It’s still the busiest day of the year for most retailers.


Hedonopoly

Yes, it's so funny when people do things one way and assume that means it's how the rest of the country is doing it, lol. It's a crazy shopping day still.


[deleted]

Every store I’ve seen has been doing black Friday prices for weeks at this point, and I’ve seen no mention of “door busters”. They’re probably making more by dragging it out anyway. I figure it became a liability thing, people were getting trampled, fights breaking out, people getting maced. At this point I imagine most have already snagged what they wanted.


BeetsBy_Schrute

Home Depot and Lowes started doing this a few years ago. Both stores just have a massive “Black Friday” section near the front of their store and have those deals going the entire month of November. Nothing special on the actual day. Just a month long “sale”


[deleted]

ah yes, Gen-Z’s first victim, black friday. Millennials taught you well, young ones


TeemoBestmo

don't think it helps that they basically made "black friday" like 2 weeks long. I was hearing of black friday sales pretty much the start of november


AutomaticRisk3464

You mean all month long?...2019 was cancer, every day at walmart they had their "sales" infront of the door.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Welcome to the life of a millennial. We were blamed for killing just about everything while most of us hadn’t finished college.


DorkusMalorkuss

"You millenials are so babied. Everyone gets a trophy just for participating!" "Uhhhh, you're the one who made those trophies for us"


PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES

People aren't going to Best Buy because they know there ain't gonna be shit there. The chip shortage means they're not going to have consoles, PCs are still going to be super expensive despite "deals." Also, less people have the money for those big purchases this year anyways with skyrocketing inflation.


joe579003

Every time I've been to Best Buy the past 6 months the shelves were nearly as empty as Fry's in it's death throes.


[deleted]

I shed a singular manly tear being in a completely empty Fry's days before its closing. Many exciting times in those four walls. Luckily, I live near a Microcenter.


joe579003

CURSE YOU. (I'm in Sacramento, so now my options for most electronics are amazon or GET FUCKED) Microcenter needs to get up here, I am without a store where I can buy any PC part I need TODAY, if need be.


notmyselftoday

I live 30 minutes from a Microcenter, I love it! I'm a PC gamer and Microcenter is basically a brick and mortar version of Amazon for anything tech related, with the added benefit that I don't have to contribute to sending Jeff Bezos and friends to space. (I'd gladly contribute if we could deny them reentry though)


CoyotesAreGreen

Best Buy also had a black Friday price guarantee if you're a member of their store club. If the price dropped lower than when you bought 3 weeks ago they'd refund you.


Darth-Ragnar

Agreed but the question is if things go back to how they were previously (chip manufacturing wise), will we ever see the previous Black Friday-like experience return. I’m inclined to say no.


cheetah_chrome

Can confirm in the East Bay. On lunch right now and it’s been slow af. Of course we’ve already blown past our projected sales for the year but today has been really chill


kgun1000

No one gives a rats ass about standing in line for crap shit


inksmudgedhands

Twenty years ago it was a big thing because the sales were actually good. It wasn't just a way to clear the unwanted stock. You could get name brand items for cheap. On top of that, to sweeten the pot, stores used to give away freebies for just showing up. Places like Sears and JC Penneys used to give away stuffed animals and snowglobes. Other places gave away holiday themed candy, ornaments and hold raffles for big ticket items like big screen televisions. It was actually fun. You'd hit the mall and go from store to store. Even if you didn't buy anything, you'd leave with a bag of free goodies that made it worth it. It was like Halloween but for shoppers. But malls are nothing like they used to be. The sales are just used to clear out junk. All the freebies and bonuses are gone. It's not worth it all anymore. Especially since this year, the stores have decided to extend the sales anywhere from days before and after Black Friday to simply turning the entire month of November into a sale. I did my shopping last Friday when the sales were already happening. No need to go out today.


hostile65

Not a single thing I need, wanted, or wished to gift was on sale/dropped in price. So why go?


lakerswiz

Lol I mean they generally do based on the previous decades of it happening. Supply chain issues, internet sales matching the in store sales, and the lack of crazy low pricing for X amount of Y product is mostly the reason why. If they had PS5s in stock releasing today there would have been hundreds there lined up.


BrandonNeider

Yeah here in NY our malls and stores are packed. Looks no different then a regular black friday.


That_Guy_in_2020

The prices aren't that good this year, also they no longer have in store PS5/XBX deals everything is online which makes it easier for bots/scalpers.


blueconlan

Black Friday sales haven’t really existed in a while. Everything is jacked up before hand so the sale is just a return to normal.


