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JeffDM

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2006
709
10
while i agree with you in spirit, as a guy that worked many black fridays in electronics. i have mixed feelings.

generally in electronics, you're lucky to get 25 hours a week. seriously, thats lucky. so black friday allowed me to make a bit more money for xmas which always helped (or get caught up on bills i was behind on).

also, with more and more people showrooming, its one of the only opportunities retail has to make up for the losses from it from jan-nov.

you need to understand that something has to give in the math department thats still not a guarantee of a business' success either. just look at macmall. despite good deals all the time, good deals on black friday, plus the added value of free classes, free local delivery etc... they still fell on their face in the retail space when they tried to push into it.

with bezos being so relentless with margins, retail locations have to either make up the gap with black friday sales, or close all their retail locations to stay competitive with places like amazon.

so when you call for that boycott, just be clear, you're calling for all your favorite stores to lay off all their retail employees and close their retail locations.

just food for thought.

Well, not shipping BF doesn't mean that the money is necessarily going online. There are many other shopping days, not giving retail workers even a day off (Thursday) when most other people are off seems cruel. And yes, I know emergency workers often have to work that day, but at least that seems a necessary evil, vs. retail workers having to work that day just so people can rush to get some deal the same day or day after we're supposedly thankful for what we have.

The biggest shopping days is usually the weekend before Christmas, not Black Friday. Another problem being the frenzy for the BF doorbusters.

Personally, I've not shopped a BF in over a decade, but in part because I hate being in such crowds. I try to go some other time.
 
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grahamperrin

macrumors 601
Jun 8, 2007
4,942
648
Beats Solo2: "… drop the price by $60-$80 and they're *still* overpriced …"

Quote:

Disappointed? Get used to it.

We don't know what you were expecting. Everything about us, from our jaded writing to our very name, should give you a strong hint as to how we feel about manufactured shopping occasions. Let's just get it straight right now: we're always going to disappoint you on Black Friday. And Cyber Monday. And every other phony retail holiday the industry might dream up. We even made a game out of it. Download, print, and play our new board game Bleak Friday: The Game of Discount Discontentment … this is all we got. The only headphones in the world where you can drop the price by $60-$80 and they're still overpriced. Unlike most Beats deals on Black Friday, these are the current model, the Solo2, not the old Solo or Solo HD models. We're told they get the bass balance better than the notoriously bottom-heavy original Beats headphones. But you can get better headphones for the same price or less. …​

 

iPhonemaster5S

macrumors 6502
Oct 10, 2011
356
67
Colorado
Just a word of caution I just ordered a ipad Air 2 64GB Cellular Silver through Best Buy and 15 minutes later I recieved an email saying that the item is on backorder and shipping dates have changed from Dec 11 to Dec 11-29. So if you have to have it before Christmas I would suggest not ordering online.
 

RockSpider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2014
903
396
Apple has a $50 discount (actually a gift card, but it can be used towards the purchase) on the iPad on Black Friday (in the USA; I don't know about elsewhere).

Plus you can trade in your old iPad (16Gb iPad Air can get $240) for a gift card that can also be used towards the purchase—this is not a Black Friday deal; you can get it any time.

That comes to $290 off the price of the iPad.

There are similar discounts and trade-ins for other hardware items.
So you're not really getting anything except for maybe a couple of U2 albums.
 

Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2012
3,597
4,707
Apple has a $50 discount (actually a gift card, but it can be used towards the purchase) on the iPad on Black Friday (in the USA; I don't know about elsewhere).

Plus you can trade in your old iPad (16Gb iPad Air can get $240) for a gift card that can also be used towards the purchase—this is not a Black Friday deal; you can get it any time.

That comes to $290 off the price of the iPad.

There are similar discounts and trade-ins for other hardware items.

The $50 gift card can't be used towards the purchase when buying online
 

likegadgets

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2008
773
340
US
I just went to my local Best Buy around 9pm ET and they still had iPad Air 2 64GB Silver in stock. I was shocked. I was literally in and out in 5 minutes and I am thrilled after striking out on their website last night.

I went to West Los Angeles and purchased a 16GB Airpad 2 for $399
In and out in less than 10 minutes - at around 2:30 PM - they had plenty - any color
 

69650

Suspended
Mar 23, 2006
3,367
1,876
England
The Apple Store was just about the only retailer not offering any Black Friday deals when I went shopping in Liverpool today.

Black Friday was a shambles here in the UK. Fights in the supermarkets just to get a cheap TV. Retailers out of stock of everything I went for. Having to sit in a queue for ages just to get onto most of the popular retailers websites.

Black Friday is great if you want to save on clothes but effing crap for electrical and gadgets. Don't think I'll bother next year.
 

SD-B

macrumors 6502
Apr 1, 2009
399
14
I bought the new 27" Retina iMac at Best Buy in Toronto for $230 less than at Apple.

