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Supply/demand theory seems good at explaining a lot of macroeconomic trends, but how can it explain all the crazy Black Friday deals? It doesn’t seem to me that the majority of the populace would be unwilling to pay normal prices one day per year.
I suspect that Black Friday is a social phenomenon. The herd gets together and stampedes together and it feels good at the emotional level.
I very rarely see any Black Friday deals that are tempting enough to make it worth fighting the crowds. A little careful shopping will dig out the same prices at other times of the year.
I recall being the only customer in a Bed Bath & Beyond late morning on a Black Friday. Doorbuster was a really nice coffee maker and I had 20% off total purchase. I handed a sales person my car key and said "I take all you can load". Everyone was happy with their Santa Claus present and I came in way under budget.
Nothing I need. Got a back up airfryer last week for 115 instead of 299.
BF deals happen because shoppers are available and it kicks off the season (although earlier kick-offs are there too).
I am not good at shopping and have never Black Friday shopped in 50 years.
Amazon dangles deals at me but when I look at some I can easily findexactly the same product on Amazon for less $$. Buyer beware.
It is cheaper to buy from brick and mortar stores than buying online and pay shipping.
Yet these days a lot of stores are pushing people to online shopping by not offering many things in the store itself. (Seems to me they're shooting themselves in the foot-- if I have to buy it online and pay shipping, then why would I buy it from Target or Home Depot or wherever rather than Amazon? IMO, these stores' selling point *is* their physical presence so I can see, touch, try on, etc. the items I want to buy, and don't have to pay or wait for shipping-- otherwise they have no advantage over online-only retailers which might also be cheaper.)
Oddly enough, I just bought something in a store that was sold only in the store-- not online-- but if you ordered online and picked it up in the store, it was significantly cheaper. Still trying to figure out the reasoning for that one, especially since then it would require more effort from their employees (to go get the thing off the shelf rather than me doing it). I assume because with an online order they have your data to mine/sell? I didn't realize it was quite that lucrative to make it worth taking several dollars off a single item, but there you go.)
I confess to doing it once. The first year or two they started opening up at 12 midnight on Thanksgiving where I live I decided to go get a steal on flannel sheets. There was not much of a crowd and it was well ordered. I got name brand flannel sheets and duvet covers, etc. very dirt cheap. A lot of times I don't sleep anyways. I guess I just had to do it once.
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