Getting ready for the Black Friday sales...

[ausername]

There are deals on the PS4 Pro, the Xbox One X, iPhones 8 and newer, the Samsung S8 etc. That’s all new stuff I think?

Probably be just as cheap in January though?

Its a handy last chance for people to buy their Christmas presents at sensible prices, but for personal purchases is it any cheaper than the sales which will start on Christmas Eve and run for almost the entire duration of January when every retailer is trying to shift all its excess holiday season stock? Consumer spending is down, so I bet the better bargains will come in January.

January is the month when you get a load of retailers going into administration, or desperately trying to avoid it.... that's why people think Black Friday is a con. The four weeks which follow it are probably the abnormal bit, where prices are at their very highest, for the other 11 months of the year everybody is running flash sales, discount codes, groupons and clearance sections pretty much constantly for cash flow.

When I was a kid I'd buy the parents and grandparents gifts on xmas eve on the high street, when the sales start!

 

[Edwin]

I believe there has been analysis done showing that BF is cheaper. But again it’s down to segment. If you want Xmas cards and wrap, advent calendars, special seasonal food, gift sets of perfume or aftershave etc then those will be much cheaper in January. There’s even the crazy point when Boots gift sets go 75% off and you can’t even begin to assemble the same items individually at that price. But tech? Not sure...

And stuff like Assassins Creed Origins Gold edition for £35 (a deal a few days ago) is just crazy cheap for a brand new game with all extras. There is a separate argument to be had as to whether it’s ever “worth” £50-60 but that’s what every retailer was charging.

I guess the big questions are:
- is it perishable? (not just foods; fashions and many other products have v short shelf lives; other products sell consistently any time)
- is the price normally fairly consistent? (eg iPhones)
- are the retailers going to be desperate? (eg Amazon never will, so they have total control over their own brand products)

Depending on the answer, it should provide some inkling about what may happen come January.

Plus with BF being one specific day (with a lot of media-fuelled buildup) there’s at least a chance that some retailers get a bit carried away trying to outdo each other with coupons and codes.

 

[ausername]

I've just paid £79 for a £109 kindle paperweight.

But there was expected to be a new Kindle announced in 2017, it didn't arrive... so it will probably be early 2018.

How do I know Amazon isn't holding back its next kindle model because it still has 4 million of this one to shift..... and in January it will announce the next Kindle, priced at £109, with my one being priced at £59 like the current 2nd tier model?

Same with any other gadget.

E.g Samsung S8 may be the top model now, but they reckon the S9 is already in production. So its not going to be the top model very soon, so price would be downgraded anyway in say January or February?

When the S9 is out, possibly very soon, the S8 will instantly become similar in price to the current S7 price?

I suppose as long as you are buying what you wanted anyway, and not on impulse.

 

[Edwin]

That much we can agree on: if you’re buying stuff you wanted/hoped/planned to buy soonish anyway and you’re paying less for it as a result of BF, you’re a winner.

 

[ausername]

That much we can agree on: if you’re buying stuff you wanted/hoped/planned to buy soonish anyway and you’re paying less for it as a result of BF, you’re a winner.

Almost bought a backup Monopoly set, paid £20 for mine!

£11.82 delivered is a steal for a good board game.... bet they're shipping thousands of those out today.

Twister £8.53 delivered also.... so there are definitely a few bargains to be had for people buying for kids etc today.

 

[mojoco]

Get yourself a bargain tv...

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[Edwin]

Uno is £2.86 as an add-on item until midnight at Amazon if that’s of any use to anyone. Fun little game.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/uno-cards-286-amazon-add-on-item-2838681

 

[Edwin]

If you’ve got a Picturehouse cinema near you, they’re doing 40% off Annual Memberships today only. If it’s the kind of place you’re going to anyway, it is a really good saving when you consider the free tickets. (no link because you’ll want to go via your local Picturehouse’s website, whatever that is...)

 

[scottmccloud]

I got a good deal on an XBox today. I've been after the XBox One S Minecraft Bundle for my little girl.

Was £229 earlier this year from what I remember, then this month they went down to £199 at most retailers. Today saw reductions down to £169 + P&P.

I bought mine from Tesco Direct for £175 but with a 10% discount card we have (the other half works for them) that brought it down to £157.50 free click and collect. Plus I got 175 clubcard points. Pretty happy with that.

 

[Edwin]

I got a good deal on an XBox today. I've been after the XBox One S Minecraft Bundle for my little girl.

Was £229 earlier this year from what I remember, then this month they went down to £199 at most retailers. Today saw reductions down to £169 + P&P.

I bought mine from Tesco Direct for £175 but with a 10% discount card we have (the other half works for them) that brought it down to £157.50 free click and collect. Plus I got 175 clubcard points. Pretty happy with that.

Congrats! If you need an Xbox Live 12 month pass to go with that...
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xbox-live-gold-and-battlela-rental-at-rakuten-2899-2839786

 

[donton]

I own an ecommerce business and I just cannot believe the level of sales we see over Black Friday/Cyber Monday, it’s crazy - especially considering it’s a fairly recent phenomenon. Last year was outrageous, and we just happened to be on TV on Black Friday, so that was like pouring fuel on an already out of control fire. But this year, even without being on TV, we had beaten last year’s total before lunch time. Absolutely nuts.

In years gone by we have seen a lull in sales in early November as people start holding out for deals, but this year we have been busy all the way through - and the last couple of days have been mind-bogglingly busy.

