Black Friday shoppers!!!

Did anyone else see the shocking pictures of 'bargain hunters' ? unbelievable and very disturbing.

 

Very disturbing, and my internet has been so slow the last few days, the lines must be clogged up. Seems much better today.

 

Its absolutely disgusting behaviour to be honest

I personally am not keen on christmas as im not religious and lots arent who celebrate it and i feel these days its taken over by consumerism and some people put themselves in debt over buying loads of stuff thats not really needed and you dont really need to spend that much. And its more about status and what you got than anything else.

So black friday is even worse for consumerism and greed and spending on stuff you dont really need

Its absolutely horrible

 

I agree with @Dips , I can't wait for it all to be over with tbh!

 

I agree with you. I have witnessed this for myself.

My carved reindeers I have been making none stop for the past two months. I've had to really shove the price up, yet people still want them. A price that throughout the rest of the year many people would not pay. Was told by a friend if mine that m&s sell some similar to mine for much cheaper but people still want something "hand carved" rather than mass produced. I do wonder how many of my customers will brag about this to their friends etc.

I shouldn't really complain really as its paying its way, but I still find it disturbing.

 

it is a bit mad isnt it @junglejane but very good news for you tho lol

I think what i hate about it is when people say the "need" or have to do or have that and spend this much and their child "needs" all these new toys

If someone said to me I really want the new iphone when it comes out or I really would like or want an xbox1 for christmas That is absolutely fine

its when people say need it really annoys me because no one needs any of these things you don't need to spend loads of money on your kids at christmas just say thats what you want to do

there was an article in the Birmingham mail about how bad the laurence llewlyn bowen (spl) christmas thing was and a father was quoted saying they had taken their daughter to it for her birthday and because it was so bad they HAD to spend an extra £80 at the christmas market.

Unless there was someone holding a gun to his head he did not HAVE to spend that

and I feel thats where the problem lies. People for some reason feel they need these things which is brilliant for shops and companies and I wish people felt they really really needed my products but its worrying for the state of society.

I really do hate consumerism at times

 

I think the Black Friday criticism is a little unfair. As our government has clamped down on mob looting , how else can you get a 40" flat screen TV ?

 

Absolutely Dips.

It does make you wonder, what is missing in so many people's lives that they have come to believe that they need these possessions so badly?

Why do many people so easily succumb to the relentless bombardment from advertising, media and the retail industry which convinces them they must have the latest gadget/possession/car/ along with vast quantities of food which they do not need, in order to be happy and fulfilled?

I'm not particularly religious, but I must say I do agree with those in the church who say that this uncontrolled consumerism and materialism is causing much unhappiness in society.

 

I'm always up for a bargain but kept away from those sales as I'm not interested in the likes of massive TVs and there's easier ways of saving lots more money than that. All I got was four half price + further 10% off mobile broadband sims from PC World, buying online. I've just been quietly stocking up on free pizzas, free fruit & veg and ridiculously cheap cheese & yogurts.

This twitter post amused me



The way Asda let them race trough the doors and fight over piles of cheap TVs and be filmed/photographed by a waiting array of the press/media whilst groups of cheerleaders preformed their routines behind them seemed like a deliberate attempt to turn it into a spectacle.

 

Needs and wants was the first thing I was taught in business studies at school and it has stuck with me since. Do I need a bottle of perfume or a garden spade? I never ask for stuff for Christmas that I simply don't need. But consulting other family members lists I only pick out the stuff that is most useful or has the most amount of meaning to someone.

People over use the term need and I blame children for this telling their parents "Mum, I need this toy pllleeeeaaaassssseeeee?!" I see it all the time.

I haven't heard anyone say "I need those reindeer!" yet, but it's only a matter of time. I shouldn't bite the hand that feeds but this is the first Christmas I have activity sold them and people simply don't need them, yet they are willing to spend £10-14 each on them, when that could be spent on someone else or given to a charity. I personally feel pretty horrible being part of this consumerism chain and so have decided to donate some of my money to the mental health charity Mind.

 

From what I've read Asda organized things differently yesterday, separating shoppers into 2 queues, 1 for shoppers and another for TV bargain hunters, letting on a few bargain hunters in at a time, and the TVs were already in trollies waiting to be taken away. No mad rush, no fighting and no publicity.

 

@junglejane

We have the same view of xmas and birthdays. we get each other stuff that we don't necessarily need but is useful and will help each others lives. Apart from my dad he has everything so he gets silly gifts

Past prezzies for me have included a potting shed, a bed, curtain rail, shower stool, walking stick, dishwasher etc none of them sound massively exciting but they are all the best prezzies ever because they have helped life massively

 

Haha sorry presents

 

I think its brilliant. We need stupid people such as those we saw on the news, they keep the economy moving and keep people in jobs. How many marketing agents are in work now because stupid people fell for their schemes? Some of the 'bargains' on offer were not bargains at all. They were just at best, online prices in store.

Some online retailers even implemented fake queues for their websites. Its an old trick in the real world, you delay opening the doors til a queue has formed, so that passers-by think the place must be really good if there's a big queue outside it. Then someone obviously thought it could work online. Again, stupid people to the rescue. "Oh look, this webserver is so busy there's a queue to get on, it must be brilliant, as soon as I get on I'm buying the first non-bargain I can get". Advertised all over social media so that more people pile on, while nobody pauses to consider that if the web server has sufficient resources left to serve a a page telling you you're in a queue, and the database server is sufficiently available to manage your place in the queue, then the server has enough available resources to actually let you shop. But of course if it just worked, maybe people would be disappointed after the hype. Or maybe they'd just go to Amazon instead, which continued to function normally on Friday I noticed. Although even they had a 'Black Friday' section where they listed deals that were '100% subscribed' but you could go on a waiting list if you were daft enough (or you could find the item in the offer, also on Amazon, and find that it is normally available for the deal price anyway, and you can just buy it straight away if you want).

 

Hope this doesn't offend anyone