Poll: Black Friday - Cyber Monday?

[Midpack]

Just curious, I suspect this community differs from the mainstream.

1. We all know Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are no longer literally Friday & Monday only.
   
   [*]I’m asking about those who consciously wait for and plan to buy Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales - NOT just things you buy by chance just because the need arises while a sale is on.

Black Friday isn’t a thing to me, but if I need something within a week of Black Friday, I’ll wait and buy online. Saved $28 on 4 dozen golf balls this year. And thinking about buying a Simplisafe system, sales ends today.

We have a good friend who calls Black Friday her “super bowl of shopping.” Plans extensively for it every year, mostly brick-n-mortar. You’d never catch me out shopping on Black Friday the day.

 

[cooch96]

One place I’d been monitoring for prices and very patiently waiting had a Thanksgiving day sale. I thought, “great! Sale comes early this year like some of their competitors.” But then they had even larger price markdowns for Black Friday.

I felt the fool, but looks like I only missed out on about $13.

 

[REWahoo]

One place I’d been monitoring for prices and very patiently waiting had a Thanksgiving day sale. I thought, “great! Sale comes early this year like some of their competitors.” But then they had even larger price markdowns for Black Friday.

I felt the fool, but looks like I only missed out on about $13.

You never know.

Costco put an item I'd been watching on sale for 33% off the week prior to Thanksgiving. I took a chance and purchased it, thinking it might be lower on BF but that wasn't the case. The BF sale price was $20 more than I paid and it was even higher at the only other location I could find this particular model.

 

[audreyh1]

Most of the things I wanted online went on sale by the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so no need to wait until Cyber Monday!

 

[audreyh1]

You never know.

Costco put an item I'd been watching on sale for 33% off the week prior to Thanksgiving. I took a chance and purchased it, thinking it might be lower on BF but that wasn't the case. The BF sale price was $20 more than I paid and it was even higher at the only other location that sells it.

DH got a nice break on the new AirPods and shipping this week from Amazon. When he checked this weekend, sale was still on, but shipping had moved out to over a month!

 

[Ronstar]

I don't wait for or plan to buy on black friday or any other day. If I need something, I buy it. usually on the spur of the moment. I've been on a spending spree lately. Probably bought something every day for the past 2 weeks. Mostly online.

 

[Amethyst]

I did wait for BF online sales, but they weren't anything like what I'd hoped for. Nothing to tempt me to buy anything I wasn't already going to get.

Worse, while I was doing something else, a "flash sale" showed up in one of my shopping carts. By the time I got back to the cart and clicked on the sale price, it was over. I called the company, who refused to honor the "flash sale" price (blaming absent authority - "Even my supervisor wouldn't be able to do it.")

 

[T-Minus]

I have my camelcamelcamel.com pricing search engine loaded with everything I’m on the lookout for. Also keep an eye out for other, non-Amazon deals. This year, I took advantage of:
- 25% off Thanksgiving day deal at Bed Bath & Beyond (Le Creuset)
- 40% off Kill Cliff energy drinks on Thanksgiving
- $48 Roku Ultra on Amazon.com
- $44.99 14-month Quicken Premier subscription
- 25% off Thermapen MK4 on their site
- 25% off REI (North Face Denali Jacket)
- a couple local restaurants offering 20% refund for gift certificate purchases

All in all, we saved a fair amount of money on stuff we delayed purchasing until Thanksgiving/Black Friday.

 

[Moemg]

I do all my Christmas shopping online . A lot is done on Black Friday and I finish up on Cyber Monday . A lot of the merchants offer free shipping so why would you go into a brick & mortar store ?

 

[JoeWras]

Most of the things I wanted online went on sale by the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so no need to wait until Cyber Monday!

This.

Also, the bricks and mortars had a lot of sales start the previous Monday. Sure, the reserved a few items for black Friday (need the publicity of the lines and craziness), but much of it was already marked down earlier.

 

[rk911]

the poll needs another option...'fail to participate in either Black Friday or Cyber Monday'. that's us. we stopped buying for each other years ago. my sister and i have stopped gifting...Christmas is about spending time together and....food! all of the gifts we give are small and simple. boxes of cookies, chocolates, magazine subscriptions and gift cards. we have a list of about a dozen or so service providers...the postman, lawn and snow crews, garbage guys, housecleaner, etc...gifts cards mostly. so we mostly don't participate in the madness.

