[cron]

Since there seems to be some interest in this, I thought i'd kick off the discussion with this interesting topic.

Is black friday worth leaving your house? Did you make out with some amazing deals last year? Or get overwhelmed by the crowds?

[IamAddicted]

Last year ..not really..I did not venture out..previous years yes

[tolik]

well the laptop was a decent deal at best buy. not great, but decent. not worth camping out for, but good enough for a pricematch. heh.

[kar522]

In years past it used to be for me...I could find things that were only on sale that day...now I can find them almost year around...

Weather plays a big part around here...if it's blizzarding, no deal's worth it to me. Sometimes I will run up to town in the afternoon and snoop around the stores in the afternoon after most of the folks have gone home to sleep.

[AMS]

Lemme see, is it worth getting up at 3:00 a.m. to go to some store for some electronics I do not need? Ummm no.

If I had small children who wanted the latest toy, I might be inclined to think about it.


And the answer would still be no.


I'll shop on-line once again. I might miss the door busters, but that's ok.

[crimson]

Depends. If there was something I needed/wanted/had on a gift list at an amazing price, then maybe.

I will admit to years ago standing in line at 5am & freezing to death to save a ton on a much needed/desired/etc [and back then expensive] something or other.

Last couple of years, great deals were found at the soon to be gone Filene's & Macy's with their hot early bird coupon specials during the 2 days following Thanksgiving and at a more leisurely pace & time.

All other Black Friday shopping was done online in warm & toasty comfort

[controlfreak]

Dint work out for me, maybe you have to "choose" the "absolutely must have" stuff. I bought the western digital 160 GB HD from best buy last year for $37 including taxes...I saw that price several times during the course of the year...what a bummer!

[sasquatch]

really depends on what you want. I have done well with computer compnents in the past.

[ladybugs227]

The first few years I did it - it was worth it. Some years I show up when the doors open and still get what I need. I always PM at Wal-Mart. This year, I hope there is a smokin' deal on an IPOD or maybe a portable DVD player.

Last year my sister got me the digital camera from Target. Best deal ever (the camera is fab!).

[jon2249]

Last year was horrible. Did get some cheap DVDs and some cheap hard drives and dvd burners but you can get the same deal when its not Black friday. you just have to wait for the deal to happen.

[satin10117]

I was wondering when I would see news of this =)

I say it all depends on what you are looking for. I got some great gifts last year for pretty cheap and I needed that since I was laid off but can't help giving gifts.

Target used to give away bags to the first couple hundred in the door that had great treats and coupons, but they haven't done that in years.

I love that their sale is for 2 days, instead of 2 hours in the morning.

[Sunlite]

I don't bother with it as first the weather is usually not that great and I also hate the crowds and traffic. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.

[cebrain]

I actually love love love black friday!!!! My friends and I spend a week planning all the stores and Christmas lists. We get free gifts at all kinds of places, We all get up and carpool at 3:00 a.m. We laugh and shop without husbands and kids. There are great steals and a great time. I like the experience of getting out in the crowds with friends and having a fun day after Thanksgiving, and working off all that extra turkey weight running from store to store.

[ghostmic]

it is one big holiday for a lot of bargain shoppers. Involved or not, you can't help feeling good when you see people have both hands of shop bags with big smiles. What I like best is to swap stories at the end of the day. It is a lot of fun.

This post has been edited by ghostmic: 10-20-05, 10:28am

[AlgaeEater]

Last year was my first black friday and boy was it an eye opener!

I'm not going to make the same mistake this year though. I'm avoiding Frys, Walmart, Best Buy and Comp Usa. This year I'm only going to target Staples, Office Depot, and Target.

Is it worth it? Personally no. But I like the feeling of getting up at 3:00AM or so just to go do something. Reminds me of my childhood when I use to wake up every single day at 5:30AM just to watch cartoons.

[cron]

looks like we're starting to have a winner

I think it's worth it overall. For me it's all about picking and choosing the right items and sales. That's the best way to feel good about BF and do what level of shopping you feel comfortable with.

[kaycen]

A good video card deal or a laptop price that's low will do the trick for me this year. Don't need hard drives or DVDRW-DL's or memory - got too many as is.

A couple years ago Best Buy had the GF3 Ti200 on sale. I ended up with a raincheck for one. By the time it came in - they gave me the raincheck price PLUS it had a new rebate.

Then to top it all off, the raincheck list got screwed up and I got the call again that the GF3 had come in. This time they took off $50 because it was so late, plus the rebate plus the rain check price.

So 2 GF3's for $70 and $30 made that BF well worth the effort.

Stores make a lot of mistakes when there's so many people around.

Last year Sears screwed up on a washer and dryer - saved me over $100.

I like BF.

[wmspringer]

I've only gone out on BF once, last year...got some nice stuff at Kohl's, but it wasn't worth standing in line for two hours.

