Don’t you just hate Black Friday? For those of us for who Thanksgiving is one of the best times of the year, with quality time spent with loved ones, the madness of Black Friday is a real downer. OK, you might be able to pick up a few bargains, save a few dollars, but is it all worth it in the end? The mad frantic chaos, the hours wasted standing in line shivering in the cold, the disappointment when you discover those door buster bargains are all sold out, all for what? If you are looking for some good reasons to give Black Friday a miss this year, check these out.
If it looks too good to be true…
That TV for under $100 dollars is a great deal no doubt, it certainly looks so in the advertisements. But what the ads don’t tell you is how many of them are available at that price. The chances are that after you have stood in line for hours they will be sold out. But never mind, there are plenty of other bargains around. As far as the store is concerned they have got you inside, and they know that you will spend your money on things you don’t really need and that you wouldn’t normally buy; you are trapped like a fly in a spider’s web.
There is no such thing as a free lunch…
Are those bargains all what they seem? Are all those dollars off real? There are many ways of cooking the books to make bargains look what they are really not. If you track prices you are likely to discover that many of the bargains have been available at lower prices at some other time, if not in the store then online. Do you really believe in the great giveaway? At the end of the day there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Money is burning a hole in your pocket…
In other words you will spend too much money on stuff you don’t need or want. It’s inevitable; we are hard wired to do it. Let’s be honest, we find those bargains, or so-called bargains, irresistible. Rather that work out how much we are spending, we dwell on how much we are saving. We spend $100 on items that the store claims should have cost $200 and, rather than thinking we have spent $100, we convince ourselves that we are $100 better off.
Black Friday goes digital…
Not surprisingly big online retailers want their share of the Black Friday action too, and they don’t intend to wait around until after Thanksgiving, Sellers such as Amazon have already kicked off their Black Friday deals with discounts on a huge range of items, including many top brands, of up to 80%. You would be hard pushed to match some of their deals in the stores even on Black Friday. It is so much more relaxing than fighting through the crowds and you might save yourself even more money.
It can get dangerous out there…
Those Black Friday crowds aren’t always friendly, and neither is all the store staff, especially as many are forced to skip Thanksgiving and work extended hours. There have been several incidents over the years when Black Friday crowds have got out of hand. One woman in a desperate fight to buy a games console used a pepper spray injuring twenty shoppers. On another occasion a man who collapsed in the crush was ignored as shoppers stepped over him. There was even an incident where a Walmart employee was trampled to death by the crowd that flooded in through the doors.
Don’t take the risk; stay at home on Black Friday; you know it makes sense.
