What do you think about this years Black Friday sales?

This gotta be the worst BF since it got popular in Canada. Everything was cheaper months ago. Feels like Amazon prime day shovelware sale.

Durak200 wrote: ↑ This gotta be the worst BF since it got popular in Canada. Everything was cheaper months ago. Feels like Amazon prime day shovelware sale.

Hard to tell if this is a genuine consequence of Covid, or just a continuance of massive profiteering by certain bigger stores.

Funny thing is if you made that poll every year, people would always say it's the worst Black Friday ever every time

samb1421 wrote: ↑ Funny thing is if you made that poll every year, people would always say it's the worst Black Friday ever every time

Because BF hasn't been "good" (even in the U.S) since like 2010. "sales" are just too common these days, so you rarely get an amazing deal anymore, instead you get an "okay deal" more often.

Probably because of this: "Nearly nine in 10 products sold on Black Friday are available for the same price or cheaper earlier in the year, according to consumer group Which?." - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55058121

As people who frequent RFD none of these BF deals are going to be anything special. But for people who don't or can't keep up with hunting for deals throughout the year, they know BF = discounts and maybe not know that whatever they're buying had been cheaper before so to them it's probably pretty good.

black friday/boxing day etc in the digital age are just for the suckers; its for the people who look at $off, %saved, no the true value of items.
anyone on RFD finds deals all year long
i saw a report that 90% of the items on sale this week were cheaper at some point earlier in the year.

I'd like to see this type of poll for each year. I don't think there has ever been a year that satisfied everyone!

DavidC363 wrote: ↑ black friday/boxing day etc in the digital age are just for the suckers; its for the people who look at $off, %saved, no the true value of items.
anyone on RFD finds deals all year long
i saw a report that 90% of the items on sale this week were cheaper at some point earlier in the year.

Which is great. It means we can get deals year round and don't have to wait for a specific time of year. Not sure why anyone would be complaining about that.

paleodragon wrote: ↑ Because BF hasn't been "good" (even in the U.S) since like 2010. "sales" are just too common these days, so you rarely get an amazing deal anymore, instead you get an "okay deal" more often.

I would have voted "not bad" in most years past. I tend to find at least a few solid things in years past. This year, nothing of consequence, at least for me. Even years when I haven't bought much I've been able to say "Thats a good deal". This year, nothing has caught my eye at all.

Last year I scored a trunk full of things on sale by lunch time driving around to different stores. It was kind of a fun adventure and not overcrowded like boxing day used to be back in the day (because it wasn't an official holiday).

This year I'll be hunkering down - most items are more expensive than last year's BF.

dark2026 wrote: ↑ Probably because of this: "Nearly nine in 10 products sold on Black Friday are available for the same price or cheaper earlier in the year, according to consumer group Which?." - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55058121

As people who frequent RFD none of these BF deals are going to be anything special. But for people who don't or can't keep up with hunting for deals throughout the year, they know BF = discounts and maybe not know that whatever they're buying had been cheaper before so to them it's probably pretty good.

100% this - it's just awareness and the ability to share/find deals via the internet all year.

oakjefferson wrote: ↑ 100% this - it's just awareness and the ability to share/find deals via the internet all year.

Not sure it's that, lots of things (everything???) are objectively worse than last year so I put it down to covid, people with no vacation to go, and spends that free money on stuff hence demand is higher, they don't need to deal. It's very true the k recovery, most people who hold good jobs are earning same or more while spending less to earn it, while the people doing the lower pay front line stuff is out of work.

It's like every year, it depends on what you're looking for, how much you follow prices, and what your expectations are.

One thing with "events" like Black Friday however is you'll more likely find "everything" on sale at once which may or may not be a factor depending on what you're buying versus waiting for each individual item to hit sales throughout the year. Just using a personal example if I wanted to do a new CPU on a new platform which include a new motherboard and memory there's certain draw backs to the yearly approach. Yes each individual part might even have been cheaper through out the year but having each item months apart for one how would I test for DOA compared to buying all at once?

tofinoguy wrote: ↑ Which is great. It means we can get deals year round and don't have to wait for a specific time of year. Not sure why anyone would be complaining about that.

Deals all year long are great, but BF is supposed to be significant sales, it's the whole point of it. I

This year, as is expected, is just whatever. With all the COVID issues which has led to a reduction in manufacturing and a spike in demand, there's no real reason for retailers to be motivated to provide additional discounts.

SirLookout4Deals wrote: ↑ Deals all year long are great, but BF is supposed to be significant sales, it's the whole point of it. I

The point is really that "everything" will be on sale at once, not necessarily that each individual item will have the best price.

You might have even lower prices for individual items through out the year but a possible issue is that they're spread out. Which can cause issues in that you need to watch year round, or if you're buying items with dependencies.

and I thought retailers/manufacturers/economy = slumping, so they would have more of an incentive to raise revenue. I would have been happy to spend a bit this year, but no. WALLET SAFE.

ilove wrote: ↑ and I thought retailers/manufacturers/economy = slumping, so they would have more of an incentive to raise revenue. I would have been happy to spend a bit this year, but no. WALLET SAFE.

Covid's impact is very industry specific, some industries (and all stakeholders including employees) have actually benefited from Covid.

Saving money

Middle of a pandemic, online retailers with record sales and profits. It sucks even more than usual.