I had been asking questions for 3 weeks in this forum and finally decided i was best off with the regular iMac as i don't edit video, etc.........and i even looked at a refurbished one and was about to pull the trigger on the refurb when I did one check at Best Buy and saw the deal. Since there wasn't a deal on the regular 27" iMac, I thought it was a no brainer and had to buy it.

Ran down there and and even had one in stock so I got it rather than carry it home on my scooter ( impossible ) they are delivering it, I hope on Monday or Tuesday.

Apparently they only get 2 per store but i was there as late as 11:30 am and really surprised that the 2nd one had not yet been purchased at that time.
You weren't able to buy them online. You had to go into the store.

For anyone else from Toronto, the sale is on until December 4th although i doubt you will get one to take home and would likely have to have it shipped to you although i never thought to ask how long that would have taken had the one not been there.

I just took it with the 1TB Fusion drive. Id already spent enough and didn't want to lay out extra for a 512 sad.


Got home and got the last Crucial 240GB SSD on Amazon Hot Deals. Was $220 and sold for $80 for a savings of 57%.
That will go into my late 2011 MBP and give me a few more years.

Thanks everyone that tirelessly answered my many iMac and MBPro questions over the past 3 weeks.
 

Helloguyzzz

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2014
1
0
True again; American greed, world envy.

Listen guys, if you want your own Black Friday, by all means write Parliament and demand it. But don't get all up in arms that an American company has an annual (short meager) sale following an American holiday and doesn't extend it to you. It's an American company following an American tradition, plain and simple. What'so so hard to understand about that? Heck, Apple wouldn't even be offering Americans Black Friday discounts if they didn't feel pressured to by the rest of U.S. retailers. Apple HATES discounts, that's why the Black Friday sales are are so limited.[/QUOTE]


Ok now. Im just scrolling through here and i happen to find this nerdy fight nations and the frickin american revolution. I am an american. And i love my country. But at the same time Black friday is not that big of a deal. Black friday is for everyone! Duh. It doesnt matter. Why can't people in the UK have them too. Im just a girl from a stupid small town. But its pretty stupid a bunch of idiots throwing logical fallacies back and forth and making a stupid arguement about something that happened so many years ago. WHY DOES IT MATTER?!?! Jesus Christ! It. Does. Not. Matter. Listen im sorry you didnt get your discounts in europe. I bet it sucks but if it makes you feel better i didnt get any discounts in america either. And the american person...CHILL YOUR PANTS! BLACK FRIDAY CAN BE SHARED! You do not own black friday. It is not yours. It belongs to the people and if Europe wants a piece. Let them have it! The american recolution has no relativity in this arguement. Also if i may point out the fact that you both are uaing two types of fallacies: Red herring technique and ad hominem. Goodnight.
 

slapple

macrumors 6502
Jul 25, 2008
466
21
Wow, I really dropped the ball this year. In the back of my mind I had been wanting to upgrade to an iPhone 5S because the battery on my 4S is getting bad. But I didn't seriously consider doing it because I was busy with other stuff.

Now I just saw that I missed out on a Target Black Friday $30 gift card deal with purchase of iPhone 5S. Will there be any more deals like this in the coming weeks?
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
Nothing, nada, ziltch for Black Friday in the UK and throughout Europe.

Apple is proving yet again to be US-centric on so many of its services and marketing, even though Europe is a bigger market.

I was going to buy a couple of MBAs tomorrow with the justification that it was a good deal. Now I won't.

.

Black Friday is an American thing. We'll have to wait until the Boxing Day sales. No biggie.
 

576316

macrumors 601
May 19, 2011
4,056
2,556
The Apple Store was just about the only retailer not offering any Black Friday deals when I went shopping in Liverpool today.

Black Friday was a shambles here in the UK. Fights in the supermarkets just to get a cheap TV. Retailers out of stock of everything I went for. Having to sit in a queue for ages just to get onto most of the popular retailers websites.

Black Friday is great if you want to save on clothes but effing crap for electrical and gadgets. Don't think I'll bother next year.

This is how I feel too. Shockingly poor across the board here in the UK. Discounts, if they existed, was pointlessly low and not even worth indulging in. The way I see it, if retailers are going to contribute to 'Black Friday' sales, they have to make the sales out-of-the-ordinary and worth while. I'm talking 50% off or more on everything. 10% is a pathetic discount and barely even a discount at all, anything below 50% is barely a discount in most cases. I'm not interested in saving £30 on something that's gonna cost me over £300. That amount of money is not a significant enough discount on the item I'd be buying.

That's why Apple's discounts were always a waste of time too. £100 off something that costs upwards of £1,500? Laughable.
 

ucantgetridofme

macrumors 6502
Jun 24, 2011
374
0
$399 is way too expensive for a tablet in 2014. They've become commodities given away for free with the purchase of another product. Except with Apple who still charges an arm and a leg for a tablet.
 

