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How Well Did You Fare on "Black Friday"?

Posted by Cliff on from the share-your-shopping-anecdotes dept.

Quixote asks: "''Black Friday' is about over now. Though I wasn't among the faithful who queued up to get into the stores, I could see massive traffic jams in the local Best Buy, Target, etc. on my drive in to work. But it looks like the online offerings of some of the retailers are also pretty much slashdotted (I'm downloading a 500KB rebate form from CompUSA rebate center at the blazing speed of 800bytes/sec as I submit this story). So, how many of you avoided the long checkout lines and used the 'net instead? What are your experiences? What 'killer' deals did you get online, that you wouldn't have gotten in the store? And what are your thoughts on this whole phenomenon: why shouldn't the stores just get rid of this 'lets open the store at an unearthly hour' practice, and just move all of the 'Black Friday' sales online?"

8 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. I was wondering... by MacAndrew · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...why the heck they do this, too. Crowds make me itch. But a lot of people *love* it -- I read about people who dropped $1000 or more on Christmas gifts, and I sure many spent more than they intended because they were spend-saving or "spaving" -- and there's probably a race to the bottom among retailers to out-do each other and pack the people in.

    I think the kind of shopper who gets an adrenaline rush from this kind of shopping -- and if they do, fine, so long as they don't blow apart their credit rating -- likes to touch the merchandise, and likes the shopping experience. It's entertaining. Hey, I still go to bookstores even though I can get most things cheaper at home. There's the power to browse, and the opportunity to impulse buy; the sharpest discount and greatest convenience aren't the whole thing.

    Now, the whole holiday going down the materialism tube, that's a whole 'nuther debate. :)

    1. Re:I was wondering... by handsomepete · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "I read about people who dropped $1000 or more on Christmas gifts"

      I had to return something that I purchased a few days earlier on Friday, and I was stuck behind a couple who were purchasing decent matching PCs with 17" flat panel monitors and a laptop. Oh yeah, and a VCR (which oddly seemed the man's primary concern). The total that I saw was somewhere in the area of $6,000.

      I'm not sure how I felt after seeing that as I returned some washer hoses to get my 30 bucks back, but I'm sure it wasn't good...

      The most interesting thing I saw out of the whole day was a pair of police officers putting big bright orange warnings on cars telling the owners that they were likely candidates to be broken in to. I asked one officer about it and he said, "If we see anything in plain site - electronics, purses, movies or CDs - we put this note on the car to alert them to the fact they could be a target for a car break-in." When I pointed out to him that putting big bright orange notes on windshields might make the cars slightly bigger targets, he scratched his head and just stood there, silent.

    2. Re:I was wondering... by TeeWee · · Score: 4, Interesting

      When I pointed out to him that putting big bright orange notes on windshields might make the cars slightly bigger targets, he scratched his head and just stood there, silent.

      Actually, police officers do the same things sometimes where I live. Only, they're a bit smarter about it and leave notes on all cars. Good cars get a note saying "Nothing in sight" and targets get a note saying "Next time, you may just want to cover up that cellphone of yours!"

  2. In Soviet Russia.... by Jonny+290 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cheaply made electronics beat each other half to death to get a better deal on YOU!

    --
    Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...
  3. I went to Radio Shack ... by timothy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... and all I got were these lousy USB adapters!

    Actually, I got stocking stuffers -- "safety hammers." These are the orange, weighted hammers for smashing auto glass, with a notch protecting a blade for slicing seatbelts etc. They were on sale for $5 apiece, so I bought out the store (they only had 6 left).

    However, what I *wish* I had gotten is about 20 of those stupid remote control cars, and put them all on eBay. Then I could have bought some real presents.

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:I went to Radio Shack ... by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Scene at CmdrTaco's house, Christmas Day:

      CmdrTaco excitedly grabs a large, hastily-wrapped box. He reads the tag aloud to all those nearby:

      "From Timothy. Hi Rob, sorry I couldn't make it to the party. Here's something to take with you on the go; these can be really handy at times. I bought the last one the store had. Open the box to find out. Enjoy!"

      CmdrTaco tries to guess what it is.

      "Maybe it's a new Jornada! Or, one of those slick CD/MP3 players, or even an Archos!"

      *shakes box vigorously*

      "I bet it could be a new handheld GPS! Or maybe just a really good travel mug, I'd be happy with that!"

      CmdrTaco rips into the box, unraveling layer after layer of bubble wrap and tissue paper. Finally he grabs something heavy, and plastic, and...orange. Pulling it out of the box, CmdrTaco sits staring at the "Safe-T-Hammer" in his hands, turning it over and over, reading the poorly translated description of its life-saving abilities.

      CmdrTaco then remembers the last time he clicked on a Timothy article.

      CmdrTaco lays the outrageously orange hammer on the couch next to him, places his head in his hands, and weeps silently.

      --
      ...
  4. The Psychology of Crowding by Ieshan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One of the reasons, as proven in social psychology research: crowding acts as an arousing agent. Crowding has been shown to heighten a situational reaction, i.e., if you're going to the store to go buy things, you're more likely to do so if everyone around you is bustling about doing the same thing.

    Not only that, but the crowds in the stores make customers fall for their gimmicks (buy one, get one free; buy one, get a free silver platter). They also subject the customer to huge amounts of other kinds of marketing.

    Crowds HELP stores, not hurt customers.

  5. attachment sales by jenniferj · · Score: 4, Informative

    I work for a major retailer, and our boss cautioned us that morning, before the doors opened to the customers: if we didn't sell additional items with the "doorbusters" -- those incredible discounts -- then we wouldn't make any money.

    That's the truth in retail, anyway. Often things are sold at deep discounts, knowing the add-on sales will bring in the bucks. That cheap digital camera? Let me sell you some batteries and photo paper and an additional memory card. A free-after-rebate printer? Cable and ink and paper.

    This is true, for retailers like mine, ESPECIALLY on a day like black Friday. We wouldn't have gotten our bonuses if we hadn't gotten those attachments... and people are going to need them anyway, aren't they?

    (for the record: I would never suggestion an add-on sale that was pointless, or continue to push if the customer said no)