Beware of Black Friday Deals that Aren’t

Ah Black Friday: the day where it seems that every store is open early to entice the bargain-hunting masses not in a tryptophan-induced coma to come and buy their stuff at usually unbelievable prices. However, CNET warns readers not to believe the hype and to do your due diligence to confirm whether a deal is true or not.

Why don't stores offer a couple of truthful ads? Something like this: "Look, we've got three Samsung 40-inchers for $599.99. We won't make any money on them. But we're advertising them so that you can get excited. We promise there will be three of them and we'll sell them to the first person who comes in and guesses the middle name of our handsome salesman, Brad. We think that's fairer than having y'all fight, bite and claw outside our front door. Life is random. So are our deals."

Reminds me of the "mark downs" on items when Circuit City was going out of business. A lot of items "50% off" were over the price they were selling for before the "mark down".

That's where internet enabled phones come in handy.

Originally Posted by Oldie

Reminds me of the "mark downs" on items when Circuit City was going out of business. A lot of items "50% off" were over the price they were selling for before the "mark down".

That's where internet enabled phones come in handy.

That's where common sense comes in handy...

Originally Posted by Guitarrasdeamor

That's where common sense comes in handy...

Oh yeah, because common sense can quickly compare prices in multiple stores and locations in an age where tech prices change by the week.

If I get a good bead on a really good deal I plan on doing what I can to lock it in. I have never participated in BF but this year I may have to try and get a couple good deals for myself. I never fully intend to get this stuff as gifts, the only person who knows who this is going to make happy is me thus negating the point of BF. Oh well, I am not a huge holiday person anyway.

I guess for me "Black Friday" just isn't worth it. To get up at some god awful hour to get to some store so that I MAY Have a chance at 3 or 5 or at most 10 items when there's dozens of people loitering outside the same store in the cold snow or rain..um..just doesn't sound all that inviting. Even if some Black Friday deal had an item I needed, I'd still rather be comfortable and warm the day after Thanksgiving, not soggy and cold, fighting a few dozen people so that I MAY be able to buy the item.

I'm all about shopping online. You can compare prices for killer deals, and everybody's going to be offering free or deeply discounted shipping soon. I've already found quite a few good buys just watching our own [H]otDeals forum, and slickdeals.

Originally Posted by hsiaodog

Oh yeah, because common sense can quickly compare prices in multiple stores and locations in an age where tech prices change by the week.

Well its common sense when 50% off doesn't look any cheaper than it did before.

I've recently been the same way where I'd been searching for wedding bands and out of shits and giggles I look through the mall jewelry stories that have these signs all over the place 80% off all stock! Alright... $400 for a gold band? Really? Want to do the math backwards Malik? (I'm not being racist, I shit you not it was Malik's Jewelry). That'd normally be a $2000 ring if it was not 80% off according to the math.

So yeah... they might have 50% off, but they jack the prices up a bit... lets be honest, they're not losing money on squat.

Cyber Monday is so much better. Screw B&M stores using BS tactics because people are too stupid to do research.

I think BF is a 3am suckers game. The chance of scoring one of the big ticket items is slim to none. I also apparently consider my time more valuable than some other people consider theirs.

Last BF there were some small things I wanted from bestbuy (dvd spindle, cd spindle and something else I can't remember). I popped by around 10am after the madness had stopped and waited for someone to come out and restock. They never put out their entire stock for the early bird nuts and they restock out of the back as the day goes by but they'll never admit that they actually have it back there. I walked in; wandered around for 20 minutes until they put out more and then got my cheap dvds and cds. No 3am, no nutjobs.

There are some more densely populated areas in the country where the madness doesn't stop at 10AM. It continues 24/7 until the second week of January.

Originally Posted by hsiaodog

Oh yeah, because common sense can quickly compare prices in multiple stores and locations in an age where tech prices change by the week.

Common sense can tell you that something is overpriced. If you're out shopping for anything and haven't checked elsewhere/don't already know a general price point...you shouldn't be out shopping for whatever it is. I have a general conception of what everything I need costs, online and in store, and I go off of that.

I find that most of the deals on sale days are non-deals, except maybe the cheap usb keys at futureshop, but they sell out too fast. small stores are the way to go if you want deals, you just have to be nice to the people who work there.

There aren't many great deals out there that I have seen. Lots of "mark-up" sales or outright small discounts. BF is mostly a waste of time now.

Originally Posted by xeddex

I think BF is a 3am suckers game. The chance of scoring one of the big ticket items is slim to none. I also apparently consider my time more valuable than some other people consider theirs.

Last BF there were some small things I wanted from bestbuy (dvd spindle, cd spindle and something else I can't remember). I popped by around 10am after the madness had stopped and waited for someone to come out and restock. They never put out their entire stock for the early bird nuts and they restock out of the back as the day goes by but they'll never admit that they actually have it back there. I walked in; wandered around for 20 minutes until they put out more and then got my cheap dvds and cds. No 3am, no nutjobs.

Uh, i dont know if you know how this BF thing works. Whatever is advertised for BF, typically someone like a BB, Target or Walmart will stack these things in a pallet for you to grab from. Once that is selling down they will refill from the stock in back, genius.You i am guessing just arrived and they were right in the middle of getting the stock and putting it out. Sometimes it takes quite a while to do a restock if you still have stuff in the back and getting it to the floor.

You mean like most of the stuff on newegg?

id just like to say wile the chance is slim as they say if you "dont play you cant win"

Someone has an awful lot of common sense if he can know the usual pricing for all consumer items, which includes the likes of lawnmowers, toasters, tvs, fridges, airconditioners, showerheads, hifi etc etc.

If I had that much of common sense, I'll charge people $50 for my services to find the best deal for them. Anyone wants to take up my service?

You pay me $50, I help you save $200 off that item you want to buy. Sounds like a good deal.

Originally Posted by hsiaodog

Oh yeah, because common sense can quickly compare prices in multiple stores and locations in an age where tech prices change by the week.

If anyone has such an awesome skill, common sense will dictate that he'll start charging people for his services. Instead of simply saying that he has such an awesome skill.

Originally Posted by Techno Pride

Someone has an awful lot of common sense if he can know the usual pricing for all consumer items, which includes the likes of lawnmowers, toasters, tvs, fridges, airconditioners, showerheads, hifi etc etc.

I don't know the prices off the top of my head, but I wouldn't buy most of those things willy nilly. For big/expensive items I try to research them thoroughly, to find out what is the best quality and price combination. Anyone with a smartphone could look up the prices too (I don't have one but many do).

When I go to a store I go for a specific item(s), so researching ahead of time is not a problem. I'm not going to buy something as expensive as a TV on an impulse buy. A toaster sure, but there isn't much money to be saved on something that cheap/durable (the one I have now was maybe $30-40 and I've had it for many years).

Not to mention, I wouldn't buy one at all, because the one I have still works. What are the chances my toaster is going to break the week of black friday? I guess I'm just a socialist pig not buying crap I don't need