MarkRaby

Sure, we all love Black Friday and go wait in the long lines to get great deals. But don't forget the great Thankgiving Day sales some of the 24-hour stores have, and of course (for me, anyway) it's always fun to hit the stores early on the Saturday after Thanksgiving when there are absolutely no crowds and you may be lucky enough to pick up some of the 2-day (Fri&Sat) deals that you didn't catch on Friday. Plus, Best Buy has the bonus point opportunity and free music CD if you go early on Saturday. So, does anyone else actually go shopping on all three days or am I the only insane one here? -Mark-

Since my childhood is still in recent memory, I'll talk from a first-person perspective and say that I really have never been disappointed with a Christmas gift from my parents. In fact, they usually surprise me by getting most of the stuff on my list and then some other stuff that I end up enjoying a lot as well. The only thing I can remember is when I was around 8 years old, I asked for a typewriter (a small, kids-sized one), they got one for me, and then I realized I didn't actually want it, so they were nice enough to return it for me and let me buy something else without seeming upset at all. And thinking back, it was from our local Service Merchandise store. Wow...does anybody remember that store? It was a big department store and I just loved it, but I think the entire company went out of business. -Mark-

I will most certainly be hitting Best Buy, Media Play, and Toys R Us on BF, because of extra money/savings I can get specifically at those stores: Best Buy: $300 in Best Buy Bucks Media Play: ~$75 gift card $10 in Replay (frequent shopper) certificates Toys R Us: Thanks to Ross, that $5 off $25 coupon will be helpful on BF -Mark-

I think everyone would just rather have the discounts up front. However, I still like mail-in rebates, because usually you get a bigger discount that way than you would with an instant rebate for the same product (just look at free after rebate stuff, for example). -Mark-

I feel bad when, as has been the case in the past 2 years for me, I see the Best Buy BF ad early with all the great doorbuster offers, and then find out on Thanksgiving morning that the Best Buy's in central Ohio decide not to have those specials and replace them on the ad's front page with a dumb gift card offer ($20 gift card by mail for every $100 spent). -Mark-

Debit card and Best Buy Bucks -Mark-

Hm, apparently it's not family fun with just your sibling. 2003, it was just my brother (Eric) and me. 2002 - Eric, our friend Patrick, and me. 2004 - Eric, his gf Stasi, and me. 2005 - Just Eric and me again. -Mark-

Wow. Some of you guys are unbelievably speedy with your Christmas shopping! -Mark-

Welcome to the forums, although I wish you had made a more high-spirited entrance here. I actually disagree with your philosophy. Gas prices have bounced back after the immediate wake of Katrina, and I don't think Rita did any noticeable damage to the gulf coast oil rigs. Gas prices increasing is by no means anything new. It's been happening for years. And yet we have not even seen the beginning of the notion of a worthless Black Friday. Your analogy to September 11 in this context is completely unapplicable. After 9/11, we all felt a little less safe. We felt less secure. I don't think anyone not affected by the hurricanes fears for their safety because of an act of mother nature that we all expected. Let me make one more point. Black Friday has been a cornerstone of the shopping industry for decades. No store is going to back out of participating in the event because that would be financial suicide. Remember that these stores are competitors. They want to out-do one another. And the notion that they will not try to attract as many customers as possible on Black Friday because gas prices have gone up a few dozen cents over the past several months is very ridiculous in my opinion. So don't be so skeptical. Don't try to rain on everyone's parade, and don't try to invision this already terrible disaster of Katrina being even bigger than it actually is. And also, welcome to the forums to larryandsue as well -Mark-

(In poll, mark off all that apply) Last year, here was my order: JC Penny - Free snowglobe Sears (for free $10 gift card that I didn't get but should have..won't get into that now) Best Buy - Awesome new landline phone - Fancy new blender - $10 GBA game (American Idol) - 17" CRT monitor Target - Pizza Oven - Microwave Radio Shack - M&M Radio (Wanted several other things but were all sold out) Media Play - Some Manga books - A couple DVDs Staples - 4 pack of Scotch tape Brother hit Office Max while I was at Best Buy and mom/sister went to Kohl's. At least, that's what I can remember -Mark-

Christmas shopping is usually my main objective of BF, but no matter how much I get, I always continue to buy more presents right up until the week before Christmas. So by the time December 25 actually rolls around, my BF purchases only make up maybe 40% of my total number of gifts. How about everyone else?

