Black Friday

So, Black Friday is coming! Are you already writing your GAME PLAN for the stores you're going to hit up throughout the day? Or does the idea of waking up at 3 am and rushing to the stores only to fight with thousands of shoppers for the same deals sound absolutely STUPID to you?

I'm planning to do a lot of Xmas shopping - I'm hoping to find some good deals in video games, because there're a few gamers on my gift list. I might hit stores like Fry's and Best Buy if I see anything interesting in the ads. What (if anything) are you planning to do on that day?

Spoiler:

Context: Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and it's typically considered the biggest (and craziest) retail shopping day in the US. Retailers often offer pretty good deals on Black Friday.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I got roped into working a day at the supermarket, which won't be too busy, though I'm considering popping in somewhere early to snatch up some deals. Both CompUSA and Best Buy have deals going for a 500GB hard drive for $99. Yes PLEASE

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'll be working at KB Toys through that whole weekend starting Thursday. Goddamn, it's gonna be the longest weekend of my life.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I plan on walking around State Street in Chicago just to revel in America's proudest tradition: materialism.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I have the coupons ad fliers ready to go. I have a shopping list already.

I love Black Friday. But I hate it at the same time.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I have a whole road trip to the US planned out. First I'm going to...

ya, no. I unfortunately have to wait until Boxing Day for my crazy discount shopping.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Is Black Friday the same as Canada's Boxing Day? They sound almost identical, though the timing for Black Friday seems to make waaaay more sense since Christmas is in the next month. Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and retailers slash prices on overstock and deal with gift exchanges for about a week... o_O

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Render

Is Black Friday the same as Canada's Boxing Day? They sound almost identical, though the timing for Black Friday seems to make waaaay more sense since Christmas is in the next month. Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and retailers slash prices on overstock and deal with gift exchanges for about a week... o_O

Here, it's more like a way to put businesses in the black for the end of the year. Thus "black" Friday. It boosts sales for the retailers. Some of the deals aren't that great on Black Friday - you really have to shop the fliers and shit before hand. A lot of things are advertised at a BF price, but they're really not a lot cheaper. Hunt for deals, know you're stores, and have a list of what you're getting.

We have a similar thing to Boxing Day on the day after Christmas, though.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Insofar, most of the ads I've noticed aren't that great. They were better a couple years back. Now, it seems like Black Friday is just regular weekday sales, but published on Friday instead of Sunday. For example, the leaked Best Buy Black Friday ads are nothing but average. Most of their prices are around interweb price, which isn't saying too much.

I'm not a huge electronic gift buyer, so I'll be hitting up Barnes and Noble to see if they have anything worthwhile. Most likely not, so I'll be going to Amazon.com

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by sprouticus

Both CompUSA and Best Buy have deals going for a 500GB hard drive for $99. Yes PLEASE

I did not see that. =o Guess I'm headed to Best Buy.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

I love Black Friday. But I hate it at the same time.

Oh, god, yes - last year, I made it to Best Buy at about 9 am, and it was a madhouse even then. This year, I'm hoping to avoid some of the crazier crowds by going earlier.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

For those of you who don't think there are too many deals this year, I recommend checking out Slickdeal's BF Forum. I use this site almost daily, and their BF forum is to die for. <3

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Stop Sign

This year, I'm hoping to avoid some of the crazier crowds by going earlier.

Are you serious? The worst crowd is right when the store opens...


I worked at a Wal-Mart on a black Friday once. I think there were a few riots in the parking lot for spots, one or two when they ran out of the cheap electronics crap, and one near Housewares over a vacuum cleaner.

I'll never forget the part of the day when I walked up to work from the parking lot. Mind you, I parked a good 2 minute walk from the store (the parking lot was big btw). As I'm close to the store some lady does one of those spot dash things and steals a spot from someone else. The other person is rightfully pissed and says something like "fuck you buddy, where's your fucking Christmas spirit?" and the lady goes "fuck off, Merry Christmas you piece of shit." It was pretty sad to be honest. It really ruined the holiday for me that year. I kept seeing their faces filled with an utmost hatred and loathing. I'm willing to bet that if they weren't so obsessed with getting their deals, they would have killed each other.
Since then I vowed never to set foot inside of a retail store on Black Friday. The entire day was traumatic for me; and fuck you if you say you'd laugh at any of it. If you were there you wouldn't have. (unless you're a piece of shit anyway, and in that case please go kill yourself)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I kinda agree with Matt on this. Both my mom and my sister have side jobs at the Mall, so if we ever want to do anything during Thanksgiving Break when I'm home, its fucked up because they have to work.

