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Stay at home this Friday!!!

That video is fantastic! Thanks for sharing. Captures the madness in a funny way.

I wonder how they filmed in/at the stores. Did they get permission?
 
Black Friday is a scam and that segment of Americans who stand in line in frigid temperatures and trample others to save a few bucks are the willing idiots.


When shoppers head out in search of Black Friday bargains this week, they won't just be going to the mall, they'll be witnessing retail theater.

Stores will be pulling out the stops on deep discounts aimed at drawing customers into stores. But retail-industry veterans acknowledge that, in many cases, those bargains will be a carefully engineered illusion.

The common assumption is that retailers stock up on goods and then mark down the ones that don't sell, taking a hit to their profits. But that isn't typically how it plays out. Instead, big retailers work backward with their suppliers to set starting prices that, after all the markdowns, will yield the profit margins they want.

The red cardigan sweater with the ruffled neck on sale for more than 40% off at $39.99 was never meant to sell at its $68 starting price. It was designed with the discount built in.
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Here's how it works, according to one industry consultant describing an actual sweater sold at a major retailer. A supplier sells the sweater to a retailer for roughly $14.50. The suggested retail price is $50, which gives the retailer a roughly 70% markup. A few sweaters sell at that price, but more sell at the first markdown of $44.99, and the bulk sell at the final discount price of $21.99. That produces an average unit retail price of $28 and gives the store about a 45% gross margin on the product.
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Another tactic involves raising selling prices ahead of the holidays before the discounts kick in. In an analysis for The Wall Street Journal, price-tracking firm Market Track LLC looked at the online price fluctuations of 1,743 products in November 2012. Prices climbed an average of 8% in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving for 366, or about a fifth, of the products; the items were then discounted on Black Friday. Toys and tools had the biggest pre-Black Friday price increases—about 23%.
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http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304281004579217863262940166?mod=e2tw
 
Aspasia said:
Video was funny except for the sections showing the storming of the stores. That reality is scary.

Never have visited any store on Black Friday and never will. Don't like crowds and it's much more comfortable to shop online.
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I have also never been shopping on Black Friday, and certainly don't plan on it. Can't say I absolutely won't ever, but it's not in the cards for sure.

Contrast that to my ex-girlfriend, who still tells me "just wait…when your kid is old enough, you'll be out there every year!!" She goes out with full plans and maps and god-knows what else and spends all day shopping. I tell her she's crazy. She assures me that I will never skip one to get that one toy for the kid. I'd rather pay full price and get it the week before.
 
Aspasia said:
Video was funny except for the sections showing the storming of the stores. That reality is scary.

Never have visited any store on Black Friday and never will. Don't like crowds and it's much more comfortable to shop online.
Click to expand...

I've been once in my entire life. It was at a Toys R US. This was when the first Zune player was released and they were selling it dirt cheap. Long story short, it was just like some of the scenes in the video. Never again will I take take part in any Black Friday mess.

However .... On Black Fridays around the afternoon time, I head over to Home Depot and find some amazing deals for myself. No craziness going on over there. Radio Shack is another sleeper on Black Fridays.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
I've been once in my entire life. It was at a Toys R US. This was when the first Zune player was released and they were selling it dirt cheap. Long story short, it was just like some of the scenes in the video. Never again will I take take part in any Black Friday mess.

However .... On Black Fridays around the afternoon time, I head over to Home Depot and find some amazing deals for myself. No craziness going on over there. Radio Shack is another sleeper on Black Fridays.
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Hmm. Am in the market for a nail gun. Never thought of Home Depot on Black Friday. I may just have to deviate from my stay-at-home tradition.

Thanks for the tip!
 
You don't always save on purchases made on Black Friday. If it's not more than a 30% discount, it's not a bargain. Retailers hike prices above the profit point, then discount down to the profit point, usually 70% of the false price.
 
Renzatic said:
EVERYWHERE is bad on Black Friday. Even Home Depot.

If there's a sale, there will be blood.
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LOL, as it turned out, however, found a good bargain at our local Sears store: a Craftsman nail gun with compressor on sale for $69. Was tagged for Black Friday, but was able to buy it online for that price for store pick-up. Since I was IN the store and the sales guy used their computer to make my online purchase, took less than ten minutes.

Will be installing trim on Friday, rather than dodging crazed shoppers. :)
 
Renzatic said:
EVERYWHERE is bad on Black Friday. Even Home Depot.

If there's a sale, there will be blood.
Click to expand...

The Home Depot near me is like any normal day on Black Friday. It's also next to a Best Buy, Toys R US and I think a Marshalls. The mob of Black Friday shoppers just don't go into Home Depot.
 
I saw an ad today while at work (I work at a restaurant, it was a slow day). I can't remember the store it was for, but they had on sale a 16 GB iPhone 5S for... $189 w/ 2 year contract through Verizon or AT&T????? Why in the world would anybody line up before the sun is even up to get $10 off an iPhone 5S? Or $20 off a PS4 or xBox One, or to get a 3D T.V. retail price for $1,500 on sale for $1,350? I would rather pay full price than stand outside in the cold like an idiot to save a few bucks. Years ago the deals used to be actually pretty decent, but now I could get a better deal on Amazon any 365 days of the year.
 
Several years ago, I had to work at a store on Black Friday. I remember it was o crowded, you could have lifted your feet off of the floor and not fall down. People were grabbing multiples of everything while other people waited for them to turn around so they could take items out of their cart. It's not for me. I'll be home with my wife and kids watching movies this Friday. They can keep their "deals".
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
 
This year is the first black friday my company is providing as a "holiday", the prior times I had to take a vacation day. Now with that said, I'm not planning on going out shopping or anything crazy like that.
 
Seen some 'Black Friday' adverts over here for the first time ever. Hopefully it won't catch on like it has in the US. In my humble opinion, the entire thing bat**** insane
 
I don't think it'll catch on with the folks that don't celebrate Thanksgiving it's not a bridge day. My wife and daughter will be at work and school tomorrow.

I will refuse to participate in thing like black Friday, there is no deal worth it.
 
I've gone a few times, but I usually don't go. My wife and daughter love going out on Black Friday and my son and I stay home.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
I've been once in my entire life. It was at a Toys R US. This was when the first Zune player was released and they were selling it dirt cheap. Long story short, it was just like some of the scenes in the video. Never again will I take take part in any Black Friday mess.

However .... On Black Fridays around the afternoon time, I head over to Home Depot and find some amazing deals for myself. No craziness going on over there. Radio Shack is another sleeper on Black Fridays.
Click to expand...

Especially after all the madness dies down. Usually there are a bunch of broken items that people smashed in the craziness that you can get for pretty cheap. That, or if you are only shopping for yourself and not others, go the day after Christmas. Everybody returns things, so they sell them as open boxes. This applies to anywhere really.
 
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