 

[audreyh1]

LOL! We’re not buying gifts! We’re buying non-holiday stuff for ourselves. Things we wanted but waited for a better price.

 

[skipro33]

I have everyone's Christmas wish list and keep an eye on those items on Amazon. If they drop in price, I snatch it up. If they don't, then I shop for lowest price and buy anyways. By tomorrow night I'll be finished with my Christmas shopping. If I don't find a gift deal, then it's cash or gift card. As my wife always says, 'cash is ALWAYS an appropriate gift.' Ha!

 

[DrRoy]

#4. This year got bluetooth headphones, photography lights, and tires.

 

[Aerides]

My option isn't in the poll: I shop online-only, but pretty much throughout this period (Pre-BF,BF,CM) for items that I want anyway that are on sale:

Videogames are going to have their best deals, and that's on the list for DH and Nephew for xmas
Needed a new fitbit - costco has a great BF/CM deal all weekend (started Thurs)
Was waiting on a good deal from Pottery Barn for a new thing I wanted, held off the past month for today
Stocking stuffers, etc.

 

[ckelly78z]

My wife and daughter make it a point to slog through the aggressive crowds to get deals on certain items. I have never gone with them, I just start getting more irritated with being bumped, having to shuffle past isle blockers, and waiting in long lines, so I use black Friday as a home project day. I cut 1.5 truck loads of firewood, and drug up more dead/downed logs for cutting out of my creek/woods.

 

[aja8888]

I didn't answer the poll. I didn't buy anything related to the "sales". I really don't need anything right now. I'll buy a few things for Xmas later this month. I'm moving toward gift cards for gifting more and more.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I see that 81% of voters in the poll selected, "I don’t plan on it, if I buy around Black Friday it’s coincidence meeting a need"

Not too surprising for this forum. I saw a cartoon a couple of days ago that I thought was true in many regards. It is what pricing of an item is the week of Black Friday.

Tues: $499.99
Weds: $499.99
Thurs: $499.99
Fri: Was $699.00 Now ONLY $499.99!!!!

 

[Chuckanut]

I bought some baking ingredients I use often that are not usually available at most grocery stores. They were 25% off and came with free shipping on Cyber Monday (CM). I would have bought them anyway in the near future at or near full price, so why not take advantage of the CM deal. Other than that, I think I will ignore CM, go for a health restoring walk, and then take a nap.

 

[W2R]

I just got such a laugh! I went to Amazon, and on the top page it said,

"Gift ideas inspired by your shopping history"

The first gift they suggested was a package of 90 ziplock sandwich bags. What a LOVELY gift that would be for somebody!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I just got such a laugh! I went to Amazon, and on the top page it said,

"Gift ideas inspired by your shopping history"

The first gift they suggested was a package of 90 ziplock sandwich bags. What a LOVELY gift that would be for somebody!

I looked on my main AMZN page and couldn't find any gift recommendations. I did see this on there and am not really sure *why* this is a "deal"... AMZN doesn't know me very well.

 

[Freedom56]

Most retailers started announcing sales about 2 weeks prior to Black Friday. I did all my shopping online leading up to Black Friday and picket up many items:

1- Panasonic Lumix G9 Camera with spare batteries, memory card
2- Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Lens
3- Variable ND filter
4- UPS for my computer
5- Extra high speed memory cards
6- Two Fitbit IONIC watches (for my wife and myself)
7- Bling bracelet for the IONIC watch for my wife

We still have to buy Christmas gifts for immediate family over the next few weeks.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's the recommendation that a clean shaven guy like me has:

 

[audreyh1]

Well I did buy a couple more things today after all! Some luggage I needed to replace had a great price. Don't know if that was holiday pricing or not, but directly from the manufacturer it was 2/3 the price shown on Amazon, and 1/3 the MSRP. A couple of items of clothing I decided I really needed and should order were marked down big time.

 

[W2R]

I looked on my main AMZN page and couldn't find any gift recommendations. I did see this on there and am not really sure *why* this is a "deal"... AMZN doesn't know me very well.

What, you're not the type for an expensive logo hoodie?

The recommendations were at the bottom of the main Amazon page, for me. I attached a screen shot of that part of the page. I thought it was utterly hilarious. I mean, I try to be frugal but hope I am not so cheap as to buy sandwich bags for Christmas presents.