josetann

Well, I think that accepting money to let someone cut in front of you is wrong, just as it is to hoard tickets with the intention of selling them. If someone wanted to pay me for my place in line, I would consider it. If I accepted, I'd leave the line (if I had to stay in line for some reason, like if my little sister was there and couldn't be left alone, then I'd take no tickets, hopefully in that situation we could both sell our spot in line and go somewhere else for their BF deals). If someone wanted to buy some tickets I had that'd be fine, but I wouldn't be depending on that. I'd have every intention of buying the products I had tickets for. I don't like how some people will get a ticket for every single ticketed item; I'll go and get a ticket for a desktop or two, a laptop, just a few things that I plan on actually purchasing. If I have no intention of buying a 60" LCD TV, I won't get a ticket for it. That's just me though. I plan on being #1 in line this year, so hopefully I won't have to worry about what the people ahead of me do.

At least around here, people don't mind if you take turns warming up in your vehicle, as long as someone's holding your place in line the majority of the time (being gone for 30 minutes or so to run to the restroom or get a bite to eat has also been acceptable).

Paying someone to cut in line is different than taking their spot. I know people have been paid for their place in line, I don't have any problem with that. If someone was paid to let someone cut, I'd have a problem with that though.

Unless they had in regular sized print in their ad that everyone had to have ID, it just wouldn't go over well. Sure, a 12 year old COULD get an ID, but do you know of many that do? And the ones that do, do they regularly carry it around with them?

I know that our Circuit City store did that long ago. Not only that, but they'd let people buy items without having the item with them. It's just the way the system was setup them, most items like DVD players and VCRs and what-not were kept in back, you'd ring up the item and it'd be brought up front. On BF they'd just have stacks of the stuff, but some employees didn't know which items were in back and which were out on the floor, so they'd just ring up the item. Then you're left with two people claiming the same item; one's been holding on to it trying to check out, and the other's already paid for it and is just needing to pick it up. The ticket system, however flawed, is better than the problems that could arise with the above scenario.

The "one ticket per person" idea could be doable now that I think about it. It'd be like the RFID system I proposed, but more low-tech. Just have a sheet of paper, empty spots for each hot-ticket item, and a sticker for each item. Use special security stickers that fall apart when you peel them off (you could use a blow-dryer, but it'd be freezing out already plus how many people bring a generator and a blow-dryer to BF?). At worst you'd have some people in the front of the line trying to swap stickers, but in the back of the line they wouldn't have the special paper to put the stickers on.

True, but would you have a problem with the other similar scenarios? People getting paid for holding a spot in line, or people in line only to buy stuff to resell? Just curious, I know people who think all the scenarios are wrong.

Even if I didn't have to pay to get it dumped (which I might have to, not a lot of places nearby that allow free dumping), I'd still have to actually take the time to dump out their, um, dumping. I've thought some more, and I think the best thing to do is to keep silent about it. If someone asks if they can use it, tell them it's a buck per person. If they seem upset, then explain that there's no free dumping stations around, what I have to do to empty the tanks, and that if I didn't charge anything that the tank would be full within hours and where would that leave us? Edit: Just realized...the ex-lax hot chocolate idea would have a dual purpose. Clear out the lines and many repeat potty customers!

Here in TN I don't think it's illegal to scalp tickets. Only thing I could find (and I'll do some more research, it's good to know regardless) is that it's illegal to circumvent security measures meant to limit how many tickets a person can get for an event. Doesn't seem to be illegal to resell, at least not in TN and only by what I've googled (so I could be wrong). Requiring a credit card or a driver's license wouldn't go over very well. For one, how could my sister get extra tickets for me (she's not even 16 yet)? What about people who don't have licenses (maybe a friend brought them) and no credit cards (cash is still as good as cash, for now)? I think a possible solution would be an RFID tag. Each person in line who wants a hot-ticket item gets an arm-band that can't be taken off without destroying it (and making it obvious that it was switched). The employees go down the line and ask them which of the hot-ticket items they want. Easy to set limits per person, and someone couldn't get a ticket for 12 different items and sell the tickets to 12 different people. They'd have to find one person who wanted all 12 items (and figure out a way to get the RFID armband off without making it noticeable). You can still have people in line getting extra "tickets" for you, but they have to be present when you checkout. Plus, it'd be harder to make counterfeit copies of the RFID chips. Heck, all you have to do now is take a high quality scanner like my Epson 4490 Photo, a nice color printer like my Epson Photo R1800, some different types of paper (never know what they might use this year), and...hrm...forget I said any of that....

