I was driving home tonight and noticed the fools in tents

[TwixVoy]

I was driving home tonight and noticed the fools in tents outside several retailers I drove by.

Having worked at Target for several years here are some fun facts about black friday "deals":

1. A good majority of the "deals" are just regular weekly ad prices we had earlier in the year thrown in to the 2-day sale ad.

2. There are only a few hand picked items that are actual "deals".

3. Of the actual "deals" 99% of the time it is some item we NEVER carry except for black friday, OR it is a similar (enough so that the consumer won't notice the difference right away) but cheaper model to what we usually carry.

4. Of the actual "deals" we are generally carrying enough on hand to last about 5 minutes. After that you are SOL and only have the fake "deals" left to buy.

5. The actual "deals" (due to point 3 above) are usually cheap trashy models of products. When I was a front end manager at Target I dreaded the week after black friday.... we got TONS of those low cost TVs and other electronics returned. You would be amazed how much of it completely dies in just a few days time or has other issues. We return it back to the manufacturer for FULL CREDIT, AND because half the time it was as special black friday only "deal" whoever returns it is SOL of getting a replacement or substitute.

But hey I suppose camping outside a store in the freezing cold all night to run in a flash mob down store aisles is fun for some people. Being on the other end of it (working in the store) I developed a great distaste for it. Last year we had a fight break out in electronics and a guy got his head pushed through the video game case. Got cut up really bad, and the mob just swarmed in to the case grabbing games that had blood on them. Who knows what blood born illness he could have had? But hey getting $15 off a video game must be worth a life of HIV.

Just glad this is one year I can sit at home and watch the crazyness from a safe distance. I told some people at my old Target store I may come in after the crazyness and say hi. I just might do that.

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. I thought this was about homeless people

then remembered its black friday in the states

[Birthmark]

4. To my everlasting credit as a human being...

...so did I. That makes me a poor consumer, I guess. :)

[Lisa0825]

2. I haven't shpped on Black Friday in at least 10 years, probably much more....

I have no desire to fight crowds or camp out. The last time I camped out for anything, it was for concert tickets before the days of online sales.

I might shop for a phone tomorrow, at a shop that is not near a mall, if it doesn't look crowded when I drive by.... but that is only because mine is on death's door and I don't have a land line.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Thank you for your very sensible view!

I have always avoided Black Friday like the plague, and now I have good reasons to do so!

I'm glad you're well removed from the craziness...

K&R

:hi:

[notadmblnd]

5. I have never done the "black Friday" thing. In fact I don't go out Christmas shopping anymore

Who needs it? Hot malls, screaming, tired, whiny toddlers. Fighting adolescents with no money to spend taking up space and blocking access to everything you might want to look at. If I do buy, it' online and I don't have to spend money on gas, or shipping. No long walks from the parking lot, no forgetting where I parked the car. No lugging huge bags around.

This year, I'm doing something real special. Instead of buying gifts, I'm going to look around the house for stuff I don't use or want any longer and I'm going to give that as presents. I suggested that my entire family participate too. We'll see if they do. I know that no one can afford to spends thousands this year though.

[tsuki]

11. Regift, that is the ticket. No fighting when I die. If you want it, I'm tired of dusting it. nt

[pipi_k]

22. I like that idea, and I wish

I could convince family and in-laws to do the same. Mr Pip and I have both told them not to spend a lot like usual on us. We don't want or need stuff that's going to sit around needing to be dusted, or be put away never to be seen. We would both rather have something like fruit baskets or groceries or something similar, and in fact we've gotten those things a few times and we're perfectly happy with them.

But I do like the idea of regifting something that's no longer being used...or has never been used. My daughter is drooling over my authentic Polish painted eggs collection in a cut crystal basket and wants it after I'm gone. I'd much rather see her enjoy it now, though.

I also have clothing I've never even worn. It seems sort of cheap to give it as a gift, but actually it's probably the best thing that could happen to it.

:)

[47of74]

6. I worked at Wally World for two years

That killed any desire in me to go shopping on Black Friday.

[cowcommander]

7. The good deals also end up with the campers only

Three years ago I went to try and get a Playstation 3 since it was the hot thing back then. They only had 5 systems on hand and handed these slips to the first 5 people who had already been camping there for two days. So there was no point in trying to rush in and grab the best deals, because it was already reserved for someone else.

[TwixVoy]

8. I will never forget last year the TVs...

We had one TV that was actually a big mark down. (it was a crap brand we were no longer going to carry though) We had about 8 of them. They were gone in the first 30 seconds of the day.

As I said we were never going to carry them again. We kept getting people asking about them the entire day AND the entire next day. It amazed me how many people had no idea how the game works and actually believed they were going to get one.

Funny thing.... of the 8 we had half of them were returned defective.

[tblue]

9. The only thing worse than camping out for Black Friday is camping out to buy Palin's book.

I can't imagine doing either. I hate malls and Christmas crowds even without the camping. Thanks so much for sharing some of the truths about Black Friday.

[depakid]

10. And to top it off- you can almost always find things cheaper on the net than in retail stores

[pipi_k]

23. Yep...free shipping, too.

The only thing I actually venture out to buy is scotch tape, bows, and wrapping paper.