I see no reason to put the PS2 at a great sale price. Video game hardware does not traditionally go on sale on BF. Those who want to buy a system will usually be willing to pay the entire MSRP, regardless of what day it is. Like Brad said, there might be a free game/accessory/gift card offer, but I really don't see any worthwhile sales on any home console hardware (GBA / GBA SP might be a different story). -Mark-

Longest drive I ever have to make is about 20 minutes (it pays to live in a big, commercial city). There's virtually every big BF store within that radius (though I don't have a CostCo or Fry's). -Mark-

It so is. I'm getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about it -Mark-

Now that I've got some serious dough, I may join the crowd of those who wait in line hours in advance to get in on the best deals (in years prior, I've never been able to eye any of the super deals like laptops, big TVs, etc; usually what I wanted did not fly off the shelves in the first 10 minutes). -Mark-

(I'm excluding the choice of "getting in on great deals" because I know that's everyone's main focus)

Just a note about this -- if you order something from BestBuy.com and it lets you place the order for in-store pickup, but they come back and say that it is not available for pickup, you get free ground shipping. So you have nothing to lose by choosing in-store pickup if the option is available. -Mark-

I cashed in on several deals that were about the same worth. But what was the most fun was the free stuff that I got from various stores: - 2 snowglobes (JC Penny) - Christmas CD (Best Buy - day after BF) - Wall Clock (Big Lots - Thanksgiving Day) - "Hit Clips" player (Coconuts) -Mark-

That's one step that I don't take before BF. I usually hit at least 5 or 6 stores and usually I've got a pretty good idea of where everything will be. Usually, I just look around until I find it, and if I don't see any right away, I just assume they're OOS. Also, echoing Aaron, welcome to the forums, diane! -Mark-

Yes! We can now say Black Friday is "next month"! -Mark-

I will definitely be using the maximum limit of $300 in Best Buy Bucks from the McDonald's Monopoly game, as I did last year, so hopefully I can get some great stuff from Best Buy without any further hit on my wallet. -Mark-

With the last remaining KB Toy Store in the area just recently bought by "Go! The Game Store", I guess I won't be able to check that out for myself (though I've never been inclined to go to KB on BF in the past). Best Buy is pseudo-organized. They think they have everything in control, but really don't, at least around here. They do a good job of letting you know where the end of the line is (last year they had an employee who simply held a bunch of balloons at the end of the line). But once you reach the front, they have someone tell you to go to a specific checkout line before the person there has finished. So in 2003, I was stuck behind someone who couldn't find her credit card, had to have the cashier look up her Reward Zone information, and then actually bought the PRP for something she had (which took like 5 minutes). Meanwhile, people who were 10 spots behind me in line were already in their car. Also, last year, their registers seemed to go offline very frequently. Being in a densely populated city, it's tough for any big store to be organized on BF around here. My most civil experiences have happened at Radio Shack, Target, and Staples, but that's because I've always hit those stores last, when the crowds are significantly smaller. -Mark-

For the past 2 years I've gone, we hit JC Penny first (just for the free snowglobe) and then go around the corner to Best Buy. -Mark-

Oh, totally. To me, it's just a part of the Black Friday experience. I'll hit Meijer for sure and maybe Wal-Mart or K-Mart if they have anything special. I also just for kicks go out on the day after Black Friday, early in the morning when the stores are completely deserted, to get the free CD from Best Buy and pick up on any Friday/Saturday deals that may still be available. -Mark-

I recall a specifically heated debacle last year at Sears. Were offering $5 gift cards to the first 200 or so people in the door. Signs were at every entrance stating "you must go to the such-and-such entrance to get the gift card." We were about #100-103 in the line outside that door, but lo and behold, once they open the doors, people from all entrances storm to the area of the store where they're handing out the gift cards. I had my hands on the last gift card (there were employees in the middle of the store handing them out) but a very forceful middle-aged woman got a tighter grip on it and I, as well as my brother and his girlfriend, left the store empty-handed. In retrospect, it was absolutely way too chaotic for $5... -Mark-