When I was young, Black Friday wasn’t for the weak. My mom and aunt’s shopping stamina has always been unmatched, but I bore the long hours on my feet in the hopes of finding a hidden gem. I knew that if I found one, I could probably convince my mom to get it for me (at least as a holiday gift). Money didn’t mean all that much to me as an 8-year-old, but still, recognizing good deals is in my blood.
That’s why these days, Black Friday has been one big disappointment. The sales are meager, if not a farce, and the magic is just gone. As someone who works retail, I’ve experienced the other side of never ending checkout lines and flurries of customers. The Black Friday crowd I saw while out and about this year was no bigger than it gets on any Saturday in Dec. I don’t mind having a calmer shopping experience, but the adrenaline and chaos is half the fun! This year was nothing compared to what it used to be.
Part of this has to do with online shopping. Don’t get me wrong, online shopping has its benefits. When I’m in a time crunch or don’t feel like running to a million different stores to find something, ordering online is my saving grace. However, they have their downsides too. I prefer to try things on before I buy them, but this was practically impossible with the lack of sizes many stores had on hand. Multiple places I went had little above a size 2 available and nothing outside of standard sizes. And don’t even get me started on online-only options. At this point, it seems pointless to even go to physical stores, and the cycle continues.
The worst of it all, though, is the deals. The greed of big businesses never fails to disappoint me, and Black Friday is a prime example. Once upon a time, a Black Friday deal meant a minimum of 50% off. Now, you’d be lucky to find a sale for that much, and it might not even be a real deal.
My mom told me about her experience at the Coach store this year. To say she loves Coach would be an understatement. There’s a bag she and my aunt have had their eye on lately, just waiting to see what kind of sale Coach would have. When they got to the store and saw a 25% off sign, my aunt was thrilled! My mom, however, was skeptical. The bag would be 25% off of how much? It’s a good thing she checked because the bag, previously priced at $199, was now marked as $259. In the end, the 25% was saving her barely anything: a measly $4.75. Coach isn’t the only business to do this either. There are many stories online of people noticing these tricks. Companies will mark items up to fake Black Friday deals or put out signs for a sale that isn’t any different from the regular price.
Capitalism may have started this ‘holiday,’ but it also ruined it. Corporations want us to forget about the discounts they used to offer as they force us to accept 20% as the best deal we’ll get all year. In the midst of the cost-of-living crisis and ever growing wealth inequality in this country, businesses are only further alienating their customers by trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Their greed stops at nothing, and they won’t let us forget it.
So, next Black Friday, consider shopping small. Small businesses probably won’t be able to get you those 75% off sales either, but at least you know you’re supporting a livelihood, not a corporation. Your money is valuable–don’t let big businesses trick you into giving it all up.