I never bother with the stores on Black Friday. I honestly hate shopping any time around the holidays... from mid-November to the end of January, everywhere is a fucking clusterfuck. It makes a normally relaxing trip to the literature section of Borders a project. People are more asshole-ish than ever, and they dont give a shit, and that makes the more pleasant people grumpy.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by sprouticus

I got roped into working a day at the supermarket, which won't be too busy, though I'm considering popping in somewhere early to snatch up some deals. Both CompUSA and Best Buy have deals going for a 500GB hard drive for $99. Yes PLEASE

I just got one the other day for $110 shipped to my door from Newegg. Ignoring the cost of gas to get to Best Buy or CompUSA, it's worth my $10 not to have to stand in line for those hours.

See for instance: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJS 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$99.99 shipped, and no need to leave your house on Friday!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

BLACK FRIDAY ADS

Good luck.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Arainach

I just got one the other day for $110 shipped to my door from Newegg. Ignoring the cost of gas to get to Best Buy or CompUSA, it's worth my $10 not to have to stand in line for those hours.

See for instance: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJS 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$99.99 shipped, and no need to leave your house on Friday!

I would not be suprised that an internal HDD of that space would cost that little.

I believe that they were talking about the external one which I am planning on getting (best deal I see so far I guess).

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by K_ Takahashi

I would not be suprised that an internal HDD of that space would cost that little.

I believe that they were talking about the external one which I am planning on getting (best deal I see so far I guess).

Fair enough. That makes the price a bit more bearable, but when I can get a 500GB drive for $99 and an enclosure [that's of better quality than the ones WD/Maxtor use] for <$20, it's still not worth it to me. To each their own I suppose.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Temari

I kinda agree with Matt on this. Both my mom and my sister have side jobs at the Mall, so if we ever want to do anything during Thanksgiving Break when I'm home, its fucked up because they have to work.

I never bother with the stores on Black Friday. I honestly hate shopping any time around the holidays... from mid-November to the end of January, everywhere is a fucking clusterfuck. It makes a normally relaxing trip to the literature section of Borders a project. People are more asshole-ish than ever, and they dont give a shit, and that makes the more pleasant people grumpy.

I agree with you 100% Temari and I also do agree with everything matt has said as well. I avoid christmas shopping at all costs during the holidays and I don't really care if I save a little bit of money in the process or not. I'm grateful that my fiance and I managed to get the majority of our christmas shopping done during october and we finally finished the last bit of our christmas gifts within the last few days. That way we don't have to deal with the crowds or the fuckiness pettiness and rudeness of a lot of people during the holiday season.

I've seen so many people get torn down emotionally by rude customers because they can't get their own way and they expect that even though it is during the holidays the world should revolve around them and their needs. I had a guy at EB games get told off brutally by the middle aged woman because they didn't have any Wii's. This woman was going on with shit saying that she had promised her child that santa would get him a Wii, and that he was the one that ruined her family's christmas. Her son is going to dissappointed and sad all because of him. She was literally putting him through the worse guilt trip ever.

We sometimes do need to go to mall if we need to pick up the scatter thing or two, but thats about it. I avoid trying to buy anything during the holiday season. I might go to the mall to meet up with a few friends because guranteed you spend a day at the mall, you tend to some of the worse customers imagineable.

Even though we don't have Black Friday up here in Canada, I don't plan on going to do any shopping for the rest of the holiday and I sure as hell ain't going to the mall on Boxing Day.

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Aside from parking I can't recall any horrible experiences with Black Friday/holiday shopping. If anything, Black Friday can be kind of nice if you don't go for the morning deals since stores tend to be cleared out by the afternoon. Last BF I walked into a Toys R Us around noon to find a shipment of Wiis that had just been unloaded.

Originally Posted by Angel of Light

I had a guy at EB games get told off brutally by the middle aged woman because they didn't have any Wii's. This woman was going on with shit saying that she had promised her child that santa would get him a Wii, and that he was the one that ruined her family's christmas. Her son is going to dissappointed and sad all because of him. She was literally putting him through the worse guilt trip ever.

I'd find it pretty difficult to keep from laughing if a customer ever yelled that at me. I suppose it depends on how emotional an employee is, but I find angry customers amusing when they have no case at all. They're only a pain when they have a real point, but the mistake was made by one of my coworkers and I have no real way of fixing it for them (sadly this is typically the case).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'd like to do some shopping on Black Friday (electronics stuff for the holidays), but I'm more than likely going to end up working since I'm scheduled to work. I'm trying to get it off, but I don't think things are looking too good.

