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Who Braved Black Friday?

We did!! Even though our bed was nice and toasty at 4 am this morning, we drug ourselves out of it and headed out the door to scoop up some great deals.

I personally think we did quite well. We didn't go crazy, but there were a few really awesome deals out there that are going to make terrific Christmas gifts.

One thing that I did learn was how to NOT treat a customer. Our first stop was a new chain electronics store, and they were not ready for today. We walked in the store at 5:05 am, found our item instantly, but didn't get to walk out until 6 am! We hopped into the shortest line, and while there were only eight to ten people in front of us, it still took just about an hour to simply purchase our find.

This store was not properly set up with registers to accommodate an influx of customers like they saw this morning. You'd think that they would know what to expect. All I can say is that our experience was so unpleasant that it doesn't matter how good the deals to came are --- I have no intentions of ever going back in there again.

Hope everyone else has scored some awesome deals and not wasted as much time in line as we did!

Posted by Jim & Maria Hart ~ Charleston, SC Real Estate on 11/28/2008 12:27 PM

Comments (52)

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52 Comments on Who Braved Black Friday?

NOV

2008

Jim & Maria - We did not brave black Friday. We really don't like crowds. I'm glad that you got some great deals, though! :)

We are about to brave it, but I can't bring myself to get up that early for the "doorbuster" sales. Glad to hear you found your item quickly.

Debi: I'm really not very fond of crowds, either. It actually seemed like there were less people out this morning than in years past. Weird. Maybe because we got to the stores after they opened instead of waiting in line to get in.

Jason: We were fortunate enough to have our son sleep over at Nana's house, s he didn't have to go with us. I'm sure that it would have been more of a struggle for you to get your whole family out the door in time!

I hate crowds and I hate getting up at ungodly hours - love eBay & Amazon! LOL

Black Firday has never been for me and you would think that this year in the wake of our country's economic crisis the deals would be better. I looked thrugh many of my areas circulars and found the deals to be average to say the least. One thing that did catch my eye about this year's black friday was that a wal mart clerk had been trampled by the hoards of people. Just Crazy!

You couldn't drag me to save a few bucks. I did it one year and I swore I wouldn't anymore.

Karen: I always spend more than I plan to on Ebay, and the deals were really enticing this morning.

Jim and Maria,

Funny you should remark about that. I noticed the same thing a few years ago when a couple of stores who tradionally do not run sales other than special promotions had some items advertised at ridculously-low prices. What they didn't do was anticipate. They soon exhausted their supply, had no plans to honor that price later on, and had no intention of ordering more merchandise within the advertised sale term - a horrible experience all the way around. :)

Steve

Kevin: I just heard about that poor employee, and there is absolutely no reason for any of that. The stores almost always have plenty of the doorbuster deals. Bum-rushing the store is just ridiculous.

Right you are. I wouldn't even attempt it without someone staying with the kids. No reason to make them lose sleep. :-)

Kim: I think that it's really nice that we don't live in a mega city, so the stores are never as crazy as you see shown on tv.

Steve: And I'm sure that particular store left a bad taste in a whole lot of mouths that year, too. I know this one has for us.

I did Black Tuesday, we had pre sales in my next of the woods.

Jason: We saw so many poor little ones out this morning still in their pajamas and looking so unhappy. This morning was never meant for children.

Julie: Black Tuesday sounds terrific. Maybe it will catch on in other parts of the country so we can all enjoy our Thanksgiving turkey hangover :)

Come on, I'm a guy, we don't like to shop on normal days, let alone any day this time of year. But I am married to a shopping machine so I am lucky in that regard. Life is good.

My capcha was appropriate; love-in-a-mist

Cudos to all to did Black Friday. I just cannot handle all the crowds these days

David: Jim is actually just as much into shopping as I am, but I'm not a shop-o-holic by any means. I just like good deals.

Jean: Fortunately our crowds are not terrible here. And they seemed thinner this year.

Jim, Don't be too hard on a brand new store. At least give them another try if they have what you want.

After my 7:00 am gym workout, I went shopping, found what I needed and was finished in 20 minutes. The lot was crowded but I found a place right away, the staff was delightful and I was home before most of the town was awake.

Enjoy the holiday season.

I'm with you there for some reason some sales staff because of their early morning start just don't have the pep. They should get the entire staff prep and ready for the crowds

I went out early two years ago. I learned my lesson. Never again. By the time we got to the door (after waiting 2 hours in the cold) the items I wanted were gone. Today I shopped online from bed. It's alot less stressful.

