[X] My Assistant

[armywife4life]

I remember for years I was always excited about going black friday shopping. But this year Im not, its like all the thrill is gone. No ads, No planning and truthfully Im not really worried about it, I already started buying my gifts...am I the only one that feels this way this year?

[kali75b]

I remember for years I was always excited about going black friday shopping. But this year Im not, its like all the thrill is gone. No ads, No planning and truthfully Im not really worried about it, I already started buying my gifts...am I the only one that feels this way this year?

Nope..I started BF shopping 6yrs ago and it was so exciting..but last year was a bust and I'm pretty sure this year will be the same and from here on out....so I'm not that excited about it.

[SERVONNDEE]

I remember for years I was always excited about going black friday shopping. But this year Im not, its like all the thrill is gone. No ads, No planning and truthfully Im not really worried about it, I already started buying my gifts...am I the only one that feels this way this year?

YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FEELS LIKE THIS. I WAS HOPING THAT WHEN THE MORE STORES COME OUT I WOULD THEN GET MORE EXCITED. SO HERE'S TO PRAYING THAT WE ALL GET TURNED AROUND.

[eddington3]

Same here. I love BF shopping and have been doing it for about 10 years or longer. But anymore it seems like the real deals are getting very rare even on black friday. It used to be the hot items that went on sale that day for cheap and now it seems like its the same items year after year. How many toasters does a person need? And with the toys its always the same games on sale. This year also seems to have the ads coming out alot slower then usual. Hopefully the big players (like Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Target, and Best Buy) will inspire me with their ads.

Besides all that, we really need the extra good deals this year as money seems to be tight for everyone this holiday season. I think that if people can't get what they need for a cheap price on BF then they will not be purchasing much else and the stores will have one of the worst years ever. Lets hope they considered that when they made up their ads.

This post has been edited by eddington3: Nov 2 2009, 05:34 PM

[Mrstoots]

I know what you mean as far as being excited goes. I think it's due to the lack of the ads. I just think more and more stores are really going to become more and more secretive and threatening as far as their BF ads go. I'm not expecting to see any of the big ads until the week of Thanksgiving...probably even the day before...

[Starmiter]

Yeah, it's definitely a lackluster year this year, mostly due to the economic situation, which I think is more of a direct reason for the lack of released BF ads this year - stores are expected to not have as many ridiculous offers this year, so they're probably thinking they're playing it safe by not revealing the ads until much closer to the day. The problem, though, is that they fail to realize that people take this time to not only organize their "plan of attack" for which stores, what products, etc., but to also finalize the money they're planning to set aside for the day - the longer people go without knowing what they'll need to spend that day, the more likely they are to be conservative w/ their money and not set aside as much to spend for that day.

The stores are shooting themselves in the foot while they think they're maximizing their sales potential. Movie studios have done similar things with movies they were unsure of in the past (the 1998 "Godzilla" comes to mind) by not letting critics see it ahead of time for fear of scaring people away by bad reviews...only to see it fall short before the weekend is up because word of mouth spreads faster than ever now thanks to the Internet.

True, some people might be disappointed by the lack of deals this year if the ads are released, and some might not even shop that day, but the vast majority would still end up going that day and buy other things because, afterall, if they participate in any gift-giving traditions at this time of year, they're still going to need gifts. All it'll do is cause people to get perturbed enough to spend their money at places that give them a better sense of satisfaction, and the 'suits' hired to market the BF ads for their respective companies will all have the gall to be dumbfounded and wonder why sales and customer satisfaction fell so far below expectations...

[heliotropes3]

I think part of it is that I have gotten better at finding the deals year round, so BF isn't quite so exciting. I'm more excited about post-Christmas clearance than I am about Black Friday, lol. Just bought clearance Halloween candy yesterday for cheap, with coupons, and stuck it in the freezer for Christmas stockings. Yes, I am a momma on a budget!

[fheenix33]

Great idea with the Halloween Candy heliotropes3

I will agree that this year, I'm sure, people will hold on to their money a little bit tighter than they have in the past. Everyone is feeling the strain of the economy.

