Why I’m Not Doing Black Friday

Today is Black Friday. A relatively new “day” in the yearly calendar. It means a day where there are potentially lots of savings to be made, lots of bargains to be had. If you shop savvy, then you could do really well with your purchases. You could get all of your holiday shopping done in one day!

 

However, I’m not doing Black Friday.

 

In fact, I think it is a bad idea for most people to get sucked in to the media frenzy.

 

But, isn’t it just an excuse for people to spend money? “Oh, but it’s 40% off! It’s a bargain!” etc. which makes items seem so much more appealing.

 

But, what if you wouldn’t normally buy that item, but are drawn into the “bargain” of it? What if the item in question wasn’t actually that much cheaper? There are some clever price wars going on during this time, but actually, you need to check just how much you are saving before you buy that bargain.

 

In previous years, there have been videos of people getting hurt in their rush to get into a shop when it opened. I remember watching something on the news about it and people were having fights in a supermarket over the discounted tvs that they had reduced on Black Friday. Hurting others?! I would like to think that people wouldn’t behave like that normally. The “grab a bargain” culture brings out the worst in people.

 

Black Friday also pressures people into buying things. Pressured into buying things quickly, because they might miss out on that reduced price. It makes you rush through a purchase, just so you get the item into the basket and paid for before someone else does. You don’t get the benefit of lingering over buying something. You might miss it!

 

Also, the bombardment of emails over the last week or so. Black Friday is actually more of an American thing, but it has definitely hit the UK hard this year. I get email after email about Black Friday, about % off things, codes to use for free shipping. It is so unnecessary. I just press delete on all of them. In fact, I have unsubscribed from a couple of company emails this week as I was so fed up of getting multiple emails a day about Black Friday.

 

Black Friday is fine, if you don’t get swept up in the madness. It is very tempting when you see a discount to jump straight in there and then. I get that; everyone loves a bargain! I am keeping my eye on a couple of things that I want to buy as Christmas presents, and if they happen to be included, then I will buy them. One of these is this Beatles DVD plus these Yankee candles (which are up to 32% off at the moment) as they’re a bargain and there are a few people I could buy them for. But, these would be planned purchases, rather than off the cuff.

 

If you are buying tomorrow, then make sure you check if there are any extra codes, like free delivery. Also, make sure you go through Topcashback or Quidco to get extra money as well.

 

Are you planning on buying anything today? Or are you going to check, just in case?