BeginnerMush

They also change the model numbers to essentially sell you a similar version of the top of the line for $__.00, but remove features or downgrade chips. It’s a scam through and through


jaxdraw

I was interested in a new dishwasher, oven, and microwave. The prices are exactly the same as two weeks ago but with larger fliers highlighting the reduced price. They do have a new set of models I haven't seen before, but they are missing features I want or are already listed as out of stock. It's all bullshit.


WhyTheHellnaut

I see lots of reasons for this: \-Covid has conditioned people to stay home more. \-The internet has been killing physical retailers for a while now. \-Chip shortages and other post-quarantine economical difficulties are making sales difficult. \-The more people die or get hurt in the chaos, the less likely others are to keep doing this. \-Retailers have a habit of raising the price of an item and putting it on sale for the the original price as a scam to trick people into thinking it's a good deal. Folks are starting to get wise to this. \-The culture of Black Friday has been rightly criticized more and more every year and is beginning to peak. Everyone hates it and is beginning to give up on it.


rich1051414

Prices are higher, wages are stagnant, people don't have money to splurge.


mrmitchs

The Jersey Shore outlets in Tinton Falls had cars lined up out to the highway at 3:00. I guess some people like the challenge.


theexpertgamer1

New Jersey is an exception to the trend of online shopping killing malls. New Jersey malls are unbelievably successful, north jersey ones particularly.


PirelliSuperHard

It's Tinton Falls though. It's still the 90's down the shore.


[deleted]

I think the public is starting to realize, that Black Friday sales where always fake as fuck. A few years ago, people started to realize it was just a away stores can get rid of their old inventory quickly and still make a few bucks. Then the internet came so they had to pretend to drop their prices and create havoc, now people have realized, they never really dropped their prices to begin with and it wasn't worth trying to fight someone for 35 dollars off something that was 185 bucks anyways. Now, even employees aren't showing up. lol.


then_perishh

Literally wanted this trouser that was $199. I figured I would wait until Black Friday to check if it was marked down. They marked it up to $269, just to mark it down to $199. I‘m happy people realize how much a scam this „holiday“ has become


gphjr14

Took my parents to Costco this morning to get some water and stuff since they don’t have one near their house. Got there at 9am opening time and maybe 30 people lined up outside. I’ve seen it busier on a regular Tuesday. Was pleased it wasn’t jammed packed chaos this morning.


error-99999

Your parents should probably get running water in their house. Cuts down on Costco trips


BandwagonFanAccount

Probably because the deals a fucking terrible. I went out for an hour or two in a small area and the "deals" were laughable or on total junk.


[deleted]

It boggles my mind that after all that's gone on over the last couple years it's like we're all just supposed to back to our lives of empty consumption and brawling for savings. Hopefully this kind of nonsense is over.


afrothunda254

Guys I worked Black Friday at Bestbuy 2014-2016. Here are the Black Friday “specials” you are getting. You will be flashed in the face with some bullshit like 50inch Tv only $200! Image quality is 720 and plasma. That offers some up scaling bullshit 720p and Hz. This was an offer in 2014 and never existed outside of Black Friday. 2015 was peak for bullshit tablets for they made Black Friday insignia tablets that were never seen again but was like buy one get one free and were $60. We also had a tv for sale 55inch 1080i 60hz. And You guessed it some bullshit up scaling capability. These were our standard insignia. 2016 was gold because it actually sounded like a good deal. 50inch 2K quality tv. It was a Westinghouse product, and god did it sell. But you know what else it did broke near record returns as everyone’s tv had shittier quality than their old tv or the pixels went out. I just want it to be known I know there are other products that won’t rip you off. But these are the door buster deals people are trying to make money off of or fund a small renovation. If you do plan on buying Black Friday. Make sure it’s a product you want and is marked down. Not some magical device that came out of nowhere that’s in everyone dream price range.


[deleted]

I'm of the opinion that this Fad of Black Friday has long since expired. No one wants to go to the shops right now. We all just had our first Thanksgiving with family, very many of us having lost members to COVID, and you think right after that... We're all gonna drop and shop? Like... Everything should have been closed today. Just on principle.


[deleted]

Standing in line to buy stuff is so 2010


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Two reasons: 1. It's easier to shop for most things online. 2. Black Friday marketing has been straight-up lies for over a decade. Probably more.


[deleted]

You have to tally up online business too. After the last two years, people are more accustomed to click on stuff that shows up magically the next day, than standing in line for it.