Black Friday. Is it Worth It?

Most of you are probably sick of seeing the “Black Friday” signs everywhere.

Despite its name, the Black Friday sales last longer than just a Friday. It is actually one of those “occasions” that last a whole weekend or even more (depending on the shop). On Sunday evening, we get a ton of messages reminding us that there just a few hours left to buy the bargains.  Later, a few days after it has finished, some shops even send you an email to let you know that the “sales before Christmas” have started…

I know, “Black Friday” is perfect to buy all the Christmas presents you still need to buy. Personally, I try to restrain myself from buying things that I don’t need. However, I also think that clothes can be a good way of expressing yourself, so it’s nice to get new items and change my style every time I feel like it.

I love spending time on websites checking the newly added items and the new sales. If I am not careful, the amount of time that I can waste just checking clothes is insane.

That’s why I came up with a theory: Most Black Friday sales are NOT that good.

If you like buying online,  you will see that many shops have their own sales section on the web, so finding items on sale is pretty easy unless you are looking to buy a new item. A few months ago, I started checking this new extension that allows you to add the clothes you like and then it sends you a notification every time the price goes down. It’s been really useful to me, and it’s also useful to see how much the price changes in different items and shops.

I have both clothes and cosmetics and yesterday (Friday) the discount was 15 % off for the cosmetics that I have in my account. However, around a month ago, there was another “casual sale”, where the discount was up to 20 %. Big shopping centres and important clothing stores usually make some nice discounts every few weeks. They don’t always include the “new season” pieces, but more often than not, they allow you to use some 10/15 % discount coupon upon checkout.

When it comes to the Black Friday discounts, I rather have a quick look at the items I wanted to buy and, if the price it’s still not amazing, I ignore them. Last year there were pretty good sales just before Christmas in some stores, and some specific days there were even nice discounts on very popular cosmetics.

Still, this sales can be a good opportunity to buy the latest Christmas presents you need.

If you know your mom is waiting for those amazing pillows from Zara and they are now on sale, it could be the best time to get them!

A few tricks will help you not overbuy and spend a silly amount of money:

• Write always, before you check any website, what you need and what you want. Because you deserve to treat yourself, you don’t need to wait and just buy the thing you need. If a really nice scarf gets your attention and you have been waiting to get it (but you didn’t go for it already because it’s expensive), just write it down.
• Try some App that notifies you when the price goes down (I currently use “Shoptagr”). Also, let me know if there are any other apps like this.
• Write down the presents that you want to buy to your loved ones for this Christmas. As soon as you know what are you going to get them, it will be easier to know the price you are supposed to pay for it.
• Sleep on it. Let’s say you find something amazing, and the price is going to be there for a week. Try not to buy it straight away. It has happened to me so much that after leaving it there and going to sleep I don’t remember the item again, or even more funny, I remember the item but I don’t feel so attracted to it. These signs of “NOW SALES!” CREATE HYPE, AND WE WON’T EVEN REALISE! It created the urge to buy now because the offer is temporary and you need to use it NOW.
  I hate that feeling, it feels like suddenly they have power over your brain. You don’t know them but they know you will buy now if they tell you that the discount it’s just going to be there for a few hours.

• Remember: Winter sales are just round the corner. If you don’t need anything in particular but you love treating yourself, you may prefer waiting until the 26th of December. It’s crazy to think that in just four weeks, some of the cute items that we like will probably cost 50% less!

How do you cope with Black Friday? Is the item you were looking for a bargain now?