Godzilla71

macrumors 6502a
Aug 16, 2009
537
420
WA state
Black Friday is an American thing. We'll have to wait until the Boxing Day sales. No biggie.
Funny, I thought Boxing Day was only a Canadian thing. LOL
that being said my Black Friday deal came more in terms with a decent 18 month interest free financing deal, which a local authorized dealer was offering along with $75 off. so I finally upgraded to a mid '14 15" rMBP :D
 

ucantgetridofme

macrumors 6502
Jun 24, 2011
374
0
This is how I feel too. Shockingly poor across the board here in the UK. Discounts, if they existed, was pointlessly low and not even worth indulging in. The way I see it, if retailers are going to contribute to 'Black Friday' sales, they have to make the sales out-of-the-ordinary and worth while. I'm talking 50% off or more on everything. 10% is a pathetic discount and barely even a discount at all, anything below 50% is barely a discount in most cases. I'm not interested in saving £30 on something that's gonna cost me over £300. That amount of money is not a significant enough discount on the item I'd be buying.

That's why Apple's discounts were always a waste of time too. £100 off something that costs upwards of £1,500? Laughable.

Apple sucks
 

grahamperrin

macrumors 601
Jun 8, 2007
4,942
648
Jumbles, tangles, shambles

… Black Friday was a shambles here in the UK. Fights in the supermarkets …

Black Friday is great if you want to save on clothes but effing crap for electrical and gadgets. Don't think I'll bother next year.

The UK needs more good old-fashioned jumble sales. Some people just love the scramble, the tangle of old ladies' elbows. I'm serious. The trend towards civilised Sunday markets and so on has pretty much killed the excitement that could be had at jumble sales years ago …
 

whodatrr

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2004
672
494
Bought two iPads, from a vending machine.... LOL

Was waiting on my plane to depart, Wednesday, and there was one of those Best Buy machines at my gate. For giggles, I navigated to the iPad, on the touchscreen, and the iPad Mini Retina (mini 2)16G wifi models were $224. I bought two, and now have gifts for two of my boys.

That's a h3eck of a deal, IMOHO - especially since the mini 2 and mini 3 are virtually identical. And 16gb is plenty, for the way my kids will use it.
 

4jasontv

Suspended
Jul 31, 2011
6,272
7,548
Where did people get the idea that Black Friday offered discounts on things you wanted? These are sales designed as psychological torment. They offer amazing discounts on things you almost want to buy, but isn't the exact thing you wanted. (You can get a tablet for $30, but it runs some bizarre modified android OS that hasn't been updated in three years.) They offer 70% off the least popular action figures. When they finally do offer the product you want, they make it either so limited in numbers that no rational shopper can get it, or they make the discount so small they have to use some extra math to explain it (i.e. 70% off the first 15% of the items cost). Maybe they promote a series of incentives that can not be combined (20% off, free shipping, free gift wrapping, price matching, BOGO, etc.). Or worst of all, they bundle it with a bunch of crap you don't want, state some insane retail price, and then claim you save $100. (If iPad mini 2 is $350, they add screen protectors, a stylus, screen wipes, aluminum wipes, display clings, and three silicone cases, and suddenly the darn thing cost $500. But you get it all for $400!)

Black Friday is a load of crap, and looking at what Amazon is offering, so is Cyber Monday.

If you want to get involved in an American shopping day that has any redeeming value, then you should do with Small Business Saturday.
 

RockSpider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2014
903
396
Wow, I really dropped the ball this year. In the back of my mind I had been wanting to upgrade to an iPhone 5S because the battery on my 4S is getting bad. But I didn't seriously consider doing it because I was busy with other stuff.

Now I just saw that I missed out on a Target Black Friday $30 gift card deal with purchase of iPhone 5S. Will there be any more deals like this in the coming weeks?
Just walk into a retailer that sells them and tell them you want $30 off, someone will give it to you, better than a gift card worth $5.
 

ShadowJade

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2014
125
167
Standard bait-and-switch. Best Buy is "sold out online" of 128GB iPad Air 2's. What a pathetic store.

Like any other sale, you need to get in early. No one has an unlimited supply. At 3:15am eastern time I got the 128GB Gold for the $100 off. Also got (2) Beats by Dre Studio HDs for $79.99. Do not cry foul if you don't make the effort to be in line.
 

Grimes213

macrumors newbie
Apr 15, 2013
14
10
Los Angeles, CA
Got my tracking information for my iPad Air 2 gold 64gb yesterday afternoon from best buy and saved $100!. No shipping activity as of yet! I had to settle for the gold.... I'll exchange it once I receive it for the silver. ��
 
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