‘Black Friday’ Deals a Bust
Attention, holiday shoppers: Before you dart away from the Thanksgiving table or drag yourself out of a turkey coma in the wee hours Friday morning, you may want to pause. Many Black Friday deals are a bust, according to a report.
An analysis of 21 Black Friday advertisements found that 95 percent of retailers plan to repeat some deals from last year, according to financial education website NerdWallet.
And some major retailers, including Sears and Sam’s Club, offered the same, or even lower prices as their Black Friday deals — earlier this month, NerdWallet said.
So if you planned to line up outside Sears on Thursday to get the $398.99 sale price for the Kenmore 4.2-cubic foot gas range with five burners, just know that was last year’s sale price too, NerdWallet said. Or if you missed out last year on snagging the Razor E175 24-volt electric scooter for $90 at Target, the chain is advertising the same deal this year.
At Macy’s, 60 Black Friday deals are identical to last year’s, according to NerdWallet’s report.
NerdWallet said the deals are indeed “sale” prices. That gas range at Sears carries a regular price of $499, and the scooter usually goes for $129.99, according to the retailers’ websites.
But what a retailer calls a “sale” price might not necessarily be a deal, NerdWallet warned.
“It’s important for shoppers to ignore the Black Friday percent-off claims, as it’s very likely that the advertised amount of the discounts may be inflated,” Kristina Chan, NerdWallet’s shopping manager, said in a statement. “Instead, shoppers should look at the sale price of the item and determine if it’s a price they’re willing to pay.”
“Just because a retailer promotes a certain product as a ‘deal,’ consumers shouldn’t take that at face value,” she added. “Shoppers still have to do their homework early.”