When I have the money, I love black Friday or even the day after Christmas! This year was not my time to shop however so I stayed snuggled in bed - Yeah Me! Best Wishes on your next venture of early morning shopping!! My question is did the little guy in the picture go with you??

Margaret: I wouldn't be so hard on them if they at least had registers set up at the front of the store (or anywhere for that matter). They've been open almost two months and are using desktop computers to ring everything up. You have to go through something like 10 pages just to get to the total. That's little too dated in my book, especially for an electronics store.

David: It wasn't really the staff, but more like the lack of resources. I really expect more these days.

Kristal: I'm sure that it's a completely different experience trying to shop Black Friday in New York. I think I would have stayed in bed myself!

Mary: Thankfully, our little boy spent the night with his Nana, so he was not put through any of the mayhem. It'll be several more years before I'm willing to take him out with us.

I have never been into BLACK FRIDAY and still NOT! My kids however, had parked themselves since midnight at an electronics stores. I slept well and preparing left overs.

I did one black friday a couple of years ago. Never again....I don't care what the deal is....I'm so out.l....better you than me my friend(s).

And you guys seem so normal in your picture! 4AM to look for holiday gifts! You must be nuts!!!!

By the way, did you get a deal on that I-Pod I asked you about from your last post?!!!

We went, it was the first time I had ever done that..it was a lot of fun, I am exhausted though

No shopping for us. We are all recovering from all the food! and decorating a little!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

your friend in Charlottesville!

Tina: You should try it at least once! Just go to one store. And go just after they've opened so you won't be standing in line. It's definitely an experience!

Larry: Sorry that you had such a bad experience. We may not go back to that particular store again, but we will surely do more Black Friday's in the future!

Craig: It was so much fun, for the most part :)

We didn't see any Ipods after 8 am or so (the morning just kinda gets blurred). Glad that wasn't one of the items on our list.

Konnie: I'm glad to hear that you got out there and got into the sales! Exhaustion is just par for the course. I know I was about out right around noon.

Charles: We had a great Thanksgiving. Hope that you did as well!

Jim and Maria, you are braver than me. I'm not a morning person and I'm not a shopper. I usually let my fingers do the shopping. I'm glad you got some good deals though; especially since you did not get good service. You should let the store know how dis-satisfied you were. I personally think they need to know so they can work on improving.

NOV

2008

I only made it into one store and not in the mall, I avoid black Friday when possible.

I went to the mall and it was crowded but not unbearable. I had to get a birthday present or I would not have been there.

Happy Holidays!

Gutsy! :) Been there, done that years ago....although I waited until 4pm to go to Super Target to purchase some X-mas items, hardly anyone was there. Now that was a surprise!

C. Lange

Hey, Marchel. We aren't really morning people either, but we do like great deals. Take Care

Mary: The only lines we had to wait in were at the registers. So, not to bad.

Caren: Yeah, the crowds were not so bad this year.

Michael: I think at 4:00 pm we were all recharging our batteries.

I ventured out last night. Not many deals at all. Most stores I walked out empty handed. I walked into a Gap, and there was more clothes on the floor then there were on the racks and shelves, that I got disgusted and walked out. One store was going out of business and everything was 70% off so I got a couple of shirts for Mike...

Mostly, I saw stores changed their tags to all regular price ones, and then said 30-50% off, but that's their normal pricing anyway. I can get that any day. I was very disappointed.

Hey, Donna. Yeah, the whole price tag change makes me mad as well. Take Care, Jim

DEC

2008

My Mother and I made it out on Black Friday- we didn't wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning, however. We found the local mall to be nearly empty at 7:30am which made for an easy shopping trip. When we arrived at the next mall at about noon, that's where we hit the HUGE crowds.

It was kind of a new experience for me. The last few years I have purchased presents exclusively online so I never had to deal with all the big lines and crowds of people. We even had to face long backups just getting to the mall. To normal people this would be quite a nuisance but to me, it was just another new experience. My Mom and I just sat back and relaxed to some Christmas tunes! :)

Sorry to hear about your bad shopping experience. I hope nothing else like that happens for the remaining of your shopping!

Thanks for sharing, Nicole Weidauer

The Egerer & Weidauer Team, Keller Williams Realty North Seattle

Nicole: Glad to hear that you and your mom got out there and experienced a Black Friday. We were already home by noon and didn't have to deal with the crowds at that time. Hope you found some really great deals!

We did. Got all of the shopping done except the grandparents and a few things for the hubster (he was with me).

Kristin: Congratulations on your success on Black Friday! I wish I could say we were done, but we're close!

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