Hello! Did anyone buy something with a Black Friday discount today? There are many discounts on the usual Spanish education providers (which I ignored), and there was a special discount for an online DQR Level Life Coaching Diploma on Groupon (which I did not ignore). Is anyone else a victim of the organized pressure of consumerism? Best regards, Mac Juli
Sure. I bought two knit shirts yesterday - $5 apiece, usually $10. Because I know the store and the usual price - $10. (Sticker price $40 - complete fiction.) That's my contribution to Black Friday. I did note that everything in the store had a "Black Friday" cap on the price signs - but most of the prices were everyday. They should have a"Black Friday" on gift certs. You get a $100 one for $50. That'd be nice. Then wait for a real sale. You could get maybe $200 in value for $50. Or give it as a gift. But no... it's mostly "A sham and a scam," as Dr. Steve often said...
Consumer studies have shown that Black Friday sales are not one-of-a-kind opportunities, that prices continue to drop afterwards. But retailers--like many other sellers--gin up a sense of anxiety with time limits and shortages that really are artificial. I stay away from it completely.
I worked retail for 5 years or so during Black Friday. Since then I've had no interest in Black Friday sales, unless I can do them online. I don't rush.
I just booked 2 nights at a resort in Lagos, Portugal on Priceline.com with Black Friday discount. Thought about getting an iPad Air, but I just realized a 16" MacBook Pro for work, and an old 13" Macbook Air for travel are enough.
I looked up Lagos, Portugal, out of curiosity. I thought maybe Lagos, Nigeria, that I was aware of, had been named after it. Could be. Google: "Lagos, Nigeria, may have been named after it, since, at the time of the 15th century, Lagos, Portugal, was the main centre of Portuguese maritime expeditions down the African coast. A strangely-named Hotel, Belch 1952, has a top rating, in Lagos, Portugal. If you get to Belch 1952, tell me how the food was. Eu espero que você tenha uma ótima viagem. (I hope you have a great trip.)
I bought a 32 inch Fire TV for the guest room for $79.99 from Best Buy. I shopped online and chose curbside pick up. I worked retail for a lot of years. I am so thankful that I don’t have to deal with any of the nonsense anymore. While I waited, I saw a lot of people walking out with 55 inch TVs and a few people brought U-Hauls. They had a 100 inch TV on sale for like $2k or $3k (Normal price listed as $10k)
And likely, they still made a little bit of money on it. Shows just how much AIR is in their "normal" (?) prices. Retailers! To paraphrase the song written by Tim DuBois and recorded by Jerry Reed, "They get the goldmine, we get the shaft."
That is too far; I only do an 8-day solo road trip around Lisbon, Southern Portugal, and up to Porto. Also I am trying to avoid most of part of Europe because cold weather.
Yes, the wine country for this is too far. But you can buy it anywhere in Portugal, I'm sure, including Lagos. And if you just want to try a little bit, I'm sure most restaurants could serve you a glass with your meal. How do I know? Because I could (and did) get it easily around here, back when I was still drinking. At most liquor stores in Ontario, Canada - and probably other provinces too. You can likely find it easily in your home town in the US. Vinho verde is not a double-secret probation thing - it's famous. Bonus: it's not expensive. If you drink wine at all, well worth a try.
@TEKMAN Maybe while you're in Lagos, you can get a glass of vinho verde at the famous Belch 1952 Hotel.
