You are previewing premium content. Black Friday Doorbusters Are For Suckers
Think lining up before dawn will get you the best tech holiday deals? Don't get taken by retail advertising gimmicks.
Holiday electronics sales can be as good for scoring new business gear as for loading up the kids' stockings. But smart buyers should be wary of doorbuster tactics.
It's generally regarded as fact that Black Friday is the hottest shopping day of the year, with deal seekers lining up as early as 3:00 AM outside tech superstores nationwide. But pre-dawn sales aren't all they're cracked up to be. In reality, doorbuster deals are laden with fine-print gotchas that can turn holiday zeal into buyer's remorse. Whether you're shopping for business or pleasure, here's why you'd do well to sleep in on Friday morning.
Quantities Limited
As my colleague Denny Arar points out in her story Top 5 Black Friday Gotchas, retailers typically lure shoppers in early with the promise of extraordinary bargains that look too good to be true. One of the most common tricks is the big, splashy half-page ad offering a high-end HDTV for an outrageously low price. What's easy to miss here is the fine print stating that only a few units are actually available at any given store. When they're gone, they're gone, and they go fast.
It's reasonable to say that if you're not one of the first 20 people in line outside your local electronics store on Friday morning, you'll have absolutely no chance of snagging any of those front-page superdeals that you saw in the circular. In the interest of fairness--and presumably to avoid riots--retailers often send employees out to issue coupons for those hot items, ensuring that the people who lined up earliest have the first shot at the deals they came for. Of course, they seldom get far down the line before the coupons are gone. If you don't get one, and you refuse to admit defeat, you'll be stuck moping around the store picking over page-two "bargains" that are likely no better than any other sale you'll see this season.
The limited-quantities trick is an effective gimmick for retailers, because it preys on shoppers' psychological weaknesses. Once those few half-price HDTVs are gone, there'll still be hundreds of disappointed shoppers strolling around the aisles. Nobody wants to go home empty-handed after waking up in the middle of the night to drive to the mall. And at that hour, shoppers are likely to be tired and frustrated, which puts hampers critical thinking. So rather than do the smart thing, which would be to go home, most will settle for lackluster offerings.
"Gee, honey. That $800 50-inch HDTV sold out before I got in the door, but I did get $200 off on this $1800 set."
Don't fall for it.
Better Deals, Other Days
This may seem obvious, but Black Friday is only the beginning of the holiday shopping season. And it now begins on Thursday for many retailers. Best Buy, for example, has already started selling offering its doorbuster deals online. And you'd be wise to check that out now, rather than waste tomorrow morning take your chances in the crowded store aisles.
Just like in-store doorbusters, these online deals are limited in quantity. But here you have the advantage, because you'll be better able to resist lesser bargains when you're sitting comfortably in your living room. Better still, many of these deals come with free shipping, so you're not spending extra to get them to your door.
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