Black Friday is a day that often marks the beginning of a shopping season. Although most people say that Black Friday is the day after the Thanksgiving Day and is mainly related to shopping. The Thanksgiving Day comes on the fourth Thursday of November and the day that follows is called the Black Friday. Thinking about the origin of the name “Black Friday”?
The term ‘Black Friday” came much early in the year 1869. It is said that there were two investors named Jay Gould and Jim Fisk who had driven up the price of gold on that day. This caused a huge crash and the stock market fell by 20%. Also, due to this, foreign trade had stopped. This was the first time this term came into existence. However, nowadays the term primarily denotes a day where there are huge sales and discounts offers offered by almost all stores. This day is said to be the highest profit earning day for most of the retailers.
Most businesses record their losses in red while they highlight their profits in black and hence the term “Black Friday”. According to reports, Black Friday is said to be one of the busiest shopping days and people flock around stores in uncountable numbers and rush to grab the best deals offered.
However, they tend to overlook a lot of things while looking for the best deals. Below are 10 important things that people tend to overlook during a Black Friday sale.
1. Research on what not to buy
There are products which one shouldn’t be going for during a Black Friday sale. Why? Simply because Black Friday doesn’t offer the best deal. For example, one shouldn’t go with a diamond purchase on a black Friday sale. This is because, as per the research from International Diamond Exchange, on an average diamonds were 25% more expensive in November as compared to March. Whereas there are things which people should definitely opt for and are often overlooked. Let us look at them in the next point.
2. Research on what to buy
Travel is one of the most overlooked genres when it comes to Black Friday sales. Many tourism industries, hotels, airlines etc offer mouth-watering discounts on this day. Other categories include groceries, put-supplies and beauty-supplies as well.
3. Checking Credibility of websites
This is a very important point and overlooking this could cause you huge monetary losses. Do check if the website you are planning to shop from is genuine. Make sure you perform this step before giving in your credit card details as fraudulent websites would simply leave no stones unturned to get to your credit card details. Whereas checking such credibility when planning to get coupons from stores is even a great idea that can save your time and help you save awesome on purchases, for example the site Rezeem.
4. Check Return and Refund Policies
Since customers are more focused on the amount of discounts being offered, they often tend to overlook the return and refund policies. This often leaves them blank when they are not satisfied with the product. So this is a must do step.
5. Check for Doorbuster guarantees
A doorbuster is nothing but a marketing and sales strategy wherein huge discounts are available on a wide range of products but only for stipulated time duration. This strategy is generally opted in order to attract maximum traffic to a shop or website. So due to high volume of traffic, only the most ambitious customers get the deal they want and most of the people fail in their pursuit of the great deals. To avoid this, try to choose those doorbusters which offer services wherein each customer would be given an opportunity to get their deals done provided they fall within the time range.
6. Make proper price judgements
There are sellers of shops that inflate the marked price of a product by huge percentages. A commodity can even be marked at 500% above its cost price. So, they inflate the marked prices and offer huge discounts on the already inflated prices. So that there is not much difference in the selling price of an item. So try to judge the price of a product based on quality and do not go after the discount tag stuck on that product.
7. Try avoiding mail-in cash rebates
What is mail-in cash rebate (MIR)? This is something where the customer needs to pay the full price of the product while purchasing. Afterwards, the customer receives a claim form which is supposed to be filled and sent to the seller. Usually this form needs to be accompanied by other documentations like purchase summary and payment receipts. After this MIR has been sent to the seller, the customer receives a check of a certain amount which is basically the rebate calculated on the original purchase amount. Since, this is a very long process and your money would be stuck for quite some time, try avoiding this.
Moreover, MIR policies can also give coupons and gift cards in place of money wherein you would be forced to buy another product from that seller in order to avail the MIR benefit. So it’s better to be avoided.
8. Work on requirements
During Black Friday sales, the price of commodities are unbelievably low which tempts customers to buy products which they often don’t require. Hence even if they don’t require the products, they end up spending money on items just because they are available for low prices. So, it is always better to list out the required items that one would be aiming for during the Black Friday sale and try not to deviate from this list.
9. Do your homework beforehand
Homework includes the things that one should do beforehand and get yourself ready for the Black Friday sale. Here’s a list of things one should do beforehand.
- Checking advertisements
- Comparing Prices and check for additional offers and night owl discounts
- Planning and finalising the platform to shop from
- Checking the terms and conditions of the chosen platform
10. Check warranty coverage
People tend to overlook the warranty information while focusing more on the discounts. Make sure you take an in-depth look on the warranty coverage conditions and the duration as well.
So, these were 10 things that are often overlooked during a Black Friday Sale. It is important that everyone take a close look at these 10 points as these would definitely aid you in your pursuit of the most exciting Black Friday deals that you are looking for. For more details about this, click here.