Of course, I was almost to the cash register when I found out you could skip the line by applying for a Kohl's card... :-p

[pcsoon]

Last year was ok, a couple of computers from BB. Waited in line from about 3:30am but was in and out in 15mins. BB also gave out a surpise bonus in a free $50 gift card. There wasn't really anything else I wanted last year. I will still go again this year. Its kinda fun for the 1st hour or so.

This post has been edited by pcsoon: 10-23-05, 11:52am

[anjilynn]

Last year I got a much needed desk chair FAR.
Other than that, the best part was listening to my daughter try to explain to my boyfriend that it was an every year thing & he should be grateful that I didn't make him go to Walmart.
He is looking forward to going this year much more than I am; unless something goood comes up, I'll shop online.

This post has been edited by anjilynn: 10-26-05, 12:31pm

[sullise]

BF is not worth it..sorry.


While you may get a handful of bargains, it comes down to this..does:

time+aggrevation+stress = real savings?

Break it down into time. People take time off from work, get up early, get stressed, aggrevated, run around like nuts and show the total opposite in way of attitude towards others during this God awful greed event. Xmas is supposed to be about sharing, kindness and compassion for your fellow man....but anyone who's been to WelfareMart..sorry, Walmart on BF will find none of those qualities.

I'd rather spend few $$$ more then shorten my lifespan and risking my life on BF..lol.

[starshiphome]

For me, yes it is definitely worth it. This is my 20th year participating in the sales; when I started it, my son was a toddler and I fought the Wal-Mart crowds to get his Christmas presents at the lowest cost possible - I was very broke in those days, living on what was considered less income than the federal poverty level, and this was the only way he even had Christmas presents (other than garage sales, of course).

Fast forward to about 8 years ago - my son was old enough to want to pick out his own Christmas, and like his mom, was a tech junkie We started going together and it has turned into a real tradition for us - this is one time that we both tell everyone else "Sorry, I already have plans for that day". We shop together, have breakfast/lunch together afterward, and then go home to install our newest goodies and laugh about the idiots we saw that day (boy, could I tell you some stories!).

We don't spend a lot of money, but the time together is really special to both of us. I kinda feel sorry for whoever he marries....she better be a BF junkie too!

Ruth

[flautenmusik]

I think it is fun....kinda a tradition for my mom and me. We usually get good deals on stuff for the little ones, and there are always more things on sale once you get there that aren't listed in the ads.

[bdhrin]

I love going out black friday and thanksgiving. I am usually done shopping by 9:00 and then my friends and I go out for breakfast. We have a great time even though we usually freeze our butts off.

[tonka]

if there is good deals i like to go .last year i stayed home..
hoping this year is good.

[sleepyshopper]

Black Friday has to be one of my most favoritest days of the year....Not only do I get tons of Incredible deals it is so fun....My best friend and I leave about 10:00pm Thanksgiving night...We hit a couple of the Midnight sales, have a quick bite to eat, then it is off to stand in lines!! We have such a blast!!
I think everyone needs to experience it atleast once and judge for themselves....there is really no other shopping experience like it!!
Happy Holidays everyone!!

[AlgaeEater]

Well it's a catch 22 for some people. Granted if you don't feel it's worth it to suffer through all the hassle and lines of Black Friday, you kinda get this "I should of checked it out" feeling afterwards when everyone's so excited about the deals they scored.

Truth be told, I remember the old Black Friday deals that had things that were top of the line deals. I mean that in a way that the products they were offering were of the very high end variety, and prices for those would be exceptionally good.

For the past couple of years, it has been somewhat of a "Extremely cheap price for medicore quality" items. Sure, no one really needs a slow, outdated computer for $100 bucks, but for the price, it can't be beat no matter how hard you try to put it together.

I don't know what I'm getting at with this post, but you can kinda get where I'm going at it. Black Friday is a psychological thing with shoppers, and I find not trying at all on Black Friday kinda haunts you for a while.

[jungleman]

I have to agree with the others...BF has gotten worse. I remember in 2001, I got a normally $200+ video card for $99, and a normally $100+ hard drive for I believe $40.

Last year I went and got a DVD burner for $40, and by the time I got some of my rebates (though Staples was very quick, great experience), they were selling for $40 online from the comfort of my own home.

Go for the fun (yes it is fun), the thrills and excitement of waking up and getting there early, go for the FAR deals, but don't go solely to save a few bucks on one or two items. You gotta enjoy it to make it worth it

[tawanda54]

Since there seems to be some interest in this, I thought i'd kick off the discussion with this interesting topic.

Is black friday worth leaving your house?  Did you make out with some amazing deals last year?  Or get overwhelmed by the crowds?

Yes black Friday is worth it. all the cold air and being push almost to the ground by the christmas shoppers. my three daughters and I go every year. This year is pretty hard because one of my daughters is having a tumor removed on her Spinal Cord the 16th of Nov. she says she wasn't going to miss our shopping time even if she has to go in a wheel chair. looks like Wally World has some pretty good deals this year for all my grandkids all (7) of them. :rolleyesold:

[NeoHyd]

After coming to know about all these great sites (eg: B$, etc)....for me Black Friday sale is a year long event