That said, as an unfortunate sap working in retail, I hate you people.

Most amazing jew boots

Last year is the one and only time I ever have and ever will experience the insanity that is Black Friday.

We were looking to get some new computers at either Best Buy or Circuit City. We went out the night before just to check things out. It was around 7:00 PM I guess. It seemed nobody was out. Then we drove up to Best Buy and to our complete shock saw that people were already lining up! There were maybe 30 people literally camped out for the next morning.

Some had little pop tents. Others were just sitting in chairs wrapped in blankets. Some had DVD players. At least one guy had a guitar.

But we only witnessed the real madness when we went back the next morning at about 5. We didn't even get in. The line outside the building was enormous. It wrapped around the building, double-backed and zig-zagged through the parking lot on one side. There were cop cars and police tape in one area.

And madder still, people were still getting in line even knowing they were going to have to wait several hours before even getting in the building! The campers from the previous night were the smart ones (in a way).

Then we headed to Circuit City. No lines outside the building. We thought we might have a shot. We go in and find the place packed wall to wall. The checkout lines were stretching through the aisles.

After observing in awe for a few minutes we headed to Lowe's (the one thing we did buy we wound up taking back). There was a decent line waiting outside just before it opened. It was almost hilarious seeing how everyone was running around grabbing all the same stuff from the same ad.

I still can't believe how zombie-like everyone was. It's like they were all determined to get SOMETHING. It didn't matter what. It didn't matter if they needed or even wanted it. But they had to get SOMETHING and were willing to wait in line for hours to get it. I doubt anyone but the campers actually got what they wanted.

That is a morning I will never forget.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I work in a wal-mart, and everyone that is on the payroll MUST work on BF no matter what.

One year, an associate was in an auto accident, and could not make it to work. That person was fired the next day.

So pretty much it comes down to everyone is insane on that day for no reason at all. I have to work that day...at 5 in the morning...when everything goes on sale.


I've requested a flak jacket.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I don't ever want to work in retail.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

I recommend checking out Slickdeal's BF Forum. I use this site almost daily, and their BF forum is to die for. <3

Sass, that site is pretty badass - thanks for the link

Normally i sleep in on black friday, cause there's rarely anything i want to buy. But this year i'm trying to put together a home theater system, so i may have to brave the chaos, with my seasoned mother as guide.

I'll just be sure to bring a sack full of Godiva chocolates to distract sales-crazed old ladies.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by webjay

Last year is the one and only time I ever have and ever will experience the insanity that is Black Friday.

We were looking to get some new computers at either Best Buy or Circuit City. We went out the night before just to check things out. It was around 7:00 PM I guess. It seemed nobody was out. Then we drove up to Best Buy and to our complete shock saw that people were already lining up! There were maybe 30 people literally camped out for the next morning.

Some had little pop tents. Others were just sitting in chairs wrapped in blankets. Some had DVD players. At least one guy had a guitar.

But we only witnessed the real madness when we went back the next morning at about 5. We didn't even get in. The line outside the building was enormous. It wrapped around the building, double-backed and zig-zagged through the parking lot on one side. There were cop cars and police tape in one area.

And madder still, people were still getting in line even knowing they were going to have to wait several hours before even getting in the building! The campers from the previous night were the smart ones (in a way).

Then we headed to Circuit City. No lines outside the building. We thought we might have a shot. We go in and find the place packed wall to wall. The checkout lines were stretching through the aisles.

After observing in awe for a few minutes we headed to Lowe's (the one thing we did buy we wound up taking back). There was a decent line waiting outside just before it opened. It was almost hilarious seeing how everyone was running around grabbing all the same stuff from the same ad.

I still can't believe how zombie-like everyone was. It's like they were all determined to get SOMETHING. It didn't matter what. It didn't matter if they needed or even wanted it. But they had to get SOMETHING and were willing to wait in line for hours to get it. I doubt anyone but the campers actually got what they wanted.

That is a morning I will never forget.

I'm from the suburbs where it's really not that bad on black Friday. Maybe you have to walk from the back of the parking lot and the lines were a little long, but it wasn't so bad. Now that I'm living in LA I can't even imagine how bad it's going to be. There's a few things I want to buy for a new computer that would save me about $60 total, but I really don't know if it's worth all the frustration.

Jam it back in, in the dark.