Black Friday is widely promoted by brands and retailers to sell you as much as possible of their unpopular and unwanted stock before Christmas. Sadly, shoppers risk not only spending too much money but also buying products that aren't particularly high in quality.
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Here are the arguments from people who won’t be hitting the stores this Friday.
It’s going to be too crowded
If you plan to purchase a big-ticket item, you’d normally take your time to compare shops and test out your options before leaving a chunk of money at the till. But if you're elbow-to-elbow with your fellow stressed-out customers in a crowded Currys, you're more likely to want to get in and out quicklyand less likely to take the time to think about what you're purchasing and whether you can really afford it.
Popular retailers are bound to be crowded on Black Friday, and that might lead you to lose focus.
It will be tempting to overbuy
The core danger of Black Friday lies in temptation and pressure. If you think you're getting a deal, you'll feel compelled to make a purchase. But if you buy something for the sake of snagging it on sale, you won't end up saving any money at all. Quite the contrary - you'll end up wasting money, and for no good reason.
Experts explain that many retailers intentionally maintain low inventories of the actual deals they're offering to lure customers into the store. Then, once you're already in there, you're more likely to buy something, even if it's not the item you came for because otherwise, you'll have wasted the trip and left the house that day for nothing.
Deals are not as good as we are made to believe
If deals are what you're after, then you'll probably end up wasting your time. That's because according to the Wall Street Journal, most popular consumer items are available at lower prices at various periods during the year that doesn't coincide with Black Friday.
Besides, many of the Black Friday items you'll see advertised at low prices are actually lower-quality versions of the products normally sold. It's easy to sell a TV for £100 less when it's made of cheaper components.
You'll also see a low sticker price on a big-name item because it's actually last year's version. This is especially likely to happen with electronics, and while there's not necessarily anything wrong with buying an older version of something, retailers aren't always transparent about that fact.
Another trick retailers use is increasing original prices before Black Friday to have a more favourable sale price to compare to. A NerdWallet analysis confirms that this is indeed a common practice.
Experts advise that avoiding shopping on Black Friday can preserve your budget, save you from getting into unnecessary debt, and likely spare space in your house from items you’ll never use.
Sources used:
- The Motley Fool: '4 Reasons Why Black Friday Is the Worst Day of the Year to Shop'
