The fourth Thursday of November is observed as Thanksgiving Day in the USA. This marks the beginning of the shopping season and is when most businesses come into the ‘black’ (presumably from being in the ‘red’). So, the day after Thanksgiving Day is supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year; dubbed Black Friday. It is the day when stores offer the best deals everyone is apparently shopping.
Shops, online stores, airlines, auto manufacturers --- everyone is offering deals. There are ‘flash sales’ and ‘special Black Friday’ deals and more.
It’s a little like Indians celebrating Halloween. There is no concept of Thanksgiving or Black Friday here, but that doesn’t stop Indian stores from offering their own ‘Black Friday Deals’
Marketers are pulling out all the stops to get people to reach deep into those pockets. However, some people manage to get freebies without spending any money.
Some can see their own future --- going broke.
People buy because the deals are just that irresistible and then realize what they did.
Some suffer buyer’s remorse and regret the purchases they’ve made --- as soon as they’ve made them.
This tweet suggests one way to save 100% --- by staying away from all the Black Friday sales altogether.
People queue up early in the morning; sometimes even earlier for their fave sales. There is a mad rush in stores, nerves are frazzled and people even get into skirmishes.
People are known to get into physical fights with others over items that both want to buy.
They shop in packs. They make a survey and then decide what to get and how.
Many people now choose to shop online – why battle the hordes when you can be shopping at your convenience in the comfort of warm slippers and PJs?
People do try --- not to waste money, but they cannot seem to help themselves.
They try to remind themselves about their own financial realities but don’t always succeed.
The deals may be tempting, but a glance at one's bank balance can be a wakeup call.
There are those who believe that all the ‘deals’ and ‘sales’ are just eyewash: artificially jacked up prices and fake discounts.
Some are impervious to the blandishments of Black Friday deals. Lucky are those who can resist.
There is that empty feeling after all the #BlackFridayDeals – was it all worth it?
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