Beware of So-Called Black Friday Deals
Posted 11/23/09 at 12:00:47 PM by Paul Lilly
Comments
Print
Email
In a few more days, Black Friday will be here, and if you plan on braving the crowds, that means getting up early (or staying up late) and making a mad dash for the electronics section among a frenzy of shoppers with no qualms about pushing, shoving, and trampling anyone who gets in their way. But should your reach your destination unscathed, you may find that the deals are nothing to get excited over considering stores have already had to mark prices down in the current economic climate, or that quantities are so low that if you're not near the front of the line donning a pair of running shoes, you're going to miss out.
CNNMoney.com reveals that in some cases, stores may stock as little as 3 units of those enticing low-priced electronics advertised in your local flier. Sale items could also be "derivatives" of the real deal, such as a large screen HDTV with lower image quality or a less desirable image contrast.
"It's a sleazy practice," said Craig Johnson, retailing expert and president of retail consulting group Customer Growth Partners. "I am old school. If a retailer is advertising a juicy deal and they are not prepared to have in sufficient quantity, don't advertise it. Or give consumers a raincheck."
Read the full report here.
Image Credit: 3.bp.blogspot.com
Wal-mart
Submitted by mesiah on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 10:44pm
Wal-mart is a joke. Don't bother showing up for their door busters because you wont get one. I made the mistake of going to their pre-black friday sale to get an xbox. I found out that each store only got 5 units. They got 1-3 of each of the televisions that were on sale. It was the biggest scam I have ever seen.
If you want to go electronics shopping on black friday, go to best buy. Its a given that if you aren't there the night before you aren't going to get a door buster item, but there are plenty of items that are still majorly on sale, And best buy is up front about the number of items they carry. They will post the minimum number they will have on hand in their add. For all but the smallest stores the number that is printed is much lower than the actual number they receive. I know last year they advertised at least 10 of their on sale graphics cards per store and they actually received over 40 of them. Same with their $300 computer deal, there was an entire pallet of them sitting in the middle of the store. While Wal-mart relies on cheap tricks to get you in the door, rest asured that best buy is the real deal.
Online is the best way to shop
Submitted by GM From My Chea... on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 7:20pm
I post deals on my blogs and use twitter to keep my followers informed, with deals from just last week like that $250 laptops, really don't see why would someone stand in line for hours with just a chance to purchase an item. My shopping is almost done without any head aches all mostly online.
http://www.mycheaptech.net/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Gadgetmang
Submitted by Atomike on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 1:45pm
Best Buy will have Far Cry 2 for $5. I plan to take their ad into my local Wal-mart later on Friday (when the crowds have thinned) and have them price-match the deal. Wal-Mart should probably not sell out, since THEY technically don't have the deal. Hopefully this plan will work - and if so it may work for TVs and other big items. I'm hoping they honor price matching on Black Friday ads. We'll find out.
Submitted by mesiah on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 10:36pm
Wal-mart will not honor the price match. They will call the nearest best buy and check stock. If that best buy is out of stock they are not required to honor the price. And most likely it will be so crazy that best buy wont even answer there phone, in that case wal-mart still will not honor the price match.
Submitted by Trooper_One on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 1:10pm
Over the years, I've noticed that the quality and price of items sold in Boxing Day (your Black Friday Equivalent) aren't as good as they used to be. If they are, there's only like 5-10 items max and the rest are you usual 20% off. I can wait till summer for a better price for previous year's product.
Submitted by MrBlonde81 on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 12:43pm
Last time I went to a black friday sale, the DVD recorder that was advertised in my local ad wasn't even stocked at the store. Since then I've done more shopping on "Cyber Monday" than "Black Friday". I don't want to be bothered with getting up early, shoving, and long lines in and out of the store.
I read somewhere that Cyber
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 2:55pm
I read somewhere that Cyber Monday's starting Thanksgivings day for some places...
Is Walmart opening early
Submitted by lunchbox73 on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 12:12pm
Is Walmart opening early this year? An employee got trampled to death last year, remember?
All you dandies prancing aboot with your bags full o'deals!
Submitted by Havok on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 11:41am
I totally understand the pain of mister Craig Johnson, but as a humble grunt at a local retailer, sometimes stuff either doesn't show up on the truck, or you legitimately run out of stock. For instance, we received 25 units of item 'X' the day before the sale. 5 sold before the sale started, which by the way was a two week event. The 20 others sold during the first week and our replenishment truckload of 9 units never made it to the store.
Stuff happens that you can't predict or stop in the madness of retail.
CLICK.
Submitted by Muerte on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 11:20am
That, and if you wait til closer to christmas the deals onthe good stuff even get better. Just a matter of keeping your eyes open.
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 10:44am
So far, I'm not seeing anything I want to wake up early for out there. Remember, you may be saving a few bucks, but are you spending more in time waiting to get a chance at the deal? For me, a few hours sleep is worth more than 10 or 30 bucks off on something...
Submitted by aviaggio on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 1:48pm
Exactly. There is no deal in the world that is gonna make me want to camp out in front of a store all night and have to fight the crowds and lines, with a very high chance of not even getting what I came for. No thanks. There is nothing I need that badly.
Black Friday is the one day of the year I absolutely refuse to leave the house. Just not worth dealing with the traffic. It's easier just to stay home and relax.
You and me both. I have
Submitted by Tekzel on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 5:43pm
You and me both. I have never participated in that particular piece of madness, and I never will. I would rather pay the normal price than deal with all that.
Must Read Articles
Feature
Review
Feature
Feature
Feature
Most Popular Articles
This Month's Issue
FEATURE Build a Crazy-Fast $647 PCFEATURE Six Single-Band 802.11n Routers ReviewedHOW TOTweak BitTorrent and FirefoxFEATUREClose Look at ClarkdaleWHITE PAPERLCD Panel Technology
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2010 Future US, Inc. All rights reserved.
