The Black Friday sales are now supposedly over, although you might still find some deals kicking around. Did you get caught up in Black Friday discount fever? Did you get a real deal, or are you now suffering buyer’s remorse?
It’d probably be fair to describe Black Friday as ‘a bit marmite’.
Much like Christmas, Black Friday encroaches further into the winter calendar each year with some retailers now starting their sales at the beginning of November. And like Christmas, for some people ‘Black Friday fever’ could seem to drag on forever.
On the other hand, if you’re on the lookout for a bargain then November could be rife with anticipation. Though not all deals are as good as they seem, there are potentially hundreds of pounds to be saved on big-screen TVs, Christmas presents for relatives or simply a gift to yourself.
Black Friday deals
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, one thing’s for sure – Black Friday is all but inescapable.
Needling its way into your brain like a catchy song, the incessant marketing makes it difficult to ignore the nagging feeling that even if there’s nothing concrete on the list, you should really find something to treat yourself.
I consider myself a savvy shopper, but I also love a bargain – and the two don’t always go hand in hand. I bought a few things over the Black Friday weekend. A couple were things I wanted rather than needed, so I’d been patiently waiting for a good deal before buying. I had a price in mind and sure enough, they were discounted and saved me more than a few quid.
For a couple of other deals, I was sucked in… ‘Buy X and get Y for just £20 more’ (when Y usually costs £50). I didn’t really need ‘Y’, but I bought it anyway. The other was something I might need in the future, but definitely don’t need now. It was too late – the retailers had won, seducing me into buying stuff I could really have done without.
Sales shopping
You might be in a similar boat, and no doubt records being broken for Black Friday sales will be accompanied by records being broken for the number of items being returned.
Fortunately we live in a world where returning stuff – even online, should be fairly easy if you’re quick. We have advice on returning an online purchase and returning in-store, plus if you’re the recipient of a Black Friday-opportunist gift, we have advice for that as well.
Or you might be better at staving off this hypnotic marketing – ignoring the constant calls to save money in almost every advert, newspaper or storefront for the best part of a month. My question to these savvy folks is, how do you do it? Is there really nothing you want to buy, or are you just better at resisting?
I can’t say I’ve learned a lesson from my Black Friday splurging. I’ll still consider myself to be a savvy shopper, still do my research in advance and still try to avoid buying things I don’t really need. But perhaps I could try a bit harder.
How have you found the Black Friday period? Are you relieved it’s over? Did you buy anything, are you pleased with your purchases or do you have a classic case of buyer’s remorse?
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