Black Friday! Deal or no Deal

Another Americanism that has travelled across the Atlantic to become ever more a thing on this side of the ocean. Before I get on to my views a little history. There are few stories behind the origin of Black Friday, one is the massive tumble of the stock market in 1869, another is that stores would be in the red for most of the year only going into the black on this one day of the year when people would come out for bargains, another is that it was day when slaves could be purchased at a discount. The supposed true origin is the police officers of Philadelphia coined the phrase Black Friday in the 1950s due to the  chaos that ensued in the streets as shoppers descended on the shops on the day after thanksgiving ahead of a big Army-Navy match on the Saturday. Eventually it morphed into the big sales event that we see today in the US. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s that is spread to the rest of the US and it became part of US culture.

Amazon then brought the idea over from America into the UK in 2010, with other stores getting involved from 2013 onwards. Now it seems that you can’t move without Black Friday deals appearing in your mailbox, in the shops and through the post. 

Now I am all for a bargain and am always looking for the best deals, but is Black Friday as good as it seems. One set of research suggests that only 2% of items are cheaper on Black Friday compared to the rest of the year. Suggesting that as a consumer you have to be careful and also to be vigilant. Do your research. Check out prices regularly and also understand what the recommended retail price (RRP) is for the things you need. 

At the end of the day, you are only saving money if you are getting a deal on something that you need. If you spend your time surfing the websites and buy things in the sales that you don’t need then you are not saving money. Now my hubby will remind me of the time that I bought a complete dinner service saving my self £500, but I spent £700. We really didn’t need the service, but I did say that I managed to get every item in the dinner service, and I mean everything, at a discount. Originally it was only for those items on the shelves. I said that I wasn’t interested unless I could get the whole things, all plates, serving dishes, cups, teapots, coffee pots etc, at a discount. Luckily the woman agreed. We still have the dinner service and it is immaculate and has served us well for the last 27 years. The key to this story is that we could afford to buy the dinner service. It didn’t cause us to get into debt. If you can’t afford it and you do not need it, then don’t buy it. 

Of course, I have checked out some of the deals. I needed a new pair of walking boots so managed to get these in the sale. Also my fancy running boots I promised myself for my birthday and a vacuum cleaner. The only two I needed was a vacuum cleaner and the walking boots, the fancy running boots are a luxury.