I will be bringing a tent. What I'm wondering though is if all of us need to stay in the tent the whole time, or if we could just have one person in the tent holding our spot. That's what seems to be pretty common, at least around here. People take turns warming up, so one person stays in the cold and one or more stay in the car. Most take turns, some just stay in the car the whole time (while the unlucky one stays out in the cold holding their spot). Doesn't bother me, I'm always well-prepared. I'd be in the tent (or possibly the RV this year) nice and warm, they can be in the car nice and warm, long as someone's holding their place in line. It'd only bother me if someone was staying outside holding a spot in line for people who are at home snoozing.

Might as well give out the two locations we're contemplating. First is in Clarksville, TN. Would be a long drive, but the RV may already be nearby (my dad's agreed to help with the plumbing, so either I take it to him or he drives to us, if I drive it to him next month I'll just leave it at his house). Two years ago on Thanksgiving I ate lunch at a regular time, relaxed, looked at the ads (even though I already knew what was there), headed over to my dad's to pick up my sister (she started camping out in front of stores at 11 years old), and I would guess we were at Best Buy around 6pm or so. Weren't too far back in line, could have gotten any ticket we wanted. Second place I'm looking at is the one nearest us in Chattanooga (actually it's in Hixson, same county though). Last year we had Thanksgiving at our new house, ate, had to pull someone out who got stuck (family station wagon pulling out a big pickup truck, wish I had pics), then left around 3pm. With it taking about an hour to get there, plus the timezone difference, it was 5pm their time. We were so far back that we weren't in front of the store, and weren't able to get the tickets we wanted. At any rate, had we been there Wednesday night, we would have been one of the first in line. As for "A buck a dump", that's catchy! I was only half-joking about charging people, but I definitely wouldn't let everyone go for free. I'm thinking it might seem rude if I didn't share though. Since I'm going to have to take care of the disposal, I definitely wouldn't want to do it for free. I'll think about it.

Years past when we had those little propane heaters I always brought extra. The couple times we had a little stove (had to borrow it, don't have one for ourselves) I'd just leave it going full blast and let someone warm up with it. I've also tried to hand out free hand/foot warmers, but just don't get many takers. Also don't get many takers on the free hot cocoa, at least until someone risks it and they realize it's not poisoned (hrm, ex-lax hot chocolate would help clear out the line some though). Anyways, I wouldn't charge anyone just to warm up. I plan on having as many electric heaters as I can scrounge together (probably 3-4) and have them running off the generator.

Our tree is green, lights are multi-color and we have a hodge-podge of ornaments. It's how our tree was growing up, and it's how I like to keep it. I even had to basically pay extra to get a tree with no lights, just to put on regular flashing lights (not the kind that twinkle, or chase, but just have two or three sections that flash separately per strand). I'll put the old worn-out ornaments I got about 15 years or so ago next to the nice shiny expensive ones, there's no "hide the crappy ornaments in the back" on our tree! I do like how some of the themed trees look, but it just wouldn't look right to me in our house. It'd look too "perfect", if that makes sense. I like the look of a tree that's a little more personable. Only thing I'd change about our tree would be the cats you can constantly find climbing it.

