Mursilis

People drive by just to mock you for lining up early? That's pretty pathetic.

You always have a choice - you can stay home and shop online. It's not like we're talking about life-or-death medicine here - we're talking about non-essential consumer goods. I agree with others - nothing offered on Black Friday is worthwhile enough to me to warrant subjecting my kids to physical danger.

Do tell!

Last year's PS3 bundle was also available online - that's how I got mine. There was simply no way I was doing the BB line - that thing is epic!

That's just dumb, and it shows why the so-called "deals" have gotten worse - the retailers know the lemmings will line up no matter what, so why cut into your margins? Just knock 10% off a few things, and you'll still draw the crowds!

Link blocked where I am. What does it say? Thanks!

Never got the camping "thrill". Maybe if my friends/family did it also, I could see it, but they don't, so I'm usually solo on BF, and I've never waited in line more than an hour. None of the deals are worth more than an hour's wait.

And they're pretty much right - people will line up just like always for very mediocre sales.

Best Buy and most of the other stores probably just figure that everyone's so 'trained' now to show up in the wee hours for Black Friday, they really don't have to offer much in the way of bargains. I agree that this year's ad is VERY mediocre, but I bet people will still camp out 12+ hours anyway. BB has been an absolute madhouse the past few BFs, with people camping out almost all day beforehand, so what's the incentive for BB to further lower their margins?

Really?!? Wow. Mayor of Black Friday Tent City indeed! Do you really charge a buck per use like you said in another thread, or were you kidding?

That's hilarious - you contradict yourself in your first two lines! If it's FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED, then the people in the front have every right to do with their ticket as they please, just like you said.

All the Trouble in the World by P.J. O'Rourke

Good heavens, that's insane! People must really have lots of idle time these days. Thinking about it, I think there's a direct correlation between the deals getting worse as the campers increase. I remember in the '90s, when I first started hitting Black Friday sales, the deals were much better - hot items were regularly at 50% or more off their normal prices. However, as people have shown both that they'll show up earlier, and in greater numbers anyway, just because it's "Black Friday", retailers have little incentive to offer truly great, once-a-year deals. Why would BB knock 50% off a TV or computer if people will camp out for only 10-20% off? Great deals are incentives, and as more people show up on Black Friday, the need for retailers to offer incentives decreases.

Then shouldn't they have gotten there earlier?

How dumb is that? Seems to fail the logic test. If you're there for the TV, and clearly aren't going to get it, why stay in line? Much of the behavior of people in line puzzles me. At my BB, the line is amazingly long - it literally stretches out of the shopping center and into another. I'd guess 500+ people, easily, which is why I've stopped going for the past 5 years, although I like to drive by and gaze in wonder. So why does it grow bigger every year? If you're number 500+ in line, you're probably not getting a doorbuster, and most of the cheaper things like DVD sets etc. will be there at 10 or 11, after the crowd dies down.

Does CC distribute tickets for the doorbusters?

This story isn't as bad as some others here, but anyway . . . a few years back Staples had a great digital camera door-buster special, and I really wanted one, so I got there about 1 hr. early and waited in line (back then, the line didn't get bad until ~15 minutes to opening). So when the doors open, a swarm of people, including myself, are running around looking for the camera. Turns out it's being given out at Customer Service, so the mob races over there. The clerks are just frantically passing out cameras to the people mobbing the counter, and a clerk gives a camera to an older gentleman next to me. The clerk's about to give the next camera to me when the old guy says he needs two, so the clerk gives him another - the last one! And it was supposed to be one per customer! I was so mad!! Grrrr...

Very true. If you want a big ticket door-buster item at BB these days, you've got to be there 12-16 hours ahead of time (at least in my area). That's just not going to happen for me. I'll still go there for some of the cheap DVDs or whatever items last later into the morning, but it's just not worth it for the big-ticket stuff. Besides, you can sometimes get the same bargain later on in the Christmas season for close to the same price. I used a %-off coupon and got the door-buster TomTom GPS unit two weeks later for ~$10 more than it was priced on BF, and I didn't have to wait out in the cold for 10+ hours to do it.

I agree with this reasoning. People getting there ahead of time (early enough to get tickets) are making an investment in time, for which they are rewarded with tickets. If they choose to sell those tickets, I have no problem with it.

Just FYI, Buy.com has the brown Zune (same as TRU) for $99.99, with free shipping. If you apply for the Buy.com credit card, they'll knock another $30 off, making it $69.99, shipped free and no tax in most places. No waiting, either. Hope that helps someone.

There was something like that. And didn't they close the customer service desk until noon, so there's no way you could get door-buster items pricematched anyway before the price went back up. However, some of the good deals (like the 22" monitor for $200) were for the whole weekend, so you could buy that ahead of time and then come back Friday night or Sat. for a price match. I did.

Exactly - if you wait for a ticket like anyone else could have done, then you deserve it as much as anyone else. If you want to sell it (and the store or the police won't stop you), go right ahead. I have no problem with it.

Fill a coworker's cubicle?

FYI on the Reward Zone points - you can add them to your account on web now ex post facto. Go to the Best Buy website and look for the Reward Zone link. You can still get your points.

Is running this site your fulltime job? If so, it's probably more fun than what I'm doing! :)