Discount?

[IrezumiKiss]

How did Black Friday sales have you benefit? There is no chance a Friday-only discount will make any impact on your cost-cutting habits.
There are virtually zero Black Friday-only retail sales. They continue throughout the week on into the weekend.
If there are more discount days in all our states that Black Friday has targeted, you all will still have Cyber Monday sales.
What's the point?

 

[Conager]

How did Black Friday sales have you benefit? There is no chance a Friday-only discount will make any impact on your cost-cutting habits.
There are virtually zero Black Friday-only retail sales. They continue throughout the week on into the weekend.
If there are more discount days in all our states that Black Friday has targeted, you all will still have Cyber Monday sales.
What's the point?

Everyone loves the concept of a bargain. Even when it's not.

In my younger days I worked at a major independent appliance and entertainment equipment dealer.

First of all the place was located in an out-of-the-way location that was somewhat awkward to get to in a not very friendly looking part of town. In the early days it made a certain amount of sense because at that time major appliances were being shipped by rail so it was helpful to have rail access. By the time I worked there they already moved down the street away from the actual railroad tracks so we couldn't even get loads by railroad anymore.

Just setting the scene here- you go to this dingy, poorly lit huge building with the idea that you're going to get a bargain that the General Public isn't smart enough to find.

At one time, there was a certain element of truth to that because the price of real estate there was cheaper so you have less of a monthly nut to cover, they did do enough volume to get a slight price break from the major manufacturers, and what little advertising they did was almost entirely covered by the money that major manufacturers will kick in if you mention their name in the ad.

My favorite gimmick was for them to go through the warehouse and figure out which appliances we could afford to give a little bit of a discount on and they would deliberately scratch and dent appliances in places that no one would mind so we can have a scratch and dent sale. No one ever particularly questioned how the scratches and dents always ended up someplace like between the washer and dryer.

 

[Noor]

I did buy some things.

Throughout the year, I keep an ongoing list of things with best prices I am planning to purchase and check prices every so often.
When I see a good sale I buy them.

For the past few years, black Friday sales have not been worth it, but this year a few things that were on my list were at a good price.

I got a waterproof/breathable trench coat/shell that I wanted for $100 instead of $189. I might have preferred a different color, but I got it in one of the colors I like.
An Instant Pot for $54 instead of $90 and a Snapscan for $400 instead of $500.
Also a keyboard for my table that I want at $14 instead of $40.

Except for the Instant Pot, I can return the other things if I don't want them.

There is one more Parka that I am considering, but I still have a few more days to consider unless they run out of my size.

One of my siblings makes his living by buying and reselling electronics, so if I want something like a particular keyboard, computer, scanner, they can usually tell me the best price and where to get it. This is the first scanner I ever actually purchased, all the rest my sibling got with coupons, discounts and rebates.

When I wanted a new laser printer I told my sib, and they said there are some at office depot at on loss leader $65, here is a 20% discount coupon, and the closest one has six of them in stock. It was a really good deal, it's a nice cannon, fairly quick laser writer. I bought two, one for me and one for a client. The client was thrilled. If they hadn't wanted it, I could have returned it.

It helps to know what is going on sale before the day of the sale. Also, what the freebies are. Some places have freebies or 100% rebate on items. You have to pay the postage for the rebate and the tax, but if you are reselling, you can easily make that back.
I suppose it is like people who do serious grocery food shopping. I have a friend who does that.
Byron was actually a really good meat shopper, but you really have to plan and have freezer space.

 

[Noor]

Okay, so maybe I have a problem...

Today I bought some prescription glasses on zenni for $30, I need backup car ones, and 6 pairs of underpants. I was only going to get 3 but there was free shipping and an addition 20% discount plus the sale discount, total was $25 which is what 3 pairs usually cost. These are the kind I normally get. I know I will use both of these things.

I figure I spent about $650 between Friday and Today, most of it was the spiffy scanner.

I didn't buy anything not on my list and I can return almost of it if I get post-purchase dissidence, except the scanner that I need it for work.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Prescription eyeglasses for $30! My prescription alone is $150. L42/20 and R48/20

 

[Noor]

Prescription eyeglasses for $30! My prescription alone is $150. L42/20 and R48/20

I got them from Zenni. They will only last about a year but they are good for trying out new prescriptions. The main thing is to make sure you find a frame that fits. Your current glasses probably the frame sizes inside them. You also need pupil distance.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

Dammit, Noor...how'd you dig this one up?

It's partially inert without the dunderheaded political thread I was parodying from, but...

...I do wish now that I had gotten two Seagate 2TB external Slim HDs instead of just one for the heap cheap Black Friday sale price, if only because I didn't expect the drive to be this good. Not that I've already filled it up or anything, but just because the deal was incredibly good for the value and getting another one for future use would've been smarter, if not leaving me temporarily without playing around money from breaking a strict budget.

http://hiphopmakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Seagate-Backup-Plus-Slim-2TB-Portable-External-Hard-Drive.jpg

Three of these could probably hold everything I've saved up in my entire digital life. And I've ran through past drives that were as large and heavy as a brick just being 500GB and powered by three-prong cords.

 

[Noor]

Dammit, Noor...how'd you dig this one up?

It's partially inert without the dunderheaded political thread I was parodying from, but...

...I do wish now that I had gotten two Seagate 2TB external Slim HDs instead of just one for the heap cheap Black Friday sale price, if only because I didn't expect the drive to be this good. Not that I've already filled it up or anything, but just because the deal was incredibly good for the value and getting another one for future use would've been smarter, if not leaving me temporarily without playing around money from breaking a strict budget.

http://hiphopmakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Seagate-Backup-Plus-Slim-2TB-Portable-External-Hard-Drive.jpg

Three of these could probably hold everything I've saved up in my entire digital life. And I've ran through past drives that were as large and heavy as a brick just being 500GB and powered by three-prong cords.

Nice, I wish I had gotten one too! Next time, tell me about it.
Totally love the scanner, should have gotten one years ago.
It's just so cool.
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/ix500/

I returned the trench coat and sold the parka at cost to a friend.