What was your Black Friday shopping experience like?

Blissfully non-existent, as I celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Instead, I spent the day exploring caves with my mother, stepfather, and sister.

Stayed home and sat on my ass.

I didn’t participate, but a woman pepper-sprayed a bunch of people at the Wal*Mart near my aunt’s house over an X-Box.

@SavoirFaire That sounds like fun. Now I want some caves.

We got our new TV by going online and finding the price we wanted. I can hardly wait for it to be delivered.

Hubby had a great day shopping all by himself. He does this once a year and really looks forward to it. He bought a few children’s games to give the preschoolers at Xmas.

Another vote for nonexistent

Just dandy. I went out to the grocery store to snag a few things (does that count?). I found great parking (better than on most days), and didn’t have to wait in line, and there weren’t many people there, and the employees didn’t seem in a bad mood. And then I bought a couple Kindle books, but nothing with a Black Friday special. So, like all the other days of the year in which I shop (save for that week before Christmas, in which people turn into rabid wolves once they enter the mall).

Never again, we saw so much fighting. In target police showed up and arrested 2 women… they were fist fighting over which one would get the last pair of jeans. Its just sad.

Order gifts online contributed to much of the less insanity of Black Friday shopping in person.

@john65pennington Ordering gifts online saves sanity all year round :)

I bought some clothes from Aeropostale online… $5 for a T-shirt is hard to pass up. But I didn’t go out anywhere…been delightfully ill all day… >.<

Nonexistent.

My sister mentioned during Thanksgiving dinner that Walmart had a good deal on something my husband had been planning to get for the family anyway. Mom offered to buy it for us as our gift and practically shoved us out the door. We got there about 3 hours early and were about 10th in line so we had no trouble getting a ticket. One of us just had to stay in line until they officially went on sale at 10pm. Apparently Black Friday started on Thursday this year.

While there, I noticed this FurReal cat my daughter wants. I think it is creepy, but it is the only thing she has asked for. It was $20 instead of $70 (insanity) so I went to stand by that pallet about 9:30pm to wait for them to cut the wrapping at 10pm.

Everyone was nice and it was pretty calm during the wait, but you could hear the store buzzing louder and louder as 10pm approached. That was weird. I got the cat easily, helped a lady get the doll she wanted and headed back to my husband.

The small appliance section was on my way and those people were nuts! I thought I’d check out the $2.47 waffle iron since I was already there. I got to that pallet by 10:03 (things move FAST) and several people already had 7 or 8 piled in their carts and loaded in their arms. I think a lot of people will be getting waffle irons for Christmas!

Then I went to find my husband. He had the xbox in hand and was standing in a bottleneck like a trapped and very confused animal. He was entirely out of his element. I guided him through the craziness and we were out of the store by 10:15. It was a small taste of the crazy.

had no idea it was black fri.

The answer I am getting sounds like people didn’t go to the stores because they shop online, not because of a lack of sales. Interesting.

@filmfann I went out for black friday one time. Then I realized I can generally find the same exact sales online at a multitude of places sometimes even with free shipping. So why go out and deal with insanity when I can sit home in my pajamas :P

I waited 2 hours just to get into JCPenny and Best Buy. And then waiting in line was atrocious. But, Walmart and Gabriel Brothers weren’t all that bad. I got 2 pairs of boots, two movies, and a Wii game. Sometimes, waking up at 3:30 a.m. pays off. SALES!!!

It felt like Thanksgiving. Maybe because that was the day we had the turkey!

The only thing Black Friday is good for is to find out what kind of markup the stores have on their stuff the rest of the year. They aren’t selling anything at a loss.

@Dutchess_III Plenty of stores sell a few big ticket items at a loss just to get you into the store (see loss leader).

@SavoirFaire Who knew that Brandon Harris is a loss Leader? ;-o

Newegg had a good deal on a new Sandy Bridge motherboard and i5 that will work on a hackintosh. I don’t really need it but I bought it because it was really cheap and my mom can have my i3 once the parts come in. I guess I chalk it up to her Christmas present.

My Grandson who works for Walmart says they put unsold merchandise in a special room to wait for Black Friday and then put it out in the mega-discount bins. That way they get rid of it without having a loss.