Is Black Friday just an exercise to purge old stock

[RichUK]

Looking for a decent monitor, but not sure if the deals will only be for old / last gen spec monitors.

 

[cbrunny]

yes. black friday is crap.

 

[brainhulk]

that would be amazon prime day

 

[ultimatebob]

that would be amazon prime day

I think that Amazon uses Woot to unload a lot of their old/refurbished crap now.

But, yeah, a lot of the stuff on "sale" is just last year's models on clearance or Chinese knockoff products for the really cheap stuff like those $45 Android tablets.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's something I always kinda wondered myself. Most sales in general probably work that way. It's to get rid of old stock/stuff that's not selling, etc. Or in some cases it's just regular stuff at regular price with a "sale" sticker on it. Sears does that a lot.

 

[jlee]

Seems like it's going that way. BF sales haven't been great for what, 5+ years now?

 

[Kazukian]

Wait, there's a Black Friday in the U.K.?

 

[RichUK]

Wait, there's a Black Friday in the U.K.?

Yeah, and Cyber Monday. I've never really taken notice before.

It's an American thing that's made it over here.

 

[purbeast0]

Black Friday used to be great before it became a spectacle. Now it's just stores trying to out do eachother and have the cheapest items, which means you see crap being sold as well.

I remember when I worked at BB back in 2001 and they had either 60 or 120 gig drives for $40, which was like half off. I placed them in storage under where TV's are on displayed, then came in late on Black Friday, had my coworkers get them out and walked out with a crazy good deal. Back then that was like 1/2 price for a solid product.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Of course it is. Black Friday is based on loss leaders. Lose $200 each on the doorbuster TV in your ad of which you only have 3 in stock and get 1000 customers into your store whipped into a buying frenzy. If you look at ANY Black Friday ad you'll see one or two really astounding deals and page after page of prices that have been the same all year. Buyers are idiots.

That's why I love Cyber Monday. It's 10 times shittier than Black Friday, but you don't have to waste time waiting in line to wind up disappointed.

 

[Ns1]

if you consider a Surface Pro 4 @ 30% off to be old stock, then yes.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I watched a video recently that showed how basically unchanged the front page of Target's Black Friday circular is year-over-year. The 2015 circular featured the same products as the 2014 one, except the one game console was $30 cheaper the second year.

Yeah, and Cyber Monday. I've never really taken notice before.

It's an American thing that's made it over here.

Now I'm currus. So when does/did the commercial holiday blitz kick off in the UK? Before American tradition crept in.

 

[13Gigatons]

Every year I get something on Black Friday that cannot be had at that price the rest of the year. Last year I bought a ROKU SE for $20, sometimes I just get flash drives or other minor items.

PS: I'm looking at this monitor: https://www.amazon.com/OMEN-HP-32-i...e=UTF8&qid=1479344357&sr=8-5&keywords=hp+omen

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[poofyhairguy]

No, no always. In fact nowadays MANY retailer make Black Friday models of items with extra corners cut to get a little margin back.

For electronics there are frequent Black Friday level deals throughout the year. Just get on slickdeals or camelcamelcamel and set up some notifications and you will get a Black Friday level deal.

Black Friday in 2016 is best for companies that NEVER have discounts except on Black Friday when they give you some token amount.

 

[Imp]

Gotta make space to bring in next year's load of useless shit...

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Hookers and blow never go on sale, WTF.

 

[Imp]

Hookers and blow never go on sale, WTF.

You gotta shop around and be willing to travel, bro.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Hookers and blow never go on sale, WTF.

That's not true. It's just that the hookers and blow that are marked down you probably don't want at any price.

 

[V00DOO]

Purchased 5 HP 27" 1080P IPS monitors for $89 each from Costco early black friday sales last week. Probably old stock from somewhere but in my case who cares.

 

[Pardus]

Black Friday is when stores take excess inventory of non-selling goods, put it on sale for the morons who believe they are getting a good deal. Unless you absolutely need something on BF, skip the hype and get it cheaper after the new year.

 

[Sonikku]

BF is always a good time to buy video games.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

No, no always. In fact nowadays MANY retailer make Black Friday models of items with extra corners cut to get a little margin back.

This. It used to be more about clearing old stock in time for xmas crap to come in, now it's about half old stock, half garbage made specifically for black friday.

You really think there's so much stock of 4k 60'' tv's that they can put a dozen in every best buy in america (and online!) for like 200 bucks? No, there's a reason it's that cheap. It's trash.

if you consider a Surface Pro 4 @ 30% off to be old stock, then yes.

Good example, you're probably talking about the 4GB m3 model, which you can buy on amazon right now for like 650 bucks. It's trash. Chinese android tablet level of trash. There's a reason it's 600 bucks and the next model up is a grand.

 

[NutBucket]

That's only because of your demands. If I'm still using a C2D from 2005 it will be a huge improvement and serve me well for many years. (That's what my wife is using and she isn't complaining.)

Yes, most of the stuff is "trash" by tech standards but the demands of the average consumer are not very high.

 

[Ns1]

Good example, you're probably talking about the 4GB m3 model, which you can buy on amazon right now for like 650 bucks. It's trash. Chinese android tablet level of trash. There's a reason it's 600 bucks and the next model up is a grand.

No, I'm talking about the i5, 8gb, 256gb model. Which is actually going for $1299 right now, + type cover. So it's $1450ish, and will be on sale for $999. Meanwhile some dude in the FS/T forum is trying to sell an SP4 bundle for $1550!!!.

Product: SP4 256GB i5 8GB + black type cover Bundle in MS Store only for $999 (save $429.99). Offer valid on select Surface Pro 4 i5 256GB and Surface Pro Type Cover (excludes NFL, Alcantara and Fingerprint Type Covers). Includes P4 i5 256GB, pen and Black Type Cover all in exclusive bundle.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

No, I'm talking about the i5, 8gb, 256gb model. Which is actually going for $1299 right now, + type cover. So it's $1450ish, and will be on sale for $999. Meanwhile some dude in the FS/T forum is trying to sell a bundle for $1550!!!.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-Intel-Core/dp/B01606IDL0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479403497&sr=8-1&keywords=surface+pro+4&th=1

That's on amazon right now for under 1068, free shipping. No typecover, so add 100. That's 1168. So it's 20% off. Not a small amount but also not 30%. That's even assuming you 'need' the typecover. Also: those typecovers can be found cheaper either used on amazon or new on ebay (I saw $60). So that brings you down to $1128, so 10% off.

EDIT: And newegg has it for 1050, before any kind of neweggy discounts (CC garbage, day of the week discounts, whatever). So now you're at around $1110.