As far as Black Friday goes, it used to be a day that I would go out shopping with my family when I lived in NH, but over the years it has gotten too crazy for me. It seems like now you always read about something crazy happening like shootings and people getting trampled to death. It's sad and the thought of going out early on Black Friday doesn't appeal to me anymore.

By Black Friday too, we normally have our shopping done. For the past two and a half years I have taken advantage of the deals and coupons on DealTaker. I shop online throughout the year and by September or October we're done. I even shop online at DealTaker for my family that live out of state and have the gifts sent directly to them. Last year it was a hit and I saved a ton of money skipping the postal/UPS cost of sending the gifts.

I will say that retailers are well aware that people aren't going to spend as freely as they have in the past. Because of this I've noticed that Holiday sales are pouring in early and stores are offering more generous coupons. Retailers also know that a lot of people shop online and the amount of "online only" coupons are increasing too. This year the amount of free shipping coupons have been enormous.

By combining these coupons with the deals, you can save some serious money. Dealtaker has recently added a new feature to the coupon section where you can sign up for new coupon alerts to your favorite stores.

[armywife4life]

I think part of it is that I have gotten better at finding the deals year round, so BF isn't quite so exciting. I'm more excited about post-Christmas clearance than I am about Black Friday, lol. Just bought clearance Halloween candy yesterday for cheap, with coupons, and stuck it in the freezer for Christmas stockings. Yes, I am a momma on a budget!

I know I am more excited about after christmas sales than I am bf sales. I went to the store and bought halloween candy 75% off and got boo berry cereal for 33 cents a box!! I bought 18 boxes and donated 16 of them to a food bank.

[YoYo34]

You know, I have to give props to Sears. They have some good things this year AND they don't act all stupid about posting their ads early. Everybody else thinks they are so it, that they have to sick lawyers on you just for a stupid ad!!!! I don't know, I really love Black Friday too and, yes my funds are low this year too, I can't lie. But I am going to take whatever I may have and do the best with it that I can. I hope everyone has a great BF this year:)

[Fluffy215]

Is it me or are the BF sales seem lacking that special something this year? It seems like there are only two items that are the "big items" the TVs and GPS. Weren't they the same things last year, and the year before that and the year before that? I mean come on can't we do any better? So far I don't see anything that is going to make me want to get up at 1 or 2 in the morning to stand out in the cold and freeze my tookie off for LOL Or is it just me?

[raynesmommy]

I totally agree! I love Black Friday and I always find 1-2 cute things in a few different stores that I HAVE to have for my now 4 yr old daughter and this year even now that Target is out-still nothing!! I hope Walmart has something good or else I wont be going this year....like many it seems ( So far I have found more interesting things on ebay! And a half off sale on you & me doll goodies...

[raynesmommy]

And a half off sale on you & me doll goodies...
at toys r us this week

[Starmiter]

By Black Friday too, we normally have our shopping done. For the past two and a half years I have taken advantage of the deals and coupons on DealTaker. I shop online throughout the year and by September or October we're done. I even shop online at DealTaker for my family that live out of state and have the gifts sent directly to them. Last year it was a hit and I saved a ton of money skipping the postal/UPS cost of sending the gifts.

So, does that mean they actually let you guys out "in the field" on BF, or do you all have to man the fort and update deals in real-time?

Though I suppose in this age of Twitter, you could have "Roving DealTakers" out there in the trenches, Tweeting about the crowds and/or otherwise unadvertised deals - do they have hazard-pay for this??

[SCDL]

I'm always excited for Black Friday even if there are no good deals. Just the ecitement of waking up early and going shopping is fun.

[armywife4life]

I used to be like that...but not this year, there just isnt anything worth me getting up for and fighting the crowds. Im sleeping in this year, then going to decorate our tree with a warm fire going in the fireplace

[Tsiskin]

I miss all of the Black Friday Freebates the stores used to offer. Several of us would hit the different stores and get what we could, and then donate the items to our Computer Enthusiasts club for our Holiday party.
We'd get enough things for everyone in the club to get at least something, and still have leftovers for the first few meetings of the next year.

The club members would get somethings, and we'd (eventually) get our money back from the freebates (usually).

Those were the days..