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Post by Ken on Nov 23, 2021 13:09:13 GMT
More than nine out of 10 electrical goodies, it is reported, could be bought at just as good a price or cheaper in the six months before Black Friday, which is shortly upon us.
Black Friday is a funny name.
On Black Monday (1987) not only share prices but all the trees were lying down after the great storm of the previous Friday.
But what is the point of Black Friday?
We used to enjoy the sales after Christmas; now we’re asked to rush out and buy a much needed soundbar or some such piece of stuff before Advent has begun. Of course it is lovely to go to a real shop and see real people, but surely not all at the same time. There is an uneasy suspicion that Black Friday is like a visit to a casino: one would like to come out at a financial advantage, but it isn’t likely.
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Post by potet on Nov 23, 2021 20:03:05 GMT
Fortunately we have neither Hallowe'en, nor Black Friday, nor Black Monday in France. True, some businessmen are trying to convert us into American consumers, but all these festivals are so bizarre and foreign that only snobs and eccentrics get caught in the trap.  |
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Post by BlueAndGold on Nov 23, 2021 22:07:03 GMT
Until perhaps ten or fifteen years ago I had never heard of Black Friday. I guess I am sheltered and oblivious. It would never cross my mind to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving Day anyway, which in my family is considered a day of rest, so I still have not participated in any Black Friday nonsense.
I see it as a lot of materialistic hype. It isn't part of my world.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Nov 23, 2021 22:53:44 GMT
September 24th 1869 the term Black Friday was used to refer to a financial crisis, i.e.: the crash of the gold market.
In 1951 and 1952 Black Friday was used in a business journal to refer to factory workers calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving in order to get a four-day weekend.
The term began to be used regarding retail sales in 1952, but began to really gain ground in the 1980s.
If we go anywhere on Friday, it won't be for shopping as I can buy a six-pack and beef jerky at a gas station.
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lonny
Librarian
Posts: 37
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Post by lonny on Jan 20, 2022 7:00:32 GMT
Call me a cynic, but I have to challenge the basic concept behind "Black Friday." Supposedly, the name comes from the fact that many retailers allegedly operate in the red (net loss) until the day after Thanksgiving, when sales finally put them into black ink. There are typically 35-36 days of the year left after Thanksgiving (in the US, the fourth Thursday of November). That implies that retailers, over all, have only a 10% profit margin for the year.
If you're only getting a 10% return on your investment in retail, you're doing something wrong. Also, no business that I know of annualizes their profit and loss. Okay, you do a YTD profit and loss statement each month, but if that's not in the black every month -- and by more than 10% -- you're definitely doing something wrong. In hotels, when I was in hotels, we were expected to be in the black each month, with enough "flow through" (money after expenses and capital costs) to make the owners happy.
So I call SHENANIGANS on the whole "Black Friday" concept.
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Post by And still Kevin 2024 on Jan 20, 2022 14:53:26 GMT
Many retailers buy things in that they can sell cheaper on 'special days'. They are often not of the same specifications, but people still fall for it. You can find out pricing trends here >> A lot of sales are nonsense. becleverwithyourcash.com/how-to-search-price-history-and-know-if-youre-getting-a-good-deal/One UK on-line place, constantly advertising on TV, I hate is a supposed discount place, I will not name them. It lists what are supposed to be discounts around the net, but following the links I have noticed that very often the discount is off a fictitious RRP. (And I am sure RRPs set by manufactures in the UK has been illegal for decades) I was looking because I fancied a new shed. Without biting I looked for the exact same item on a major retailer in the UK (ARGOS) and it was cheaper even at their normal price. |
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