Last week, I offered 17 shopping tips for this holiday season. If you haven’t looked at that post yet, there is a lot of money-saving advice there.
Now, I’d like to offer one more tip: Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday do offer some very good deals, but ONLY for the few items that are offered at a deep discount. So, if you are looking for an expensive consumer electronics item and it is one of the “door buster” deals, then buy it!! 🙂 BUT!!!!!!!!! don’t buy items that are not on sale. The reason that retailers offer a few deep discounts is to get you to do more shopping while you’re getting your bargain. However, the other items are mostly not discounted. Why do you think that retailers offer “door buster” sales? It’s to lure you in — and not because they want you to save money on a few items.
So guard your wallet. If there’s a deal you like, buy. Then, then GET OUT OF THE STORE or EXIT THE WEB SITE. There will be better deals later on. It’s really a game of chicken. Who will blink first — the shopper or the retailer? Since it’s still a tough retailing environment, the stores will blink first IF YOU LET THEM. Be smart.
And remember, save your receipts and check the post-purchase ads. I just saved $300 by seeing a Best Buy ad for something that we recently bought at Best Buy.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Image by Jillian Tohber Leslie
Black Friday and Cyber Monday always interest me, even though I almost never take part. Hearing stories about people waiting outside in the cold instead of enjoying the holiday with their family always gets me thinking. I guess I just find it amazing how much big business can influence people Something as simple as lowering the price of product is enough to drive people mad.
I will admit though, these deals are marketed quite well. Every year I am exposed to dozens of commercials and internet ads highlighting the best deals. And I will admit, many of them make me think about making a buy.
I did take advantage of Cyber Monday one year. I believe it was in 2011. I felt as though I had given in – let big business take my money, even though I spent significantly less than I would have otherwise. We’ll see what happens this year. All I know is that I’ll worry about the deals after I’ve enjoyed some turkey and football.
I have mixed feelings about black friday, sometimes I hear from people that they score some amazing deals, but then others tell me deals that really aren’t that great. When I read your post I found some interesting tips about black friday and cyber monday. Ive already planned out the items that I would like to get and already have set price ranges of what I believe would be a good deal for the items. This I think will help out a lot with making the decision of whether or not to buy something on black friday or cyber monday. First I want to just enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and than ill see how I feel friday morning about going shopping or not.
Now I am not one to really enjoy Black Friday or Cyber Monday simply because one is too crowded and the other just bugs me in general. I do believe however, that these door buster deals are just used to lure consumers in. I am pretty sure they want to sell more than just that item so my guess is they use the door buster to grab your attention and then get you to buy additional items. So I think it is very smart to take this advice of buying the well-priced item and high-tail it out of the store or off the website. Like most other consumers, when I see that I saved money I feel like I can spend more since I didn’t spend a lot. But this is obviously not a good habit to have. So this holiday season I will make sure to stop at the great deal and get out of that store before my whole paycheck gets spent!
I think this is great advice because it makes complete sense to me that company’s would try to draw in customers with great deals so they can possibly make the mistake of purchasing items that are not on sale. This is some advice that would defiantly have the intention of trying to follow this coming week with any shopping i may end up doing.
Black Friday is a great marketing technique to get customers into their store. Although companies may be taking a loss for their discounted item that they are trying to sell to their customers on Black Friday, most likely a customer will go into the store and see something else they want to purchase that may not be discounted or of great value, and then the company gains that loss back easily plus more. People go into stores on Black Friday, see discounted prices and find the need to spend all their money on products they most likely don’t even need. This morning my mom saw a Black Friday deal for a toaster oven for $10 she was planning on buying, yet our current toaster oven is in perfect condition. But when people see cheap prices, they think they need to take advantage and buy when they normally wouldn’t purchase certain products.
Last night we went to Roosevelt and best buy. I have to say it was just amazing. And ONE thing: I felt like there were much more Chinese people than Americans. That bugs me a lot actually not because they are Chinese, but because many of them are so called “Huangniu” in Chinese who massively purchase cheap things here and sell them online back to China. I mean I dont mind people making money, but come on. Do you really have to buy 50 Ipads and 50 LV bags? There are still other people standing in the line for the whole night just to buy ONE cheap stuff. But anyway, I didnt buy anything because i didnt see anything I really need and for something I want but I need, i just looked at them and walked away. I guess I am a rational consumer
Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping days of the year, I personally never take part in them. I am usually the one sitting from the comfort of my own home and hearing about the horror stories that take part on Black Friday. I read an article which said that this is the first year that online Thanksgiving sales topped over 1 billion dollars. It was a fascinating article and it is very interesting to take a look at the internet over the years and see how far technology has become. I would not be surprised in the least if next Thanksgiving we have another record-breaking statistic for online shopping sales
I rarely purchase anything on Black Friday. Every time I go to the mall, I find nothing that is marked down significantly enough for me to make a purchase. I think there are better deals throughout the year than there are on Black Friday. I’m disappointed every time because everyone else is able to find something to buy but I never do 🙁 I think the whole concept is purely psychological and is a way to get people to spend their money on things they could save more on on another day.
I went into one store and it had a sign for Black Friday boasting lower prices and deals. I went in and saw a sign for sweaters that said “Black Friday Markdown $20 sweaters.” I looked at the tag on the sweater and the regular price was $20 anyway. Things like this irritate me and make me wonder if other stores try to trick people like that.
I think Cyber Monday does actually have deals because I always hear of people buying TVs for a really low price. I think post-Thanksgiving shopping deals only applies to electronics most of the time.
I never really partake in Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it’s a hassle for me and being in a crowded store or mall with anxious people is not my thing. However, I do see the door buster deals that take place around Thanksgiving time and it does intrigue to maybe go out and shop, but I know that I’ll shop even more. These deep discounts are just another way to lure in customers and get more sales. Another tip is always pre-shop. Know what you’re shopping for and stick to the list.