Why is black friday always the cheapest day?

Question

Why after Thanksgiving too? My cousin was the one who was trampeld last year... and I am goibng shopping soon. So tell me, why is black friday the cheapest?

Answer 1

To draw you in and spend a disproportionate amount of your available funds on gifts.

Answer 2

It is NOT always the cheapest day. It is the just the day with the most hype where people feel like the MUST shop. The actual busiest shopping day is December 20! and you will see some of the exact sales that were run today again and again from now until Christmas. In fact, as the big day draws closer and the stores see what inventory is or is not moving they will run even deeper sales! Today is just hype, per and simple. So many people have the day off that it is just crazy.
I have 2 days of vacation left and I'm using them towards the end of December and that is when I'll do my heaviest shopping.

Answer 3

Actually most of the really good deals are limited to 5 items (then everyone else pays higher). But the ads get people in and then they spend anyway. Years ago, studies showed that lots of people went shopping the day after Thanksgiving for their Christmas items, probably because they are off work. So stores started competing for this business and also working to get more people out. This increases their annual revenues and makes their books better for year end. People are in a good mood after Thanksgiving and so more likely to spend. The closer to Xmas it gets, the less money people are likely to spend as they feel the crunch.

Answer 4

Nope. Tried it once, and that was enough. No sales whatsoever. Woke up early for absolutely nothing. Read economics book. The stores pretty much make the "original prices" higher, and then slab on 40% off, and it attracts customers. Pretty much, you're paying the same out of the pocket. No major deals. And it's not worth getting trampled over and waiting on humongous lines.

Answer 5

Becuase after Thanksgiving (the day after) it become christmass time. So to help get people shopping stores have sales. Then you'll buy more (mabye even above your budit) because "Ever things a great deal"

Answer 6

I think we should start having Xmas on the 26th cuz THATS when everything is alot cheaper! Its the after Xmas sale that has all the real bargains! lol But I did find some awesome deals today so Im quite happy!

Answer 7

BLACK FRIDAY (SHOPPING) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_Sale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products.

Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve or the last Saturday before Christmas.

Origin

The first use of this term to describe the day after Thanksgiving is not exactly known. There are two popular theories as to its origin.

Accounting practice

One theory is that stores traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, common accounting practices use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink would show positive amounts. Black Friday is the beginning of the period where they would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black).

Stress from large crowds

Another theory comes from the fact that shopping experience on this day can be extremely stressful. The term is used as a comparison to the extremely stressful and chaotic experience of Black Thursday or other black days. According to The Word Spy:

Earliest Citation:
Christmas decorations around Tampa Bay started going up in late October, and business has been brisk since then. And while Friday--known as Black Friday for the legendary hordes--will be the biggest shopping day for many area stores, others ring up the greatest sales the Saturday before Christmas.
—Marilyn Marks, "Retailers expect good sales this Christmas," St. Petersburg Times, November 27, 1986

There exists an earlier reference, speaking to the Friday after Thanksgiving:

A BLACK FRIDAY.
There have been many Black Fridays in recent history. Most of them have been days of financial panic. There has been none of blacker foreboding than last Friday. And the blackness is not loss or fear of loss in stocks and bonds.
New York Times (1857-Current file).
New York, N.Y.: Dec 3, 1922. pg. 38, 1 pgs
ISSN/ISBN 03624331

Employees of retail stores have for years referred to Black Friday in a satirical way, to note the extremely stressful and hectic nature of the day. Heavy traffic and customer demands added to the long hours make it a difficult day.


Black Friday on the Internet

Advertisements in advance

Certain websites such as DealTaker.com offer information about Black Friday deals up to a month in advance. The text listings of prices are usually accompanied by adscans -- complete PDFs either leaked by insiders, or intentionally released by large retailers to give consumers insight and allow them time to plan.

Cyber Monday

The term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday online shopping season.

In recent years, Cyber Monday has become a busy day for online retailers, with some sites offering low prices and other promotions on that day.

Controversy

Response (Buy Nothing Day)

Anti-consumer frenzy protesters have chosen this day as Buy Nothing Day in North America, where those concerned about the increasing power and influence of consumer corporations are urged to not make consumer purchases.

DMCA

In recent years, some retailers (including Wal-Mart, Target Corporation, Best Buy, and Staples, Inc.) have claimed that the advertisements they send in advance of Black Friday and the prices included in those advertisement are intellectual property and protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Using the take down provision of the DMCA, these retailers have threatened various internet web sites who post Black Friday prices to the internet in advance of the intended release date by the retailers. This policy apparently derives from a fear that competitors, in addition to customers, will also have access to this information and use it for competitive advantage. The actual validity of the claim that prices are protected intellectual property is uncertain as prices might be considered a 'fact' in which case they would not receive the same level of protection as pure intellectual property.

The benefit of threatening internet sites with a DMCA based lawsuit has proved tenuous at best. While some sites have complied with the requests, others have either ignored the threats or simply continued to post the information under the name of a similar sounding fictional retailer.

Answer 8

It's not the cheapest day..marketing ploy...great deals can be found all throughout the year if you know where to look

Answer 9

It is the official start if the Christmas shopping season. Stores want to get you in to get your money.

Answer 10

I don't think it's that great. 1 or 2 things maybe, but is it really worth it? Not for me.