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Black Friday | Pad Patter 11.23.17

bellbird

bellbird

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Are you a shop-aholic that lives for Black Friday sales or do you avoid them like the plague (except for maybe the online deals)? Any must-have items you head out to grab or unbelievable deals tempting you?

The scenes of people waiting in lines before open time and crashing through the doors of some stores in the US just make me cringe. Black Friday wasn't a thing here in Oz until very recently (we've always had Boxing Day sales after Christmas), I guess with the global market place making it more known and then stores here getting on board with the idea. I feel like I just lost about an hour of my life scrolling through a local online store site's 'deals', looking at reviews and videos of products I didn't know existed (probably because we don't watch the home-shopping tv station). Some were good for a bit of a laugh anyway :) Trying to think who needs a pizza slice inflatable pool float for xmas now...
 
We know so many kids who have that pizza slice pool float and loved using it this summer.

Anyhow, my husband works in retail, but thankfully his store does not follow this new trend of opening on Thanksgiving. I personally think it is ridiculous and that people can stay home for a day and shop tomorrow.

We made a list of what gifts we want to buy each person. A few of those have been on super sale online, so we’ve ordered and taken advantage of the sale.

Really just most excited about shopping here at the pad! This will be my first MOC and my stash needs to grow a bit before then
 
I've mostly always avoided shopping on the day -- the entire weekend -- after Thanksgiving. (I try to avoid stores for most of the time between Thanksgiving and New Year, in fact!) Not just are the crowds ridiculous and the sales can be found at other times of the year, I'm also tired from two days of feast-cooking and want to just relax at home.

I have taken advantage of some online deals though. The best one that comes to mind is in 2010 when I took advantage of the Clickinmoms Black Friday sale to get 40% off the cost of a Lifetime membership. I still make use of that purchase! They're doing it again, if you're interested. Sorry for sounding like an advertisement, but if you click through the link and order a membership, I get credit for it (every CM member has an affiliate link). :D

This Black Friday I'm definitely going to be resting my tired feet. But my husband is shopping for a new fridge for us and probably taking advantage of a Black Friday sale.

Happy feasting everyone!
 
I can count the number of times I've been out on Black Friday on one hand. Once was with my inlaws, once after work with my husband, and once at 6am to get a vacuum cleaner (saved over $300)

To me it's not worth it for anything that won't be a larger than $200 savings. The crowds are not my thing. However, I will say when I went the year to get my vacuum, it was dead. The guy at Kohls said with the changes of opening on Thanksgiving (don't get me started on how much I hate that) it's made Friday actually quiet.

I worked years in Retail and had to work Black Friday, then went straight into Financial Industry where I also have to work Black Friday. I'd rather be there and take Cyber Monday off if I need anything :)
 
I used to work retail. Ever since then, I have vowed never to step foot in a mall from mid November through January 1. It sounds dramatic, but really I just don't like being there during the weekends or on big days like Black Friday (part of it is the fact the mall traffic backs up onto the freeway and I'm not patient enough to spend an hour waiting to get near the mall, let alone actually parked and shopping!) I will visit a good friend of mine at a restaurant tomorrow for lunch. We're both hoping it's not too busy cuz it isn't located near any real shopping. :)

Part of my aversion to Black Friday (besides the fact I don't like crowds, noise, or shopping in general lol) is that I do a lot of my Christmas shopping before November even starts... so by Black Friday, I don't really have a reason to go venture out of the house. [It doesn't hurt that I have only a few people to buy for, which makes it easier to finish early.] I do love shopping online, so I'll check out a few stores, but like @GlazeFamily3 Desi said, I'm most looking forward to shopping here at the Pad! The one gift left on my list is a bike for DS and I want him to sit/ride on different ones before we buy it. But... the idea of him trying out bikes on Black Friday sounds like a special form of torture lol!

And non-US people: yes, lots of crowds are usual. And while those images of stampeding shoppers make for good news, violence/true craziness is very rare. Even when I worked in the mall, people were always very kind and even helpful to others. I never saw shoving/stampedes/etc. My issue was just the crowds and the bad traffic lol!
 
I do probably 99% of my Christmas shopping online. I do not do crowds! And on top of that, when I go in stores I just get overwhelmed and lose sight of my list and ideas. I have been spending a lot of time the last few days browsing the online ads and making a list of things I want to go back and check this weekend. The only exceptions to that have been the couple of years we spent Thanksgiving at the beach...I did hit the outlet mall at 1am a couple of times and got some great deals. But my rule was, I circle the parking lot one time...if I find a space, I stop and shop...otherwise, back to the condo haha. And, it's much nicer to shop like that when/where the weather is not freezing cold.
 
Definitely NOT a Black Friday shopper!! Well, not if you count going to the shops. I will definitely snag a few online deals here and there, but the thought of trying to park at a mall between Thanksgiving and New Years gives me the cold shivers!

