Cyber Wednesday, or is it Monday, or Black Friday?

[Sunset]

As of about three years ago, we get Black Friday in Europe now. I don't know if it's a fashion thing, or if it's just being pushed by lazy executives at US-based multinationals who like the world to look the same everywhere.

It tends to be untranslated (i.e., what's on the poster not "vendredi noir", but "Black Friday"). Almost nobody has a clue what it means because we don't have Thanksgiving and we get plenty of vacation time, so we don't need a semi-holiday to do our shopping. In fact since not many Europeans go shopping on a Friday, "Black Friday" typically extends over 4 or 7 days, and some chains call it "Black days".

It has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. It's just that the time frame is close.
It really has to do when the ink turns black from red in the books of sellers. An accounting thing.

 

[audreyh1]

All who buy stuff they don't need, and th the stuff bought as gifts ending up as re-gifts or attic/basement stuffers.

Can save more than 100% by not buying stuff.

The stuff we’re buying is stuff that has been on our list to buy anyway, so we are simply taking advantage of deep discounts.

I agree with Harley - we tend to find significantly deeper discounts offered Thanksgiving week + weekend through Monday,

 

[audreyh1]

Black Friday has invaded Europe since 2015. But not Thanksgiving, LOL!

I now get deep discount offers from overseas online language sites/courses. These seem to be offered 2 or 3 times a year, including Black Friday.

 

[Amethyst]

When we lived in the U.K. 15 years ago, there was always a Black Friday-like pandemonium four weeks before Christmas. Huge sales, high streets absolutely mobbed. I honestly don't remember if they called it "Black Friday," but it was the exact same idea.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Retail workers get straight pay with no overtime. I will not support it. There were many years that everything was closed on holidays and you planned ahead. I quit shopping Black Friday decades ago.

 

[Chuckanut]

I just extended a service I use that normally offers discounts in the area of 20%. I got a 40% discount thanks to Black Friday (BF).

I also replaced my aging iMac with a new 2019 model. Apple rarely discounts iMac prices, but this time they tossed in a $200 gift card. I will store the card away very safely and use when I replace my iPhone in a few years.

Other than that, BF is only an even for me in the sense that I avoid shoppoing malls on that day. My TV works fine and I don't need a bigger refrigerator so why spend the money?

 

[W2R]

I just extended a service I use that normally offers discounts in the area of 20%. I got a 40% discount thanks to Black Friday (BF).

I also replaced my aging iMac with a new 2019 model. Apple rarely discounts iMac prices, but this time they tossed in a $200 gift card. I will store the card away very safely and use when I replace my iPhone in a few years.

Other than that, BF is only an even for me in the sense that I avoid shopping malls on that day. My TV works fine and I don't need a bigger refrigerator so why spend the money?

Glad you found at least a few things you wanted.

I slogged through pages and pages of BF specials on Amazon, Best Buy, and elsewhere yesterday. There wasn't one single thing offered that I want. It all looked like Landfill of the Future to me.

For those of us who don't want to travel (or to purchase vehicles to travel like RV's, boats, or planes), it's tough. In my case I am happy with the house, computer, clothes, and SUV that I already have. My TV and frig are working just fine, too.

Sometimes it is tough to Blow That Dough, even on Black Friday. (sigh) Maybe I'll find something offered that I want on Cyber Monday.

 

[JoeWras]

Dunno about retail, but most tradespeople make double time for working holidays. My dad used to welcome the overtime. He called it Christmas money!

And when I was a watch officer below GS-13 grade, I earned double pay on holidays. We just agreed to celebrate the holiday on a different day.

You and your dad's situation showed respect for the workers. My dad also worked trades and he worked many Thanksgivings because that was the only day restaurants closed. So, big plumbing jobs came on that day. Double time, baby!

Sadly, respect for employees is out the window. So unless you are union or have a "GS" grade, forget it. See quote below...

Retail workers get straight pay with no overtime. I will not support it. There were many years that everything was closed on holidays and you planned ahead. I quit shopping Black Friday decades ago.

 

[audreyh1]

We only do online shopping during this period.

Although I did drive to Mexican border yesterday to pick up something important from a drug store across the bridge. I had plenty of company crossing the border which is what I wanted.

 

[easysurfer]

I almost sprung for a BF sale on a micro-SD card. But figure, since I really don't need the card just now I can wait and memory prices tend to go down to dirt cheap levels in time. Even more dirt cheap than present.

 

[Walt34]

I've looked but haven't seen anything I need/want. I am in the market for a new Milwaukee battery-powered chain saw but since I won't be using it until next spring at the soonest there's no rush. I'm pretty sure it'll go on sale between now and then. My old Stihl that I bought ~1980 finally quit and I'm not going to bother fixing it. The simplicity, quiet, and easy maintenance of the electric has it's attractions and I'm certainly not going to spend a whole day cutting up logs so the electric will do fine for me. As one reviewer noted, what other chain saw can you use at 7:30 AM Saturday morning in suburbia and not have all the neighbors enraged at you?

Like W2R, everything I saw marked down on Amazon looked like future landfill stuff to me, so I passed.

 

[aja8888]

DD broke her series 3 I watch and I replaced it from the Apple store for $199 and a $25 gift card. That's one Xmas present out of the way. I didn't buy anything else on BF.

