Saturday, November 30, 2013

Black Friday scams

Did anybody fall for the black Friday scams? I surely didn't. Had I not had to work on Black Friday, I would not have ventured out of the house. As far as I am concerned, the "bargains" are most certainly not anything like what I would call a bargain. From what I have seen of Black Friday sales, they are the dog-eared last remnants end of line stock that the shops want to dump on the public. The price has been hiked for the previous month and then dropped sufficiently to look as though it's a genuine reduction. In fact they're still making a massive profit while pawning off end of line junk that's no good to anybody.

I stayed home until 2pm and then drove into work. It took longer than normal to get there (which I had allowed for). There were queues galore on the roads. People were shopping with $100 bills in their fists, falling for every damn scam imaginable.

On previous Black Fridays I have been out to see if I could find any "bargains". There were none that I ever saw. Gasoline, food, essentials like soap and toothpaste were all the same price as normal. Clothing was the same price as normal. It was only the garbage like electronic gizmos and that kind of junk that was allegedly cheaper. Electronic garbage I can almost live without. Additional electronic garbage I can certainly live without. I was impressed by the Google Chromebooks. I was almost as impressed by those as I am by my Mac. The electronics I use as solely my computer, my phone and my camera. I use no other electronics. I have no TV, no HiFi, no fancy radios, no CBs. I live a simple life.

I look at all the new cameras and really I see no great advantage over what I have already. My 8mp cameras will print to 20x30. Who needs more than 11x14 anyway? Who really prints to more than 8.5x11 which is the size of most common printers. Sure - I have one that will print to 13x19 but I have never ever printed to more than 8.5x11. It's just too expensive. That is without even considering the fact that most homes are too small to display more than a few 10x8 prints. In South Carolina, I would not wish to hang anything on my walls for fear of bugs using the backs as a nice hiding place. A black widow bite or a brown recluse bite would surely spoil my day.

I don't know why people fall continually for the fake bargains. They do so all the time. It seems ludicrous but that is what retailers are counting on. They're counting on people wanting the fantasy rather than the necessity.
This piece of garbage was something I bought for a laugh in one Black Friday sale. It was $10 and I had some idea that I would do something with it. In the end I didn't and ended up giving it to a friend. I regret wasting the $10 on it. That was the last thing I ever bought on Black Friday. I will never again buy anything on Black Friday.

Today I was reading about all the other stuff that went on during the Black Friday sales - shopkeepers trampled to death by crowds, fights between shoppers over what is essentially just garbage and even gunfights. I don't think Black Friday is anything more than a cynical confidence trick by retailers. I regard it as one of the few times when going armed is in order. Given that there are so many killings, murders and shootings at stores - particularly Walmart - it pays to be prepared. 

2 comments:

  1. This is some good stuff. Very entertaining. But I must object, mildly: "never" can be a quite long time, thus diminishing the credibility of one making such pronouncements; "confidence" is not "tricks" and certainly not "cynical." What could be more hopeful than the predictability of human nature, or, at least, human behavior, in such wildly evolving times?

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  2. All Black Friday "deals" are things you should run screaming from. They're just there to empty your wallet while giving you the illusion that you're getting something worthwhile whereas in fact what you're getting is a pile of unsalable garbage.

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