Well, no one's started this annual thread yet, figured I'll go ahead and get it going. Do you think it's ok for people to sell tickets for BF items? For example, say you're at Best Buy, get a ticket for the uber-cheap laptop, then sell it to someone in the back of the line for $50 (selling just the ticket, so they can go in and pay the BF price for that item). If you think there's something wrong with doing that, how do you feel about people who are in line because someone's paying them to hold their spot? I.e. they're getting paid $50 to stand in line overnight, then someone else takes their place shortly before the doors open. If you feel that's wrong too, then how about standing in line the entire time, buying the items you got tickets for, then throwing them up on ebay or craigslist? I know a lot of people think it's wrong to sell the tickets but perfectly fine to turn around and sell the item on ebay, since they had to put up the money and are taking a risk. I don't think that's really valid, because most places not only have a 30-90 day return policy, but will extend that policy starting on BF (basically you'd have at least a month past Christmas to return stuff). So you could put up a free ad on craigslist, if there were no takers just take it back for a full refund. Not a big gamble there. Personally I don't hoard tickets with the intent to resell. I get tickets for the items that I would actually buy (whether for personal use or to sell). We're talking a couple desktops, a laptop or two, that's about it. One year the person behind us had a bunch of tickets and was talking about how much they were going for in the back of the line. I'm no salesman but I figure, hey $50 cash for this ticket and I don't have to deal with selling the desktop, why not. I think I only sold one ticket in the back. I tell the guy who's behind us that he can go sell our other ticket and we'd split the money. I think my "cut" was $30 or $40. Since it was the ticket my sister was holding on to for me, I let her have it and she got an mp3 player and some movies. So...I'll continue to stand in line for BF and other big release items (when's that Xbox 720 due out?) with every intention of buying the items I get tickets for. If someone wants to pay me for my time in line, whether by actually swapping places or buying some tickets I have, I'll let them if the price is right. If no one buys a ticket (which generally no one does, as I'm not trying to hawk them, that one year was the exception so far) then I'll gladly go in and purchase those items.

Again, I do plan on being out in a tent once people start lining up behind us. Then again, it's always been laid back at the Best Buy I plan on going to, only time anyone kept a list of who was there and tried to limit breaks was for the PS3. Otherwise people take turns all the time, have one person in line and another person (or more) in the vehicle staying warm. Only difference here is our vehicle would have a nice queen bed, two twin bunk beds, bathroom, microwave, fridge, etc. Hey, at least we won't be able to watch TV unless we're outside (we only have a projector that could be used, not enough space inside for that, but plans are to come out of Best Buy with a small lcd tv or two). Now the real question is, how much should I charge people to use the bathroom?

Most Wal-Marts allow it. Some don't because there's a local law against it (though they probably wouldn't make you leave, if the cops were bored they may come by); I can't find any such law where I'd most likely be going. What I'd probably do is show up shortly after closing Wednesday night and set up camp. Could park either in the very front rows or even in the regular lane so I'm not taking up parking spots (hear me out, I'm not leaving it there!). Once the line starts growing exponentially and/or I'm asked to move (I'm thinking around the time tickets are about to be handed out) I'll move the RV to the very back of the parking lot, out of courtesy and necessity. May even park it in the Rafferty's parking lot just across the street, then I'd have a straight shot to the little road in between the parking lots, right to a traffic light, then I can attempt to get out. Since you brought up Wal-Mart, I figure I could also wait until the tickets are passed out, then make sure there's at least one person holding our place in line. Drive the RV and a car over to Wal-Mart, park out of the way, then drive back over (Wal-Mart's less than a mile away). Shop at BB, hit another store or two, then hit Wal-Mart, and attempt to maneuver a 40ft vehicle through Black Friday traffic.

Some cheap LCDs (27" would be nice), $5 toaster, cheap electric skillet, gps, skype phone, maybe a cheap back-up camera too.

Yeah, I borrowed most of the title from the tent thread. Got me to thinking though. We bought a bus that we're converting to an RV (most of it is already done, it started life as a bookmobile so it has heat, a/c, lights, generator, etc.). I've done the whole camping out in a tent thing. I've also tried having a robot hold our place in line (it didn't like the cold, but did manage to hold our place just long enough for us to thaw out in the car). So I figure, why not try to take the RV if it's halfway ready? If no one minds the generator, we can have a projector use the side of the RV as a screen and play some christmas movies. We'd have enough power for some electric heaters for us and others (we still plan on bringing a tent or four). Food and bathrooms wouldn't be an issue. Plus the stuff we're planning on buying would be mostly for the RV anyways (an lcd tv or two from Best Buy, some small kitchen appliances from Wal-Mart, etc.). Plus, taking an RV would allow for us to get in line even earlier. We can have Thanksgiving dinner in the Best Buy parking lot! Seating may be a bit cramped, I'm sure the in-laws would complain (but they'd complain about having to drive to see us anyways), but I think it could be fun. We'd also be able to stay in where it's nice and warm until the line formed behind us, which could be anywhere from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon (a few years ago I could show up past midnight on Friday and have a decent spot, last year we went right after Thanksgiving dinner and didn't get a thing). Sound like a plan, or a lost cause?

