How To Not Get Suckered By Black Friday Deals: 5 Rules
Every year, Black Friday is the largest shopping day in the world as it falls the day after Thanksgiving and marks the unofficial start of the Christmas season. During this day, people spend billions of dollars both online and in stores. That’s because retailers claim that their prices are the lowest that they’re going to be that year, but is that always the case? Part of it is just how well the marketing of Black Friday is, while others truly are offering their lowest prices.
Around this time of year, a lot of people will get buyer’s remorse because the deal that they got wasn’t as great as they thought, or what they spent money on wasn’t even worth the markdown. If you’re looking to save money, here are five ways to not get suckered by Black Friday deals, making your holiday season that much better.
Avoid the Cheapest Deals
There are a lot of doorbusters that are offered on Black Friday, but nothing gets people in the door quite like a good deal on electronics. Things like tablets, televisions, and laptops are all offered at super low prices, and there tend to be lines all the way to the door for people to get their hands on them.
However, these electronics are some of the biggest sucker items that retailers offer. They are far from the top of the line, which is why they’re so cheap, to begin with. They’re also overstocked since nobody wanted to buy them throughout the year and they’re unloading the inventory so that people come into the store and buy other items. If you think a tablet that’s $39 is too good to be true, you’re right.
Don’t Forget Monday
Online shopping has caught on more and more over the years, with revenues from online purchases surpassing that of in-person shopping over the holiday season. With that said, there’s an online equivalent of Black Friday called Cyber Monday. While Black Friday allows people to have their items in hand and ready to wrap on that very day, waiting until Cyber Monday is often your best bet.
That’s because, on Cyber Monday, prices that are listed on websites like Amazon or Walmart are often around 15 percent cheaper than what the same deals were for Black Friday. While these companies want to keep their brick-and-mortar buildings afloat, the online business is just as important to them, which is why they reserve the best deals for Cyber Monday.
Avoid Financing if Possible
Now, more than ever, it’s easier to get financing on products through all major retailers as they work with third-party financiers. The retailers get their money right away, but then you’re left to pay off the amount that was given to them, plus any potential interest from using the buy-now, pay-later option.
While these are great options if you can get them without interest, most of them are offered to people with poor credit at high-interest rates. Let’s say you want something for $150 and are offered to finance. You might end up having to pay $180 on that item over the course of payments, and making a lot of purchases this way can add hundreds to your yearly shopping.
Double Check the Prices
Anything can be marked at a certain percentage off, but that doesn’t mean that the new price is actually marked down that much from the original price. For instance, let’s say there’s a television that’s on sale for $200 and is marked at 50 percent off. You’ll want to check various websites to see if the original price was actually $400.
It could have been $200 throughout the entire year, but was marked at $400 at the last minute so that a retailer could say that it was half-off. It’s a pretty predatory tactic that retailers use to trick people into thinking that they’re getting the best deal, but it’s still legal and tricks countless people every year.
Not Everything Has to Be Black Friday
People save their money all year just to drop it all on that single Black Friday, but that shouldn’t always be the case. We already talked about Cyber Monday, but there are going to be great deals that happen all the way through the holiday season. Don’t get yourself too financially exhausted by spending all of your money on one day because it’s Black Friday.
Also, there are going to be those “dream gifts” that you think need to be purchased that day, but that’s not true. Even getting something small for someone is enough to let them know that you’re thinking of them, so don’t stress yourself out on Black Friday.