To Black Friday or not To Black Friday

Today is the day! *Black Friday is here, in The Netherlands we’ve been joining the Black Friday circus for over somewhat five years. Yup, we have managed to copy yet another American ’tradition’. If you read my Halloween blog article: https://www.theinquisitive.co/halloween-2020-favorite-looks/ you might notice a pattern. I think we now have a solid reason to copy Thanksgiving too. Okay, over to Black Friday, that is what you came here for.

To black Friday:
When Black Friday arrives, brands and stores can sometimes sell items up to -80%. I like to shop on Black Friday, but only because I am very cheap. I like to shop for good quality timeless pieces from luxury designer brands. But I want it for a good price, a price I am comfortable with and I know I can afford. You’ll never see me selling a kidney for a Gucci bag. Sorry, not sorry I am buying on black Friday. Let me get into this a little further.

The Black Friday guide:
-The old saying: If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Meaning, too cheap, is probably not right.
-I try not to buy fast fashion on this day, cheaper than cheap, that makes no sense, something shady is going on.
-Buy from the same stores you would usually buy from. Small or big. That is because of secondary terms, like service. You’ll know what to expect. Especially nowadays when internet criminals make fake websites solely for Black Friday and then rob you of your money, with their fake stuff or you might not get anything at all. Don’t fall for it. I also don’t buy from big media stores that are known for their shady services and unrealistic pricing. The Dutch know what store I am referring to.
-Mind you, I check the prices six months up to this day, because of black Friday secret no.1 (read below). So I know what the original price was. And even if the new price includes a discount, I like to ask myself if I am willing to pay that price for it.
-You can check prices on certain websites that check prices over the year for example. And to see if the prices dropped. Websites like www.tweakers.nl in The Netherlands.
-Make wishlists on different websites, and check them the whole week before Black Friday arrives. Just to see if anything price-wise changes. It can change every day, I found out a website offers me a personal discount because of items on my wishlist. All they really want is for you to buy from them. So take it to your advantage.
-I mainly buy online and let the items ship to one pick-up point, if that means that the driver doesn’t have to drive too often, and if it is the same carrier service, I can help the environment a little bit.
I don’t want to do to the stores because. Madness. This year I am only going to one store fiscally because of Corona.
-Overproducing: unpopular items might go on sale because they were overproduced. You can help get rid of it by buying it.
-Don’t over-consume. Look for the good stuff, and not stuff you won’t need in the first place. But then again how many pairs of shoes do you need? Anyways, timeless items, you know you can use for years to come. Or a product you know you are going to need, just don’t go overboard is my advice, ten lipsticks same color?… no need in my opinion.

Black Friday secrets:
1: The prices are made higher a couple of months before Black Friday and with the discount, on black Friday the price is the same as a couple of months before. Or even higher. In The Netherlands, it is only prohibited to up the price up to three months before sale.
2: Webshops/store A can offer an item with a discount but the same item is sold for the same price in Webshop/store B that sells the item for that price all year round.
3: Stores and brands can have an agreement on selling a certain amount of an Item with the black Friday discount, so there is a stop to the item with the discount. And the store will continue to sell for the original price.

To not black Friday:
Well first of all read up on how Black Friday started in the first place, and then consider if you want to join the tradition. And a lot of small businesses are not joining the black Friday madness. For the following reasons:
-Principles: it’s madness & they don’t want to be a part of it.
-Small businesses make items their selves with their own hands and are a single woman/man operation. Black Friday would mean selling items for less than they’re worth. You pay for what you get, if hard work is put into it, you need to pay equally as well.
-Over consuming: the businesses that won’t join black Friday want to encourage you to not over-consume. Meaning don’t buy anything if you don’t need it, it will just be a waste of your space and money. This brings me to the next points.
-Sustainable consumption consists out of three points that are contributing positively:
-The environment
-Human being
-Economics
-Buy consciously because:
-Transportation
-Production and fabrics
-Work circumstances
-Water: did you know it takes up to 10.000Liters of water to make one pair of jeans.
Buying sustainable and conscious also is better for your wallet. You don’t want to go bankrupt, because of Black Friday.

Don’t buy anything if you can barely buy your next meal. Don’t buy anything if you want to buy happiness.

Even though small businesses have the right to stand against the madness, I feel like they are being overshadowed. Consumers don’t really care about their point of view and even if they did it doesn’t mean they won’t join the Black Friday madness, we are just not there yet. All they see are opportunities, and I don’t think that is a bad thing. Some of us don’t have the means to buy full-price and good quality items, we need to think about that part of society.
What would be idealistic if people are conscious all year round, not just on black Friday. Like I said I like to look forward to this day so that I can buy myself good quality items and enjoy them for years and years. The rest of the year, you’ll find me in second-hand stores, sometimes and not very often I buy fast fashion, there is no way around it. I think it is about a good balance. For example, once a week I eat meat, the rest of the week I eat vegetarian food. Black Friday is my meat.

To answer the question ’To Black Friday or not to Black Friday’?
We will never win. Fake discounts, small businesses that feel overshadowed or are against it because of principals, huge crazy crowds at stores, but yet nice items with high discounts. And all that before Christmas. We will never win. Black Friday, the wildest tradition of them all.

XO

*Black Friday origin: https://www.google.nl/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/whats-the-real-history-of-black-friday