 

[harley]

I slogged through pages and pages of BF specials on Amazon, Best Buy, and elsewhere yesterday. There wasn't one single thing offered that I want. It all looked like Landfill of the Future to me.

That's what I didn't do. If I were to go looking like that I wouldn't find anything either. I would get overwhelmed after about two screens full.

I was specifically looking for the printer, and I did respond to an ad and got a copy of TurboTax H&B. It wasn't really on sale, but it did include a $10 Amazon gift car.

Sometimes it is tough to Blow That Dough, even on Black Friday. (sigh) Maybe I'll find something offered that I want on Cyber Monday.

As I'm not really all that familiar with this stuff, is Cyber Monday a real thing? So is it B&M Friday, and online stores on Monday? Makes no sense, as everything is online now. I never considered waiting until Monday to look for the printer. I guess I'll take a look and see if I could have done better.

 

[W2R]

As I'm not really all that familiar with this stuff, is Cyber Monday a real thing? So is it B&M Friday, and online stores on Monday? Makes no sense, as everything is online now. I never considered waiting until Monday to look for the printer. I guess I'll take a look and see if I could have done better.

I don't know; guess some places have sales on both days? Maybe I should google "black friday vs cyber monday" or something.

 

[RobbieB]

I couldn't care less about when people shop, what they buy or how much they spend.

 

[harley]

I couldn't care less about when people shop, what they buy or how much they spend.

And that's why you started a thread about shopping, buying stuff, and spending money. Makes sense to me.

 

[audreyh1]

As I'm not really all that familiar with this stuff, is Cyber Monday a real thing? So is it B&M Friday, and online stores on Monday? Makes no sense, as everything is online now. I never considered waiting until Monday to look for the printer. I guess I'll take a look and see if I could have done better.

Yes a real thing. It used to be heavily marketed that way a decade or so ago. Now online sales often start ahead of BF, thus the thread title. The stuff we were looking for we bought it all online on Wednesday as the deals were there already. Good thing too as some things ran out!

Wait - DH sent me a luggage deal that ends on Dec 3.....

 

[Music Lover]

Retail workers get straight pay with no overtime. I will not support it. There were many years that everything was closed on holidays and you planned ahead. I quit shopping Black Friday decades ago.

I'm confused...I've always thought US Thanksgiving (Thursday) was a holiday but that Black Friday isn't.

 

[MRG]

I'm confused...I've always thought US Thanksgiving (Thursday) was a holiday but that Black Friday isn't.

I'm confused too. I'm not sure I care about what someone else's compensation agreement is. No one came to rescue me, or my peers, at 2AM to go home. Nobody cared when we were doing new systems development over a three day weekend. Not sure if people really understand others w*rk and what it means to not do it.

 

[Chuckanut]

Unfortunately, Thursday evening is becoming a big shopping event. What ever happened to keeping the Sabboth, and holidays sacred ?

I've never been one to scream "Cultural Appropriation" but if there has ever been a nasty case of it, the Christmas Season must take the cake. The marketing/retail establishment has taken our holidays/belief/culture and turned them into a monster.

The other day I saw a Beer Advent Calendar - You open a different bottle of beer for each day in Advent. Really?!?!?!

 

[Teacher Terry]

I wasn’t implying that Black Friday was a holiday. I personally don’t enjoy the crowds and craziness. I do think all stores should be closed on thanksgiving.

 

[O2Bfree]

I've never been one to scream "Cultural Appropriation" but if there has ever been a nasty case of it, the Christmas Season must take the cake. The marketing/retail establishment has taken our holidays/belief/culture and turned it into a monster.

The other day I saw a Beer Advent Calendar - You open a different bottle of beer for each day in Advent. Really?!?!?!

It's what people want, that's for sure. The desire for novelty seems to be hardwired into human nature. But maybe as we satisfy that desire further and further beyond it's original survival-based purpose, it'll start causing enough pain that we'll think about cutting back. As in this latest fad:

https://www.sciencealert.com/dopami...latest-trend-here-s-what-an-expert-has-to-say

Dopamine Fasting' Is Silicon Valley's Latest Trend

"It's the latest fad in Silicon Valley. By reducing the brain's feel-good chemical known as dopamine – cutting back on things like food, sex, alcohol, social media and technology – followers believe that they can "reset" the brain to be more effective and appreciate simple things more easily."

 

[badatmath]

I wasn’t implying that Black Friday was a holiday.

It may not be a national holiday but most people I know get it as a "holiday" from work and are paid. Obviously, no one I know works retail!

 

[Amethyst]

Various religions, notably the Catholic Church, figured this one out many centuries ago - look at all the fasts. And I can still remember my Mother telling me "If you wait till you're really hungry, food tastes better." Unfortunately in my case, if I wait too long, I simply inhale the food and don't taste it at all!

As in this latest fad:

https://www.sciencealert.com/dopami...latest-trend-here-s-what-an-expert-has-to-say

Dopamine Fasting' Is Silicon Valley's Latest Trend

"It's the latest fad in Silicon Valley. By reducing the brain's feel-good chemical known as dopamine – cutting back on things like food, sex, alcohol, social media and technology – followers believe that they can "reset" the brain to be more effective and appreciate simple things more easily."