Black Friday 2009

You may all remember that roughly 1 year ago, I wrote this little blurb about black friday deals here. I thought this year I would elaborate further and explain why the topic interests me so much.

Origin

For those of you who don’t know, Black Friday (sometimes referred to as “Green” Friday is a day when most stores sell enough merchandise in one day to turn a profit for the year, essentially going in the “black.” From age 16-21, I worked at a very well known and established toy retailer. Having said that, I feel I have a lot of insight on the subject and can prove a worthy ally when it comes to navigating this day.

Tips From A Pro

Here are some tips from a pro (yours truly) that will help you have a safe day.

1. Stake Out: Stores have limited quantities of “door-busters” so get there early – I’m thinking 2-3 days early.
2. Be Prepared: Bring a sleeping bag, water, food, warm clothes and an attitude. People cut in line when your guard is down. It’s your job to resolve that. Using the advice of Sarah Palin – “Go Rogue.”
3. Stop if you hear screams: When the doors open at 5am, if you hear someone screaming, chances are you’re all trampling someone. Stop! Allow store personnel to access the person(s) and then safely resume your frantic run for that latest Pokemon game little Johnny “has” to have.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you’re really prepared, chances are you found that you can actually buy the same item from the store online, get free shipping and have it with a lot less hassle. You see, retailers realize that the in-store experience is slowly dying. That’s why they created sweet-spot deals for e-shoppers, knowing very well that people will be just as cut-throat online to get deals as in the stores. What retailers they won’t tell you, is that Internet sales make up almost 50% of gross Black Friday sales, so in actuality, they are hoping you’ll shop from home. Now granted, they may not get you with an associated sale item, but they still move product and that’s all that matters. Plus, if you can’t find it at your favorite store, chances are Amazon, eBay, or other web outlets will have quantities in stock.

What I’m saying here is this – if you do a little research online and find the right coupon codes, you can get the same great deals without the hassle. Black Friday is an absolute zoo, from 5am – 12am. There is really no reason to be a part of it, unless you like that kind of thing. Plus, do you REALLY want to be on the evening news plowing into your local Wal*Mart?

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 5:16 pm . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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