Black Friday has become a season rather than an event

[disneysteve]

Have you all noticed how "Black Friday" no longer refers simply to the day after Thanksgiving? So many retailers are now advertising "Black Friday deals all month long" or something to that effect. "Why wait? Shop now!" seems to be the rallying cry.

It's a bit strange when they do that, though. "Our Black Friday sale starts November 1 and runs through November 25." Well then it's not just a Black Friday sale, is it?

Of course, this isn't a new concept. I've seen "Memorial Day" sales last half way into June and similar things for other holidays.

[GoodSteward]

Our holidays and seasons are determined by marketing now, and not the calendar. Thanks to this we have just materialized the holidays. Christmas is one day a year, but we celebrate Christmas from black Friday until new years signified by sales and buying presents. It makes me sick.

We can buy our kids stuff all year long, but if we don't buy them something for Christmas we are terrible parents. Or, ever more annoying to me, we can show love and appreciation all year long to our spouse(with gifts even!), but if we don't do something on Valentines day we are heartless and don't care. This is the image that has been created by the people who sell things to make sure we buy things.

Thank you marketing and materialism.

[disneysteve]

Christmas is one day a year, but we celebrate Christmas from black Friday until new years

Actually, many stores started selling their Christmas stuff before Halloween. Best Buy was running Christmas TV commercials in late October.

[msomnipotent]

Even Cyber Monday is not immune. I received an email earlier this week for "Cyber Fundays" where Ulta will be celebrating Cyber Monday all week. And don't forget Black Friday in July. It sucks the fun and anticipation out of everything. I have also noticed that BF deals are not as good as the few days before the event, or a few days before Christmas.

[FLA]

I never heard of Black Friday in July

I like the sales on clothing after the Christmas

We host a party on Black Friday so no shopping for me and I am perfectly happy with that

[GoodSteward]

I never heard of Black Friday in July

I like the sales on clothing after the Christmas

We host a party on Black Friday so no shopping for me and I am perfectly happy with that

The AFTER season sales are best. I beleive they go by the name of "clearance." That's when the discounts really start to be real. LoL

i.e. Midnight after Halloween at Walmart = 50% off candy.

[kork13]

The AFTER season sales are best. I beleive they go by the name of "clearance." That's when the discounts really start to be real. LoL

i.e. Midnight after Halloween at Walmart = 50% off candy.

Those are my favorite. 2 years ago we bought a boatload of wrapping paper the day after Christmas for 50-80% off. We'll be set for years.

[Captain Save]

part of the reason is to give some relief to the stores for the madness that BLACK FRIDAY has caused... they rather spread out the sales over a few days ..

[disneysteve]

We just saw a commercial for Amazon's "cyber Monday deals week."

So another one-day event has been redefined.

[rennigade]

Why not just nice discounts all year long? Its not like stores/manufacturers are taking a loss on any item they sell.

Imagine if you could buy an ipad pro for $150 or $200...they could flood the market...then from there they could make a killing on in app purchases. Instead they price it so high that someone like my wife who kind of wants one hasnt bought one yet.

[disneysteve]

Why not just nice discounts all year long? Its not like stores/manufacturers are taking a loss on any item they sell.

People like to think they're getting a bargain, real or perceived.

There is a store in PA that sells everything 50% off every day. Of course, it's BS because they've never, ever sold that merchandise for a higher price. But that's they're marketing. Price tags say something like "compare at $20. Price $10." But it's always been $10. So it's not really 50% off. It was made to be sold for $10. But people flock there and pile their carts high.

As for selling iPads cheaper, that would destroy the prestige of owning one. Apple wants them to be hard to get. They want them to be something people strive for. It's not to their advantage to make it an affordable staple. They'd rather sell 1/3 as many at 3 times the price (which actually nets them more profit).

[StormRichards]

People like to think they're getting a bargain, real or perceived.

There is a store in PA that sells everything 50% off every day. Of course, it's BS because they've never, ever sold that merchandise for a higher price. But that's they're marketing. Price tags say something like "compare at $20. Price $10." But it's always been $10. So it's not really 50% off. It was made to be sold for $10. But people flock there and pile their carts high.

I could have sworn that was illegal. Advertising things as a % off for items that NEVER are sold at their regular price. Or does this store just not advertise?

[disneysteve]

I could have sworn that was illegal. Advertising things as a % off for items that NEVER are sold at their regular price. Or does this store just not advertise?

It's an outlet store. I'm guessing the laws allow it since many outlets do some variation of the same thing. And no, I'm pretty sure they don't advertise.

I think it's all in the wording. They don't say "regular price" or "normally". They specifically say "compare at". So they suggest that the same item would cost you more elsewhere. It isn't true but they're not stating it as fact.

[Eagle]

I personally hate all the craziness of Black Friday. I worked retail for almost a decade so avoid it if at all possible now. This year again we did a little shopping online primarily through Amazon.

As far as box stores... I'd rather pay a little more during the year and not face the crazies then safe a couple extra bucks in long lines.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I find it incredible the way people talk about spending at the holidays as needing to pay off credit cards afterwards. How much is it? $300? I figure it must be a lot.