LOL! Good story.
Has anyone caught wind of some good online black Friday or Cyber Monday (can’t believe that’s a thing now) sales? Preferably in sports equipment/apparel and electronics?
Also to keep me occupied, has anyone got any funny Black Friday sale stories? I don’t really have really funny one, but I went over to the states one yr when I was still in College. So we cross the border (buddy and me) and turn off our phones obviously. Do some shopping, and I literally buy $40 worth of older video games (N64 and PS3), he gets a big TV and something else. Total spent was something like $250, tell the border officers and they say ok and let us in without paying duty. Without thinking really we stop off at a restaurant for lunch and decide to spring on a steak house. Half way home (1hr outside of the schools city) I realize my phone is still off. I turn it on and get like 100 texts from classmates saying “Yo, where are you, midterms about to start” “yo, midterm? You coming?” “What’s up? Whyd you miss the midterm” and even from numbers I didn’t have in the class saying I missed the midterm. I get back to the school with a lie made up to tell the teacher. Get to the teachers office and start pleading with the teacher about how someone died in my family and blah blah blah. The teacher stops me and says “I don’t know why you’re telling me this really, you didn’t miss anything at all today. We watched a movie”. My friends were upset I didn’t invite them shopping…so they punked me.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll
LOL! Good story.
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
One of the things I spend money on that I've found to be totally worth it is a subscription to Consumers Reports.
And they (along with some others out there) actually do a fair job of educating their readers on "sale events" such as Black Friday.
Black Friday has snowballed into a shopper's (perceived) day of savings.
It's really not.
It's true that IF (big IF) you are one of the lucky few to get your hands on the incredible door-buster sales, then you've got a good value.
But as a math guy, I can explain briefly how/why Black Friday is so successful to retailers.
1. You put your ad out for these incredible sales on some items... say... $200 TV... marked down to $100. Whether "in-store" or "on-line" these are frequently termed "Doorbusters" and there is a small finite quantity available at the lower price.
2. Consumers note this incredible potential for savings and say to themselves "What a deal, I'm going to get that!". (Time invested).
3. Marketing strategists know that people commit to something once they are invested. This is why some "betting websites" give you free money to start or why airline credit cards give you massive upfront rewards (or why the local dealer gives you a free hit).
4. OK, so... you've now committed 2-3 hours setting your "Black Friday" plan or you are one of those crazies that will wait 5+ hours outside a store to get your hands on those incredible door buster deals.
Here's the math:
5. Places like Wal-Mart may have 3-4 big ticket doorbusters, scattered throughout the store, maybe 20-25 items each. That's a grand total of 3x25 = 75 total items marked down maybe $100. Maybe they are giving them away at "cost".
6. But the line outside may be 500 people deep, all rushing in. OK, 75 people get those incredible items. The other 425 have several hours invested in waiting for this sale (and similar case applies online)... and ya know what... if you've invested many hours into planning for Black Friday... here it comes... YOU. ARE. BUYING. SOMETHING... and usually SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANT VALUE. So instead, the average Black Friday person is going to grab a $300 TV marked down to $250. Wow, you got something on sale... right... except that TV is always listed at $260 in that store anyways. Marked down to $250, it still a huge sale for the store and people don't have time instore or online to research other prices on that item because they are nervous somebody else will snap it up: impulse shopping.
Black Friday is basically a lottery ticket.
The small 5% - 10% of the public is getting that real, honest-to-goodness deal.
The other 90% - 95% of the public is thinking they got a good deal when they settle for buying something else... because the big-ticket items have been snatched up.
My advice:
*If you happen to find a good online deal that might be posted online for a few minutes... you basically need a reliable twitter account with some good insiders that are hawking their internet "refresh" button all day.
*And you need to have your own computer & refresh button prepared for that site. Because, these days, 100 marked down TVs will be sold off an internet site in 2-3 minutes.
I do like these stories... but I lock myself inside with the family, the turkey, and the football on Thanksgiving days.
Lions vs. Bears tomorrow... mmmyes, that's what Pengwin will be doing.
Good luck to you shoppers out there.
Spend wisely, my friends.
The sales in general are never “AMAZING”, but I see it as get what I need/want all at once when all on sale. I don’t like investing 4 trips to the mall and save $20 when I can do 1 trip to the mall. Any shopping day sale (boxing day, or week now) it’s just the door crashers that are good deals.
My list stays the same when I go in and when I leave, I don’t normally get an impulse by item. A shoe store near me does a 50% off nearly everything on boxing day(hunter boots were the only thing that wasn’t on sale last yr), and I only need new dress shoes, so I got my pair and waited in line for close to an hr. 20 minutes in I was doing the math if it was really worth my time to wait (I use what I make broken down to per hour wage), and it was just worth it. So if I’m waiting in line for an hour for a savings of $100 off a tv, I’ll do it.
But I’m curious if companies in Canada are doing anything major this yr for black Friday.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll
I just bought an articial Christmas tree online through Walmart's "pre black friday" sale. We were going to get one this year anyway and the deal was too good to pass up with free shipping.
And Pengwin7, those "doorbusters" are what retail shops call lost leaders. I worked in sales for an electronics chain for years up here in NS before joining the Navy. I know all about these stupid sales and their tactics.
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
I've always interpreted Black Friday sales as mainly for people who are more interested in the dollar amount that they're spending as opposed to the value they may be receiving.
If you look at TVs and other appliances being offered as Black Friday specials, most of them are being discounted to make way for next year's line and/or are the more poorly performing (in terms of sales) of the manufacturers product-line.
RETIRED
I know I'm new here, but I have to think that as far as bargains go....Black Friday's got nothing on John Klingberg
I echo this 100%. It is bang on. You feel that you have to commit now if you have spent the tme you don't want to leave empty handed. That is why so many people drive in the worng direction for so long because they are committed and don't want to head back the other wa too soon.
I'm going in on Thursday for a knife set and hopefully something for our gift stealing game. That's it. The rest I don't need.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Lost leaders are in food industry too. The $5 burger and fries deal at a restaurant is to get you in for a pitcher of beer or two. That’s why a lot of these food deals revolve around sporting events now (pint and a pound when leafs play, 2for1 wings on MNF, $5 burger for TNF).
The initial idea for black Friday was generally around this time, all stores have come out of the red and now anything they sell is pure profit. So a years’ worth of wages, utils, product and what not have all been paid for by Thanksgiving. Then since a lot of new products come out for Xmas, they sell the TVs, videogames, cloths, toys, tools etc for “below profit” numbers, because anything they make now is money in the pocket. Plus they make room for Christmas materials and save storage costs.
But if you need a TV, why would you need this yrs model for $500 more? So you can have 4K quality even tho TV Shows, movies, and 90% of everything aren’t filmed in 4K yet? But the time new TVs come out around the Superbowl time if I’m not mistaken.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll
Some reading might be advised. Why Black Friday deals aren't really deals
EDIT: I would also add that only in the US do you have people stepping on each other for crap they don't truly need....immediately following a day we celebrate being thankful for what we have. I am no altruist, but the greed and commercialism disgusts me.
@SmittysRant
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Oh. no. you. didn't.
This is actually one of me & the wife's most-most-most-favourite lines to quote.
Whenever we discover some candy, we say this.
I love James Woods in Family Guy.
(And Adam West).
Oh... and the "piece of Candy" bit is followed by Peter saying "That better be James Woods under that box... because if it's me under there again I'm gonna be really pissed off."
Love. Love. Love.