Retailer tricks to watch for on Black Friday
By 965koit on November 21, 2019
Every one goes out on Black Friday assuming that these are the best deals of the year. Studies have shown that to be horribly false at a lot of retailers. Is that going to stop us from buying stuff? Of course not. But if I’m going to get tricked out of my money, I would at least like to KNOW when it’s happening.
Here are a few of the tricks that companies use to make it sound like you are getting a great deal when you really aren’t.
Rebates – You can buy a $2000 TV for full price, but if you send in the receipt and fill out this form and rename your first kid Samsung then you’ll save $200. Companies are relying on you to forget about sending all this info to them so that you end up paying full price. So if you see a good rebate, make sure you actually apply for it!
Buy More, Save More – This one is tempting. If you spend $50 you’ll save $5, if you spend $200 you’ll save $15. A lot of the times what you wanted costs less than these thresholds, but you’ll throw something extra in your cart so that you can save the extra money. Try your best to only spend what you actually WANT to spend.
Free Shipping! (only if you spend over $50) – Another way they get you to spend more money than you planned is to offer free shipping for a certain amount. You may have only wanted to spend $30, but if you buy another shirt you can save $7 off of $50. LIES!
Doorbusters – Sure, the first 9 people in line are getting great deals. They have also been camping out there for 2 weeks. They are hoping that once you get into the store, realize the thing you wanted was gone in the first 60 seconds, you’ll buy something else. Tell me if this sounds familiar: “Well, we are already here, might as well buy something so that this wasn’t all for nothing”
Inflated Prices – We all know this is happening. Retailers will raise prices on items weeks before Black Friday so that they can SLASH them and make it seem like you are saving much more than you really are.
FOMO – You may not even need to buy anything, but you don’t want to miss out on the experience of Black Friday savings. The fear of missing out is one of the main factors that you are even planning on buying anything. Everyone loves saving money and buying stuff, and this is practically a holiday celebrating it.
The truth is that we are all going to buy something on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. But now you can be aware of the things that retailers are doing to make you spend more than you planned. The best plan is set a budget and stick to it as best you can. Also, SEND IN YOUR REBATE!
If you plan on shopping on Amazon, I found a cool website that will show you the history of the product you want to buy. It will show you how much it has costed over the last year and show you the best price that it has had.
