Day 90

Day 90:

Ah, the day before Black Friday, which is now starting to become known as 'Grey Thursday', since half of the shops have already got their offers on. If you don't know what Black Friday is, or do but have never participated in it, then think of it as Christmas day for shops. It is the biggest sale event of the year, and typically when people buy their Christmas presents. Millions of people spend hundreds of pounds (or more) in a single day, crashing retailer websites and occasionally grabbing some rock-bottom prices. 'Occasionally' is an apt word, since retailers can fiddle with the numbers to make 'bargains' seem much better than they actually are. For example, if an item has an RRP or MSRP (the price recommended by the manufacturer) of £50, but hasn't been doing well, then a retailer will knock it down to something like £25. They may still struggle to sell units, but they can't take it down anymore, since they'd be selling at a loss. A couple of weeks or so before Black Friday, the retailer can put the price back up to £50. If anybody buys it in that time, they make much more money than they normally would, but they have only put the price back up so they can reduce it again. When Black Friday comes around, they sell it for a MASSIVE DISCOUNT ON ELECTRONICS!! A WHOPPING 50% OFF! 

It's 50% off. It's £25. It's the same price. However, because it's BLACK FRIDAY OFFERRRRRRSSSSSS GET THEM BEFORE THEY ARE GONnEeeeEE BOOM BOOM *fireworks*, then people will buy it. And why wouldn't you? Before today, you never even knew that Barney's Unbelievable Pancake Toaster even existed, and you know it will never be cheaper than it is right now, because it BLACK FRIDAY. You never knew that you needed it, or wanted it, but it can toast pancakes. Of course, a lot of shoppers will have browser extensions and sites that help them to separate fake deals from genuine ones, but the ingenious marketing around Black Friday means that you may still buy it. By grouping together and all having a huge sale at the same time, retailers have conditioned us to spend more money on Black Friday than we ever would normally. It's the biggest shopping event of the whole year, and many items won't get cheaper than they are right now.  You aren't just doing some shopping on Black Friday, you are participating in a rare, limited-time event that everybody is talking about. If you don't participate, you are missing out. On money. The people you know will buy things on Black Friday, and they'll ask you what you bought. What are you going to say to them? Why didn't you buy things? Could you not afford it? It's just layers and layers of FOMO and social pressure stacked on top of each other.

In years gone by, the news on 'Black Friday' was always covered in images of people queuing up, or even camping, outside of shops to be the first person in, often accompanies by fights over televisions, stampedes or worse. In 2022, most people I know do their Black Friday shopping online, and those who do go to the shop don't really have much to gain from it, apart from being able to pay in cash (which is a very good way of controlling spending). This makes it even easier to spend, and you can shop at loads of different stores without going anywhere. The creation of 'Grey Thursday' and 'Black Friday week' is another part of this hype-building marketing strategy. The longer it goes on, the more adverts are shown on TV, the more people talk about it, and the more you anticipate Black Friday coming along. In my household, we've been talking about Black Friday for weeks, saving our money to get in on the sales.

Despite everything I've said, I know that I'm going to spend a lot tomorrow, I've planned to. However, I know that I'm going to buy something on instinct, put it on my shelf, and probably never touch it. All of this hasn't been to say that you should avoid Black Friday, or even that you shouldn't enjoy it and buy into the hype a little. However, it is critical to always keep in mind that you are there to capitalize on the sales by buying things that you were going to buy anyway. To paraphrase the UK's money-saving expert Martin Lewis, "If you buy something that you need at 50% off, you have saved 50%. If you buy something you don't need at 50% off, you have wasted 100%." Look at every item you go to purchase and ask some questions.

"Did I already know about this item, and had I planned to buy it?"
"Would I want to buy this item at full price?"
"Is this the best thing I could spend this money on, or something else?"
"Am I going to use it AFTER the excitement of getting it has worn off?"
"Am I just buying this item because I'm worried I'd miss out on a good deal?" (If this is your main reason for buying, then it's not a good deal).
"Can I really afford it?"

If the answer to all of these is 'Yes', then you are getting a good deal. If not, then you aren't, and we only do Black Friday to get the good deals. Stay safe, shop smart, and have a good day :)