I do like the new trend of Giving Tuesday where you send some money to favorite charities the day after Cyber Monday. And of course I am already obsessively checking the TLP storefront to see when the Black Friday specials are posted :) I have never done the MOC, but this year I am excited to give it a go!
 
Christina W said:
Definitely NOT a Black Friday shopper!! Well, not if you count going to the shops. I will definitely snag a few online deals here and there, but the thought of trying to park at a mall between Thanksgiving and New Years gives me the cold shivers!

I do like the new trend of Giving Tuesday where you send some money to favorite charities the day after Cyber Monday. And of course I am already obsessively checking the TLP storefront to see when the Black Friday specials are posted :) I have never done the MOC, but this year I am excited to give it a go!
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I haven't heard of Giving Tues! - I love the idea though & you won't be disappointed with the TLP stores Black Fri & Cyber Monday specials! (Digi shopping specials were my intro to the concept of Black Friday many years ago & still make my day!)
 
I just don't 'get' Black Friday.

Tomorrow we're going to my parents' house for pizza & to decorate their house for Christmas. They do live close to the main shopping drag so I plan on taking the long way 'round to get to their place. We will hit the mall Sunday afternoon to visit Santa but we're going in the back way + making a reservation ahead of time so it shouldn't be too bad.
 
I've done Black Friday shopping only a few times. But the last several years I've done most of my shopping on-line. This year was the FIRST year I actually was looking at a bigger ticket item & bought it first thing this morning when I opened my e-mail and saw that it was on sale & it was something we needed...not even a gift! I typically don't even really look at on-line sales on Black Friday...I just shop sporadically throughout the month of November & December.
 
Scrapping with Liz said:
I just shop sporadically throughout the month of November & December.
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for some reason i read this as" I just shop 'sardonically' thru Nov and Dec" and I thought yep, she is totally a kindred spirit! I kind of bah-humbug my way thru xmas shopping, sneering and thinking it's all just stuff and twict the price of after xmas! Glad you got your bargain too - we got a new microwave, no more noisy grinding and 'sporadic' heating ;)
 
This year, I seem to have gone Black Friday nuts: so far big items I've got - 50% off flannel duvet cover (Land's End), Snowshoes for Naomi at $75 off (Sport Chek), I just bought a Circle (Disney associated parental control device) from Amazon for 25% off. That is less the gift giving Santa, and more the "he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you are watching adult shows on Netflix, so you're losing all your screen time for the next week."
Best shopping moment: I won a $10 gift certificate to an Etsy store I frequent (It's called Every Minute a Story, they make planner stickers).
Worst shopping moment: the one toy on my list is an Our Generation Girls sleigh for Ruth. The local branch of Mastermind Toys is sold out. On Saturday, we're going to be having brunch near a different Mastermind Toys. I am going to take a verrrry long bathroom break, and run next door to see if they have it in stock. (And, I already checked Amazon & Walmart, they are not selling it in Canada).
 
We only do Black Friday to get items we need, but I've never waited outside of a store just to purchase something! This year many retailers were offering Black Friday deals all week with the same offers both in store and online. I did purchase bed sheets online to pick up in the store. I'm glad I did because by the time I got to the store the white ones were completely out!

I must admit I waited 1-1/2 hours in line at that same store to get a few other items, including the extra pillowcases that I needed for the sets. It was insane, but I wasn't driving back just to get them!
 
A local friend posted on FB last night that there were no crowds at Wal-Mart and they had a lot of stuff left. I don't have to buy for anyone so don't do any BF shopping. However, I have in the past found my own Christmas presents online. My father always gave me money to get what I wanted. One year I found luggage I wanted in BF ads. Turns out Penney's had the same luggage on sale online starting on Thursday (2009). I ordered it that night and it was on my doorstep on Saturday.

On Dec 19th I will get my retirement gift from my employer and I had been thinking about putting the money (I know the amount since I always wrote the checks for it for 16 years! amount never changed) towards an iPad. Found one online and ordered it today. It will be here on Wednesday :)
 
No black Fridays for me in the brick and mortar stores ... most of our shopping is done online. We have a tiny family so don't buy much anyways. Already have one big item crossed off the list that we ordered from Best Buy last night.
 
Most years I stay home rather than go out on Black Friday. The family went out today but it was to a new coffee shop. Some of us had pie with our coffee. We talked for 2 hours before heading back home. Lots of fun. I love hanging with my kids.

We only talked about Christmas in the context that 1) we needed a list of who to shop for and 2) that I had started a list but there were lots of blanks next to the names.

I looked at Amazon but did not get anything. The deals we got so far, we got in before Thanksgiving sales.
 
I think I've shopped on Black Friday a total of 2 times. And, that includes yesterday! My mom had to get my Dad a shirt for a wedding today, and she needed some earrings. We also went to Costco.... she got Shayne a TV for his birthday in December and I picked up two chromebooks. All in all, it was a smooth day, and didn't seem crazy. But... that's not saying I want to shop again on Black Friday! :giggle
 
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