Topic: Poll: Black Friday and Cyber Monday - The Good, the Bad...

[galfert]

Share what deals you find or are interested in for Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Does not have to be weather hardware / software related. This is chit chat so anything is fair game.

Do you always buy something or are you totally against these shopping events?

Share some past stories or tips.

[galfert]

I'm most probably not interested. I'm open to the possibility of finding something but I rarely if ever participate. I find that either I already have everything I want/need and I usually don't wait for these deal days. Also for me what I'm usually interested in never seems to go on sale anyway because I'm very particular about what brand/model I want. I also don't like extra stuff I don't really need cluttering up my life.

But I am interested in making this a year that I do buy something. So please share what you all are excited about and maybe I'll buy too.

[WeatherHost]

Ustabe waylongbackago that BF meant something.  You could find deals that didn't come up most other days of the year.  Then then stores started getting greedy and scamming people.  They would bring in models of TVs, stereos or refrigerators completely unique to them for that day.  They might have a model number that was one digit or letter different but had several features stripped out so they could cut that extra $10 off the price. 

And it was only ONE day of the year.  The stores were jammed, lines out the door.  People camped out overnight based on one or two leaked promos, only to find out that there were only 10 of that item available.  People got mad and fights started, even some brawls and near riots with stores getting trashed.

The day after Turkey Day is one day I can guarantee you would NOT and will NOT find me in any store.

Now, you see 'BF Deals' about 60 days out of the year and none of them are really all that special.  Ads are posted weeks ahead of time and you can buy from your bed whenever you want.

[floodcaster]

I will mention that if you've been interested in purchasing a StarDot webcam, they have some amazing deals for Black Friday. That's how I purchased the one I have over 5 yrs ago. The camera has been rock solid and when I needed support for a programing question, they were very responsive.

[wase4711]

another "Hallmark" holiday, that means absolutely nothing except to companies trying to exploit the holiday season to empty your pockets, and, pad their profit margins..
agree that several years ago, there was a "buzz" to it, but now, its just another made up promotional event, that has few, if any, "special" deals...as someone else said, you can get these prices or better several other days during the year, so waiting for "Black Friday" now a days is a joke..

[ValentineWeather]

I've become disappointed in Black Friday also since it's become more of a gimmick than great sale day with it's extended week long and in some cases all month long sale that really are no better than any sale with advertised 30-40% off retail which is normal price anyway if you shop around.
At one time you could get some great deals but for most part they have disappeared but doesn't keep me from looking especially for big appliciace items. This is generally the best time of year to get that new refrigerator etc.

[Bushman]

BF/CM has morphed into a much longer sale, and not a great one IME.  Recently I was looking for a new laptop.  Lenovo had better deals two weeks ago than they are listing for BF.  Yeah, there are some deals but not like the past.  It is still buyer beware on pricing.

[Old Tele man]

Too Darn Many Idjiots in the same Spaces!

[vreihen]

The small city where I work (best known for being the murder capital of New York State) is putting together a pub-style shopping crawl for Small Business Saturday.  They are passing out punch cards, and each shop/restaurant along the main street shopping corridor will punch as you visit.  When you turn the card in, you get a raffle ticket for every 5 punches.  The drawing is for a $1,000+ basket of stuff donated by the local shops.  Not a bad idea to draw business from the big box stores and malls back to the main street area.

Anyway, if anyone wants the press release to pass along to their own local merchant association for next year, let me know.....

[Bushman]

Police around here just issued a warning about "too good to be true" deals - likely fenced goods - just in time for Black Friday.

[ocala]

Agree with everyone else. Just another day.
It does amuse me to see car dealers getting in on the action.
Hey come on down to Ocala Caddilac and get yourself a brand new Escalade. The deals have never been hotter
Yeah, right.

[galfert]

Well I took advantage of a 20% off deal and got the Nvidia Shield TV streaming media player. My old Nexus Player was acting up and I recently had to resort to my Chromecast device instead. I really missed the more capable experience with a proper remote so I'm happy to have landed this deal. This is the lowest price the Nvidia Shield TV has ever been. Price dropped today on Amazon. This is considered one of the best media players. Even if you already have a smart TV this really changes the whole experience as most smart TVs are underpowered, slow, bad interfaces, and limited apps.

[ValentineWeather]

Been thinking about replacing 1980's fridge.
Don't trust the new french door models with most if not all having low reliability, so looking at no frills single door 24.1 cubic ft. LG with bottom freezer.
Maybe better units but local store does repairs if it does breakdown which is something living in boondocks comes into play if you don't want to wait 2 weeks for service call.
This LG discounted about $400, looked at floor model and very spacious inside more so than the side by sides and french door models. Local store said out of about 30 units sold over last few years not one service call yet so can't beat that nowadays. 

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/lg-ldcs24223s-bottom-freezer-refrigerator-review/
https://www.reviewed.com/refrigerators/content/lg-ldcs24223s-refrigerator-review/spec

[Glenn]

We received a few flyers in the mailer/paper thing everyone gets...since no one buys the actual paper anymore. I took a look at a few of the TV deals and googled the model numbers on my phone. Some were hard to cross reference, others were models only available at certain big box retailers. So there is truth to the story that some models are built to store specs. Maybe not such a good deal after all.

[stevebrtx]

I walked through both Home Depot and Lowes the other day and could not find a single thing I needed or even wanted - and that's unusual for me, I can normally always find a new tool or toy. Black Friday 3 years ago I bought a new frig, when I bought the house there was a big double door with water and ice in the door - I didn't need it, I don't drink water and beer don't need no ice so I got a nice single door bottom freezer that's just what I need. Now, if I'd come across a heck of a deal on a 9MM pistol I'd have been interested, well, maybe Santa will poke something in my sock.