My guide to Black Friday shopping

My guide to Black Friday shopping

Black Friday is a day that has almost religious importance here in the United States of America. In Europe, Black Friday is not that popular, the only good thing about it is scoring some selected clothes at ten percent off the price or so. But not here. Black Friday is on the day after Thanksgiving (which I will describe in one of my future entries), and it means crazy discounts in your favourite stores.

Tempting, isn't it? Yeah, only if you feel like waiting in line forever.

I am sure we have all seen those Black Friday videos with people camping in front of the stores, or grabbing five or six brand new iPhones just because they are so cheap, or fighting someone next to you because you really want the item they are holding in their hands.

And honestly, I thought that this is all a big exaggeration, because why in the world would someone of a sound mind push people around or take things out of their hands just to get that item they do not even need? And then I survived my first Black Friday, and I have to tell you that it is even worse in real life than it is on videos! Feel free to read more about my experience below.

When does the Black Friday start?

Like I already mentioned, Black Friday happens every year one day after Thanksgiving. A lot of stores open much much earlier for Black Friday than usual. In fact, some of them even stay open overnight. And it is not unusual for people to camp in front of the stores a day before the Black Friday sales start.

For me, it is just not worth spending so much time waiting for the stores to open, but I am not the biggest fashion fan and having the newest, trendy clothes is not really my priority. I prefer to spend that money on travel and other experiences.

And how long do Black Friday sales last? It really depends on the store. Some stores only have Black Friday sales one day, and some extend the sales over the weekend, which they call the ‘four day weekend Black Friday sale’.

You can see those Black Friday advertisements in most stores a month or so before Black Friday.

Some stores have the ‘everything must go’ policy and the discounted clothes stay on that rack until they are sold out. The problem with that is that those clothes are usually really big or really small sizes, so if you wear a regular size, this is definitely not an option for you.

What stores usually participate in Black Friday sales and how big are the discounts?

Most major stores in the United States of America participate in Black Friday sales, including my favorite stores like Forever 21, GAP, H&M, Victoria’s Secret and Best Buy for electronics.

If you would like to know if a specific store is participating in a Black Friday sale, just go to their website, where you can also find information on how big the discounts are, because they vary from store to store. Or you can just turn on the television anytime in November, because there will be tons of commercials with all the information about Black Friday sales in specific stores.

Another store with big discounts. Which, of course, means longer lines.

Of course it depends on what you would like to buy or you need to buy, but my general advice would be: buy electronics on Black Friday sales, and buy clothes at the end of the season clearance sales. The clothes at the end of the season will be almost as cheap (or maybe even cheaper) as they would be on Black Friday, it will just not be nearly as stressful as buying them on the Black Friday.

So, if you really need that laptop or a new camera for your travels, I would say it is worth waiting in line for that. Or just go at the end of the day - you might not get the exact item that you wanted, but there will still be a fair amount of items left that you can choose from.

My observations of the Black Friday

Yesterday (on Thanksgiving, which is a day before Black Friday), I went to a local shopping center with my friend because she invited me to come with her. That shopping center stayed open overnight, and we arrived there at four in the evening - there were lines forming in front of most stores already. Crazy!

I noticed that a lot of people buy things on Black Friday not because they desperately need them, but simply because everything is so incredibly cheap. And I do not see the point of buying five laptops just so you can resell them for a higher price at some point. Well, if the lines were shorter, I would probably do the same thing, but, like I said, I prefer to spend my time (and money) on other things.

Some stores only offer Black Friday discounts on certain items, but some stores take it further and put an entire store on sale, such as this one.

Some stores will give away free items or gift cards for, for example, first five hundred customers or so, and that is one of the reasons why some people will camp in front of these stores overnight, or even longer. The funny thing about all that is the fact that those free items or gift cards are only worth twenty dollars maximum. One of the stores with the longest line last year was Tilly’s.

They sell sporting goods, and in their Black Friday sales advertising, they promised a free mystery item for the first one hundred customers. The line was wrapping around the block, and what was that mystery item everybody waited in line so long for? A very plain T-shirt with the store logo, and the best (worst) part - they ran out of sizes for everybody, so some people waited in line for a shirt that did not even fit them at the end.

If you are an average size (I do not mean this in an offensive way at all), it will be extremely hard for you to find clothes during Black Friday sales, unless you get there extremely early. If you go to the store at the end of the day, only the smallest and the biggest sizes will be left.

A few words for the end…

I like saving money because saving allows me to travel and experience other things I really like. And I thought that going shopping on a Black Friday would be a perfect opportunity to save a few hundreds of dollars - enough to fund my next trip with that saved money. But after living through the Black Friday madness in the United states of America, I have to say that I would rather pay a few dollars more for the items I want to buy in the future, rather than risking bruises or broken bones. But, as they say, to each their own.

---

Photo gallery