The rest of it...gifts and stuff...online



:)

[Raine]

12. I've never done it and never will

I shop online and other than that local craft shows where you can get something different that's made by an American.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. People are fucking stupid

Black Friday shoppers are structurally fucking stupid.

[tilsammans]

14. Having worked in retail, I can attest . . .

. . . Black Friday is usually a waste of time for shoppers. But some just REALLY have to be there, no matter what.

From the retail working stiff's POV, the worst is the period between Christmas and New Year's -- when five weeks of crap gets returned.

[Kingofalldems]

15. You mean the Samsung TV on sale at Radio Shack is crap?

Oh man.

[TwixVoy]

21. Oh man what a sucker

You mean the Samsung LN32B360 "Regularly $549.99" at Radio Shack now $399.99 on black friday sale? FOR TWO DAYS ONLY BUY NOW!!!!

You mean the SAME Samsung LN32B360 that is REGULARLY $397.97 YEAR ROUND on Amazon.com TAX FREE?

Like I said - it is a day for suckers. I remember at Target going around one year a week before the ad and jacking up the prices on TVs so we could claim the $20 off regular price was some extra special sale.

Unless you actually have worked retail you have no idea the kind of mind game tricks we play.

[Kingofalldems]

25. I believe that's the one-a 32 inch screen.

Is the TV crap?

[TwixVoy]

27. I can't speak from experience about that particular one

but I can tell you having spent a large amount of time selling electronics in a retail environment Samsung is really top notch. It was very rare we ever got returns for defective Samsung electronics.

But don't think the Radio Shack black friday deal is any kind of deal. You can find that TV online for LESS than the radio shack black friday price year round.

[hunter]

16. Black Friday is a memorial to dead Chinese coal miners.

You buy the stuff they gave their lives for.

[MindPilot]

19. +1

I'm just dumbfounded by the whole idea that one day's receipts will put a business in the "black". Just doesn't seem like a good model, but then I'm just an unemployed IT guy; what do I know?

[1awake]

17. I went out on black Friday once,

it was two years ago.. my first and last time. Did I get afew decent deals? yes I did. But I also received cut up heals of my feet from people ramming me over and over again with their carts, not to mention several bruises from being knocked into stands. Was it worth it.. not really.

[phasma ex machina]

18. Some people seem to just enjoy standing in line overnight

for parades, concerts, sporting events, shopping events. Perhaps more for the sake of the party than anything else.

[niyad]

20. I don't care if they are GIVING the stuff away--no way do I go out black friday.

absolute insanity. won't go near wally world--and if I ever had any doubts about that--the young man who got trampled to death last year would have ended it.

I don't shop online-- but I know bargains, and I make a point of shopping local merchants as much as I can. and one day during the holiday shopping season, I go to the mall--not to buy anything, but to get a coffee, and watch the insanity up close.


regifting is a great idea, and many of the people I know are doing it now.

for all those working retail today--my prayers for your sanity and safety.

[Odin2005]

24. Those people are morons.

Why do people act like this? Maybe it's my Asperger's, but I just don't get it. Why are people SO STUPID?!? :banghead:

(BTW, my Asperger's gives me another reason to stay home of BF, avoiding an autistic meltdown.)

[NMMNG]

26. I'll never understand what it is about shopping that turns some people into animals

You couldn't get me out on Black Friday for anything.

[Pool Hall Ace]

28. I was going to drop off some stuff at the local thrift store today

My plan was to look around, as I've never done any "thrifting." Well, even that place was a nightmare, probably because the Friday after Thanksgiving is a holiday for many. It was such a madhouse, I just came back home.

There is no way I am going anywhere near a "maul" these days. Even attempting to maneuver around the parking lot wipes me out.

[Nikki Stone1]

29. The Twix Voy expose of Target! Keep em coming!

I love reading them. :)

I didn't go to Target today BTW. :)

[Mopar151]

30. I was in a Walmart last nighr at midnite

For bread and cat food, on the way home from Turkey day. WTF - it's cheaper than 7-11....

But the CRRAZZZYYYY was already starting to run up - Toys R Us is next door, an 1/8 mile line waiting for midnite when we cruised into WallyWorld. They looked to be preparing for an invasion or insurrection inside - all kinda aisles roped off to be queues, the usual nitght shoppers, and some early birds throwing down serious Franklins. Night stocking crew in grocery stuffin' the shelves full as they could get 'em, floor crew hadda regroup 'cuz of traffic in the aisles. I got the hell out with the cat food, and we;ve spent the day in the bunker.

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. Why don't people check out prices before they buy anything?

I fortunately "have to" shop online mostly.
But it is so easy to check out prices...I don't get it.

[grace0418]

32. Any time someone even SUGGESTS I go with them to experience this nonsense, I tell them

"I am 100% positive that within 30 seconds I would gladly pay 3x what I might 'save' on an item just to get the fuck out of that store." So no, not worth it. No gadget, appliance or item of clothing is worth it as far as I'm concerned.

[KillCapitalism]

33. Camping out this time of year where I'm at = not safe.

People who camp out all night to go shop take big risks up here in the freezing cold north. This year was bad, but not quite cold enough to be really dangerous, but a few years ago the night before Black Friday was about -10*F with 40mph winds. On the local news the next day there were reports of numerous people being treated for frostbite at local hospitals, and a few actually died of hypothermia. I would never risk life or limb just to save a few bucks, it's not worth it.