You may want to look into cards that have specific rewards, if you'd use them. An example, we have a Norwegian Cruise Line branded MasterCard (issued through Bank of America) that gives 3% on every single purchase. No needing to remember if this card is 3% on fast-food and groceries, or if it was gas and whatever...whether or not Wal-Mart counts as a grocery store (everything I've read indicates no), etc. Also gives 4% when booking a Norwegian cruise. You have to redeem the rewards in $500 increments, max you can earn in a year is $1,000, and I think the rewards can sit in your account for two or three years before being redeemed (and once redeemed, the certificates can be used for a cruise up to a year later). We use the card for virtually everything until the rewards are maxed for the year. It's even better when getting gas at Wal-Mart. We could use a 3% cash back card for the gas, or we can go inside and buy a gift card with our NCL card, get 3% in rewards, plus an extra 3 cents off per gallon. Every little bit helps. This wouldn't be a good deal for many, but since we'll be going on another NCL cruise it's great for us. You could look into airline cards if you fly a lot for example. If all else fails, then a cash-back card is always nice, don't have to worry about whether you'll be able to use cash before it expires.

Don't quote me, but I think many countries don't use potable water for things such as showering and flushing (you really shouldn't be drinking that anyways). Kinda makes sense, why treat all that water when the vast majority doesn't need to be? Though I do find it odd that a recipe would have to specifically state that you need to use potable water. I mean, if you live in an area like that, you already know what's drinkable and what's not, would you really use some non-drinkable water to cook food? I guess they have blondes all over the world (just kidding, just kidding!).

I just go crazy on BF and any other sales, then I make a list afterwards. Anything left over I get to keep!

I think it'd be fine. Stupid question, do you ever see anyone there with a tent? Any reason why not to use it? You would do ok with an even smaller heater, and be protected from wind and rain. I use one of those small camping heaters Wal-Mart sells, think it was $25-$30. You screw it right on top of the small propane tanks they sell. For our needs it works great.

Yes, definitely. I'll buy things just because it's a good deal, with no idea what I'll do with it later. I have yet to use our Roomba I bought last year, and have another still unopened. Gave my dad a laptop cause I didn't need another one. Luckily my Aunt needed a PC, else I don't know what I would have done with one of those $150 BB computers I bought. We've hit the clearance section in Wal-Mart a lot lately, have bought a lot of kid toys for our son, and he's not even five months yet! He's set for the next few Christmases already. Had to put some of the stuff at my Mom's, it's that much.

I don't know if I would say it was Gottadeal specifically, but these BF sites in general did make a difference last year. Wal-Mart was doing regional ads, some people would have had to pay a hundred bucks or so more for that laptop, plus other items were priced higher for some people. Shortly before BF Wal-Marts all around had a little handout of items with newer, lower prices (including the laptop at the lower price of the regional ads). So basically, I think they made the BF prices more consistent across regions than before. Also, some prices were lower than in any of the regional ads, most likely a result of them seeing other stores' ads.

We'll be sitting in the tent laughing at all the people in the cold. Then one of us will put back on our shoes and coat, brave the cold and go heat up some water to make hot cocoa. We'll offer some to a few other people, then go back inside where it's warm. We'll play some cards, I'll surf the web on my pocketpc (connects to my cellphone via bluetooth), then we'll go in pairs to the bathroom. Probably make some more hot cocoa, go inside, try to sleep (hard to do that with more than two people and a heater going, I'll probably stay awake while the others sleep), walk around some aimlessly...that's about it.