[cron]

Here's the 2007 edition of this poll

So, what did you think about last years BF?

[dboy]

I said yes, but with a caveat - only online. I've ordered everything I wanted from BB and staples the last couple years online early in the morning. No lines, no crazy people

[JDMnAR]

What - no 'sometimes' option?

[ebytes]

Probably several years back, it was worth it to camp out, but those days are long gone. Youngsters nowadays camp out the night before @ ~8PM.

Besides, those great deals can be found online too.

[AMS]

Probably several years back, it was worth it to camp out, but those days are long gone. Youngsters nowadays camp out the night before @ ~8PM.

That's because you are now old.

[ebytes]

That's because you are now old.

But I'm only 26.

[kar522]

Didn't go out last year...but I always volunteer to baby-sit, as the younger females in the family go out...about 4 AM or so...the men want nothing to do with it...they'd rather hunt game...

[SoY]

don't know if I can make it this year, but I need lot of expensive items such as HDTV, laptop, PCs, DVD players, Digital Camera ...

last year, I bought some good tech items and I have to share with my parents => this year, I need to buy more

[pradman]

I hardly go to store in the early morning. Mostly, I do online and may be around 9AM I go to couple of nearbystores.

[efreeman1980]

Camp out! It's worth it. Don't look at it like you're waiting in line; look at it as an opportunity to go camping followed by shopping for some of the hottest deals around.

[jungleman]

Is it worth it? Not really... from my experience, here is what I've learned:

You have to consider the product: a lot of the stuff they have deep markdowns on for Black Friday is lower-end or outgoing product that isn't of the highest quality to begin with. Cheapo laptops, cheapo video cards, cheapo writable media. I stopped buying Black Friday writable media (even if it's free) and switched to Taiyo Yudens because I got so tired of consistently burning coasters or corrupted CDs/DVDs with them. Mostly the CDs; the DVDs haven't been as bad.

Also, Black Friday has been going on for decades, but the mass hysteria didn't really catch on until a couple of years ago. I went to Best Buy one year at 4:00 in the morning and was about 20th in line-- that doesn't happen anymore. For this reason, retailers already know that people are going to come out no matter what, so there's not as much incentive to make the deals as good-- people will buy anyway.

Am I going? Sure, this will be my 7th year, but I think at this point it's more out of tradition and maybe to grab a couple of cheap things, rather than an actual need to save money. Most of the stuff at BF ends up being about the same price after Christmas anyway.

This post has been edited by jungleman: 11-7-07, 5:59am

[carloscai]

The ONLY time I went out on BF was in 2004. Kar522 told me I could buy cheap suits from Macy's. Thanks for her advice, I got my suit with a deal, went to an interview, and landed on my current job.

[anubis4fun]

For me it's not worth it this year, I am going to pick up a 4 gig memory card, a 500 gb hard drive and a new 22 in lcd monitor on friday and on thurs night I'll pick up 2 gig's of memory but that's just because I'm buying a new computer today and want some of the accessories for a little cheaper and no waiting for shipping, otherwise I'd go the online route

[MrIVXX]

I 110% agree with Post # 1 - Dboy.

I got everything I wanted from Staples online last year and I didn't have to wait out in the cold or wait in a huge line only to find out there wasn't enough quantity on hand.

What was even better than that, was that J&R electronics from NYC was willing to Price Match BB's B.Friday Sales Ad two nights before it even started. I got the LCD - HD TV that I wanted, (with free shipping) for the same price that BB had it advertised for, and I didn't have to wake up early, wait in line, fight the crowd, or conquer the cold.

Black friday is worth it, but only with carful pre planning

Oh yea, and After that, I woke up at my regular time and headed up to Lowes, where they had plenty of all the deals left, even at noon time.

I got the Shop Vac that I wanted for the cheapest price I have ever seen it. Thanks B$

[Alan]

For me BF is not worth it. I look at opportunity cost. Could I be doing something more worthwhile with my time? The answer always comes back Yes, so I avoid the craziness.

[qwex]

For me BF is not worth it. I look at opportunity cost. Could I be doing something more worthwhile with my time? The answer always comes back Yes, so I avoid the craziness.

same here, except usually I don't do anything particularly more worthwhile instead

[penguin110]

For me BF is not worth it. I look at opportunity cost. Could I be doing something more worthwhile with my time? The answer always comes back Yes, so I avoid the craziness.

My thoughts exactly.

[cron]

Definitely worth it online for me.

In-store, probably not this year as the deals don't seem particular good enough to go freeze myself out in the cold.