Black Friday – What You Might Not Know

Black Friday sales, pre-Black Friday sales, post-Black Friday Sales, Black Friday-all-week-sales, Black Friday-for-a-month sales, Black Friday in July sales?!?! Can we not even bring up Black Friday sneak peaks, previews and “leaked ads”? Is it still a big deal or have people stopped caring?

A Brief History of Black Friday

In reference to the day following Thanksgiving, Black Friday was a term first used in Philadelphia during the 1950’s by their police officers to describe the day they’d have to deal with hordes of tourists and shoppers that poured into the city prior to the annual Army-Navy football game played there. The officers couldn’t take the day off and had to work extended shifts. Shoplifters taking advantage of the overwhelmed stores would add to law enforcement’s challenges.

Philadelphia retailers tried without success to re-label the day “Big Friday.” It never caught on. Eventually the term Black Friday spread regionally through the 1980’s and rose to a national level as it was popularized in the mid-1990’s. Retailers found a way to remove the negative connotations of the term Black Friday by explaining that the busy shopping day helped the retailers go from being “in the red” (losing money) to “black” (making money).

By 2001, people spent more money on Black Friday than any other day of the year.

Is Black Friday Losing Its Appeal?

As retailers caught on that more people were eager to get their Christmas shopping started as soon as Turkey Day was through, they offered more and more enticing deals to draw customers to their stores over the competition. Also in a bid to grab customers over the competition, stores started opening earlier. First 7am, then 6am, 5am, 4am, then 6pm on Thanksgiving Day and eventually staying open 24hrs so you could go shop at 2am like a weirdo.

Ultimately, retailers applied the term Black Friday to any and every deal they possibly could and the term, which once meant the best sale of the year, was totally diluted.

Since 2014, Black Friday has not been the busiest shopping day of the year. The Saturday before Christmas has regained that title and held it for the last several years.

What is a Derivative Product?

Something most people don’t know is that many Black Friday “door-buster” deals are for a certain type of product sometimes referred to as a derivative.  These are typically big ticket items from a name brand, but they are specially manufactured for Black Friday sales. They’ll likely be stripped of the full features of regular equipment and could possibly be made with inferior parts so that stores can sell them at rock bottom prices.

Derivative products have unique model numbers that make it very difficult to research the product’s specifications. Forget about looking for a price history or reviews by people who have bought the item before, they won’t exist.

 It Probably Won’t Be the Best Deal of the Year or Maybe Even the Season.

-The lowest prices on toys come two weeks before Christmas.

-The best deals on TV’s are found from the start of the year through The Super Bowl.

-Exercise equipment is cheapest between Christmas and New Year’s.

-Jewelry is least expensive after Valentine’s Day

Even if You Don’t Get the Best Deal, It Can Still Be Fun.

If you’ve ventured out  in pursuit of Black Friday deals, you know there’s a bit of a buzz in the air though out the malls and big box stores and for many people, just joining in is part of kicking off the Christmas season.

Retailers report that there are more shoppers making less purchases during Black Friday, meaning more people are hitting the stores just to check it out. Ideally people hope to find a deal they can brag to their friends about (“I GOT SIX SWEATERS FOR A DIME AT OLD NAVY!!”), but they’re usually happy just to pick up one or two things and maybe cross one person off their shopping list.

So whatever the realities of Black Friday are, whether you’ll actually find a great deal or not, it’s not going away anytime soon. Ignore it or embrace it and enjoy the holidays!