On a personal note, I have bought some needless crap in previous years. This year I wrote a list of presents for everyone and only bought items on that list. Most of them I got a better deal on than I would have otherwise, so I’m a happy camper!

Hope everyone gets what they want at a price that makes them happy

 

[ausername]

I'm down on last year unfortunately, but my buying may not have been on point or I might just be being butchered on price (lots of competition). Come to realise that I'd do better with fewer lines, as it would be easier to monitor and tweak prices. Had one popular line suddenly die on ebay and found out it was over a 10 pence price difference.

That said, last year I think the Saturday, Sunday and Monday were busier days than the Friday itself for me.

 

[donton]

I'm down on last year unfortunately, but my buying may not have been on point or I might just be being butchered on price (lots of competition). Come to realise that I'd do better with fewer lines, as it would be easier to monitor and tweak prices. Had one popular line suddenly die on ebay and found out it was over a 10 pence price difference.

That said, last year I think the Saturday, Sunday and Monday were busier days than the Friday itself for me.

My buying has been a bit shocking this year, and I think we are going to come up short on Sunday or Monday. But less than 2% of our lines will be effected, so I guess it could be worse.

With a strong August then quietish September and October months, it has been a challenge to buy without over or under stocking.

We’ve seen a tonne of competition this year, some offering 2-3x as much discount as us, and most started their deals on Monday. We only started last night, and I am pretty surprised by how well we have done, as our discount isn’t as high as some competitors.

Hope things pick up for you this weekend!

 

[Edwin]

If you’re not already a Now TV customer, you can get a 12 month pass dirt cheap today only.

12 month Entertainment pass: £45
12 month Movies pass: £55

Possible £10 and £15 of cashback respectively via TopCashback, but I’m not 100% sure of it because the BF deal is so special. A great discount either way, though sadly only open to new customers.

If you need a Now TV box, a bunch of retailers are doing them at knockdown prices today.

 

[Edwin]

And if all this Black Friday malarkey has made you hungry, there’s 15% off Just Eat today only using code “MAGIC15”.

Have a great evening.

 

[ausername]

With a strong August then quietish September and October months, it has been a challenge to buy without over or under stocking.

Exactly the same problem I had, only it was a quiet August, September and October (before August it was fine), didn't have the same sort of surplus of capital to take a punt on as many new lines for the holiday season, but also even if I did have the capital.... I would still have been very reserved, when you notice shaky consumer confidence it knocks business confidence too. Don't want to be stuck with too much dead stock which has to be accounted for in the accounts as an asset and corporation tax paid if the figure increases a lot year-on-year.

Although I am using the opportunity to try and flog off some stuff I don't want to keep hanging around, and will hopefully be able to inject a bit of capital into diversifying a little for 2018.

This year I've got some lines I'm going to discount starting the 1st December, a December sale! Just to try and clear the lines a bit and refocus. Obviously not top sellers, not discounting those!

 

[Edwin]

If you’ve got a Picturehouse cinema near you, they’re doing 40% off Annual Memberships today only. If it’s the kind of place you’re going to anyway, it is a really good saving when you consider the free tickets. (no link because you’ll want to go via your local Picturehouse’s website, whatever that is...)

Sat on my hands for a bit, but this deal proved just too tempting. 8 "free" tickets for £54 (Member Plus) came to just £6.75 each. So now rather than look at the posters every time we walk past, then shrug because it would cost two of us £21-25 to see a film*, we can get in at a sensible price...

(*don't want to seem like a meanie, it's just that our local multiplex is £5 before noon every day for first-run films)

 

[Murray]

Not surprising, just looked at their Suits and looks like they've cut 20% off the trouser leg on most of them http://www.asos.com/men/suits/cat/?cid=5678

lol they're almost as bad as the dropcrotch jogging bottoms

 

[Edwin]

10% cashback on games consoles (including bundles) today only at Currys/PC World. Makes the already cheap packages that much cheaper (though of course you have to wait to get the cash back).

Stacks of decent-looking games bundles, including on the Xbox One X. For example...
Xbox One X console, Fallout 4, Doom, Forza Motorsport 7 and Assassins Creed Origins for £469 (which should get you £46.90 worth of cashback assuming it tracks correctly).
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-an...oft-xbox-one-x-games-bundle-10174016-pdt.html

You can always turn around and flog to CEX any games you don't want. In fact, if you're happy to spend a bit of time min-maxing on the CEX site, you can work out the perfect bundle to give you the absolute maximum resale value for the stuff you don't want. https://uk.webuy.com/ (my sister used this trick a few weeks ago when Fifa 18 just came out - she sold it immediately to CEX for £35, making her PS4 a lot cheaper). They haven't got pricing for many of the Xbox One X games yet, but the major regular Xbox ones and the PS4 ones should all be there.

Here are all the Currys Black Friday console deals...
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/searc...es~price~pr-12~sixth~black-friday~sr~-~241117

(Of course when it comes time to buy, be sure to come via TopCashback in a new browser, not via the above links)

Can't help agreeing with the comments earlier in the thread that some of the merchants are over-cooking Black Friday in their eagerness not to be outdone. I suppose they must still make something on volume, but it's remarkable how they're chasing each other to discount the most.

 

[Adam H]

lol they're almost as bad as the dropcrotch jogging bottoms

Wow some of them even have a reflective strip down the leg , I'll be the first to admit I'm not really down with the kids on style, but I know id look like a total tit in those joggies or short leg suit trousers