Amazon, Walmart get an early start on Black Friday sales

[Shawn Knight]

Black Friday is nearly a month away but apparently Amazon didn’t get the memo. The e-commerce giant on Sunday kicked off its countdown to the year’s most recognized shopping day with a helping of daily and lightning deals to get consumers in the buying mood.

As we’ve come to expect from Amazon, the company is offering deals on thousands of products across a wide range of categories. A few examples include up to $70 off a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 59 percent off Sharp’s HE LC-60UD27U 60-inch 4K television which brings the price down to $1,299.99 and 71 percent off a Kingston 64GB Class 10 microSD card, yours for $18.99.

Early deals like these aren’t all that surprising, especially in today’s day and age where many do their shopping online. Companies like Amazon have really turned up the heat in recent years, putting pressure on traditional retailers like Walmart – which also launched Black Friday sales on November 1 – to revamp how they do business during the holidays.

Curiously enough, we’ve also seen a number of retailers take a stand against brick-and-mortar Black Friday sales that begin on Thanksgiving Day. GameStop and Staples have already said that they will remain closed in observance of the holiday and won’t open until 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday, respectively.

Something else you might not know about Black Friday – it’s not always the busiest shopping day of the year as we’ve been led to believe. The Saturday before Christmas ranks right up there with Black Friday.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/62628-amazon-walmart-early-black-friday-sales.html

 

[DDG4005]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

 

[davislane1]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

Desperation has nothing to do with it. You make money by pushing volume...sales push volume. Bigger sales push more volume.

My only gripe is that Ferrari dealers don't utilize the strategy. Imagine: 80% off a Berlinetta. The line around the lot would stretch for miles.

 

[DDG4005]

Desperation has nothing to do with it. You make money by pushing volume...sales push volume. Bigger sales push more volume.

My only gripe is that Ferrari dealers don't utilize the strategy. Imagine: 80% off a Berlinetta. The line around the lot would stretch for miles.

For a Ferrari, yeah that'd be one helluva line. But there's something with these sales starting this early that smacks of desperation to me. I can remember a time when holiday shopping didn't start until the day after Thanksgiving; there were no early "Black Friday" sales. Now we're getting inundated with sales from late summer through November. It's crazy.

 

[RoosterFish2]

Desperation has nothing to do with it. You make money by pushing volume...sales push volume. Bigger sales push more volume.

My only gripe is that Ferrari dealers don't utilize the strategy. Imagine: 80% off a Berlinetta. The line around the lot would stretch for miles.

For a Ferrari, yeah that'd be one helluva line. But there's something with these sales starting this early that smacks of desperation to me. I can remember a time when holiday shopping didn't start until the day after Thanksgiving; there were no early "Black Friday" sales. Now we're getting inundated with sales from late summer through November. It's crazy.

I'm with ya. I love paying retail price for things. I bet you also complain that people have to work on Black Friday/Thanksgiving and can't spend time with their families, yet when the companies you rail against start offering the sales a month early to alleviate some pressure from those two days, you also complain on the internet. No wonder big companies don't care what people think, they can't make up their minds.

I also would like a Ferrari

 

[EClyde]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

Sure...what do you think capitalism is ?

 

[Techman3]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

Sure...what do you think capitalism is ?

That's not a fault of capitalism. It's about greed and wanting more and more money.

 

[Ziffel]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

Sure...what do you think capitalism is ?

That's not a fault of capitalism. It's about greed and wanting more and more money.

Greed and wanting more money is the very definition of realistic capitalism.

 

[Camikazi]

Are companies really this desperate for a buck?

Desperation has nothing to do with it. You make money by pushing volume...sales push volume. Bigger sales push more volume.

My only gripe is that Ferrari dealers don't utilize the strategy. Imagine: 80% off a Berlinetta. The line around the lot would stretch for miles.

I wish, but Ferrari and Lamborghini limit the number of cars to keep themselves exclusive, it is completely on purpose. It's their way of staying elite and making their brand unique, remember everyone can be elite, but when everyone is elite no one will be (paraphrasing Syndrome).

 

[davislane1]

I wish, but Ferrari and Lamborghini limit the number of cars to keep themselves exclusive, it is completely on purpose. It's their way of staying elite and making their brand unique, remember everyone can be elite, but when everyone is elite no one will be (paraphrasing Syndrome).

I'm aware of Ferrari's et. al. strategy. IIRC, Ferrari won't even let you buy new unless you're a previous owner.

 

[Camikazi]

I'm aware of Ferrari's et. al. strategy. IIRC, Ferrari won't even let you buy new unless you're a previous owner.

Damn elitist bastards, man I wish I had one!

 

[cliffordcooley]

I wish, but Ferrari and Lamborghini limit the number of cars to keep themselves exclusive

And they are still not happy, go figure.

It is fine by me if I can't have one. I wouldn't want the car, even if I could afford it. It's not my thing, never has been.

 

[Camikazi]

And they are still not happy, go figure.

It is fine by me if I can't have one. I wouldn't want the car, even if I could afford it. It's not my thing, never has been.

I love fast cars and would love to drive one, even if it is only one time. Fastest I have ever driven is a 500hp Dodge Challenger and it was fun but it is not a corner taking car.

 

[EClyde]

That's not a fault of capitalism. It's about greed and wanting more and more money.

Greed ? Yep they sit around being greedy. Sorry you don't have any will not to be Madison Avenued. I love capitalism. It gives me the choice to say no that is not for me

 

[EClyde]

Greed and wanting more money is the very definition of realistic capitalism.

Greed ? Yep they sit around being greedy. Sorry you don't have any will not to be Madison Avenued. I love capitalism. It gives me the choice to say no that is not for me.

 

[p51d007]

Stupid sheeple....I don't bother with those stupid sales. If it wasn't for labor day & Halloween, the Christmas stuff would be out the day after the 4th of July.

 

[DDG4005]

Stupid sheeple....I don't bother with those stupid sales. If it wasn't for labor day & Halloween, the Christmas stuff would be out the day after the 4th of July.

True indeed.

 

[treetops]

Stupid sheeple....I don't bother with those stupid sales. If it wasn't for labor day & Halloween, the Christmas stuff would be out the day after the 4th of July.

I know they already threw thanksgiving aside...

My gf has to work on thanksgiving because black "friday" has slowly been pushed back. Just do it on wed night and make everyone happy. Then again they probably figure more people have thanksgiving day off, scum.

 

[Phr3d]

I fly everybody down in late January for a reasonably free vacation (only if they promise to Not buy us Any gifts for the thing we refer to as 'the Holidays'). It's mostly cheaper and fulfills the family thing better than anything in years past.
B&M, wire, and everything else.. you lost us the day that Black Friday became Black Thursday -- sorry you can't see that, but we no longer participate at all - deep-fried Turkey on Thursday for us oldies and the Old decorations for Christmas, "oh yeah, it's almost midnight, e'n't it.. Cheers, honey" for New Years and await the real family holiday of St. Nothing ~25 jan, lol. We e'n't celebratin' No One's birthday cuz' Walmart sez, pretty sure Jesus would agree with that sentiment. Bah humbug, I guess..