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Image of Toronto Eaton Centre from TripSavvy
This weekend is coming to a close, and so is the time of year that retail stores open up their big, red banners screaming “LAST DAY SALE!"
Undeniably, the idea of a huge selection of items at a major discount appealing to any customer. The statistics support this idea too: Black Friday is considered the #1 most popular day for online shopping, with over 90 million customers shopping on U.S. sites during this time.
On the surface, Black Friday Weekend seems like an incredible time for consumers to shop and save: It's the weekend, and it's your time to unwind by treating yourself to some new clothes and items at a discounted price. But what if I told you that Black Friday doesn’t make you save money, but instead spend more?
During this season, it’s unsurprising to be reminded of the constant sales anywhere and everywhere. From retail stores to grocery marts to even big-name restaurant chains, you’ll see tons of promotions plastered across windows and stands. Online, the marketing becomes even more hectic: dozens of promotions flying into your email, evading spam, and sites online having that huge “SALE” sign the second you open them up. All of this is a marketing tactic, but not in the simple-minded way that you think. These constant notifications are engineered to instill in you a feeling of FOMO–– that sense of urgency that it’s now or never to go shopping, to seize the opportunity while it’s still present, but in reality, there is no urgency. Unless you have a shopping list of items that you specifically needed, and Black Friday just happened to come around the corner, you might just be spending more money on unnecessary consumer products.
Another major point that stores refuse to tell you is that, most if not all of the time, items that are on sale are final sale. This means that they are not returnable and they are not exchangeable. Once you’ve paid for the item, you can’t undo your purchase. Unfortunately, I was a victim to this point, having spent four hundred and thirty dollars on a camel wool coat the other day and not being informed at checkout that the purchase was final sale. Moral of the story: when you go shopping, make sure to cover all your grounds and make sure that you can either return or exchange your purchase, or you’re extremely confident that you’ve made the right choice with your money.
This year especially, stores seem to be a bit more stingy on their deals. Some shops at the mall will put up banners waving “70% OFF” in big, bold letters, but in actuality, the sale applies to select items, and it’s only up to 70% off. The main purpose of these attention grabbing posters aren’t to actually promote those select items but to rope you into their stores, in hopes that some product of theirs will catch your eye and you’ll spend your money on those products instead.
TL;DR: Black Friday sales aren’t designed to help the consumer––they’re there to make you spend more. While you might be able to catch some sweet bargains at the mall (I myself have seen some nice deals), don’t fall for the illusion that you’re saving money by shopping this weekend. Be smart about your spending; at the end of the day, you’re the one taking money out of your wallet.