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A few queries for the BF Campers

ShoppingBunny

By ShoppingBunny
in 2009

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ShoppingBunny

ShoppingBunny

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A few years ago, I drove a car-less family member home after Thanksgiving dinner and on my way back, decided to buzz by my local Best Buy to see how large a crowd had gathered so far. It was about 6pm Thanksgiving evening. I was a BF newbie and very intrigued by the camping tales described on this forum that told of tents and heaters, gas grills and porta-potties!

 

Barriers were already in place to direct Friday's traffic flow in a certain direction around the mall, on the back side of which this Best Buy is located. When I drove around the corner of the building, I was quite surprised to find --- NO ONE! :shock: Not a soul. There were, however, a line of various lawn chairs along the building, wrapping around the corner. Two city cop cruisers were the only cars in the lot, parked driver-to-driver, the occupants, no doubt, in conversation.

 

I was puzzled after having read the posts here. I assume that the lawn chairs were holding their owner's place in line, but perhaps folks weren't permitted to assemble until a certain time...???... I then passed the nearby Circuit City but couldn't see from the road if anyone was lined up there and was on the wrong side of the median strip to turn into its parking lot.

 

To those of you who camp, are you restricted by how early you can arrive? The presence of the city police - as opposed to mall security - made me wonder, do you need a city permit? ...are there town ordinances to keep in mind? ...or does the store set forth the rules of lining up? ...are any rules posted somewhere? ...when you show up with your porta-potty, have you received permission from the store/mall/lot owner for its presence? ...while you are sleeping in your tent, what prevents someone from simply stepping around your tent?

 

So many questions... please enlighten me... :) Thanks!

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bigjimslade

bigjimslade

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Welcome to the community!

 

I have been camping for the past 8 years. Let me answer your questions.

 

are you restricted by how early you can arrive?

 

No but I would not show up now. The early I have shown up was Tuesday night the week of BF. If you show up early I would contact the store manager and let them know who you are and why you are there.

 

do you need a city permit?

 

No.

 

are there town ordinances to keep in mind?

 

No but remember you are on private property. The store or if the store is in a mall could ask you to leave.

 

does the store set forth the rules of lining up?

 

Yes they do. The local store manager will be able to fill you in. Great communication with the store management is the key.

 

when you show up with your porta-potty, have you received permission from the store/mall/lot owner for its presence?

 

Yes you do. You also have to get permission and a permit from the city and have it inspected and follow code on the use of a port a potty. I have to get a special event and sanitation permit.

 

while you are sleeping in your tent, what prevents someone from simply stepping around your tent?

 

Respect. Most of the people who camp on BF have been doing it for years. Also you dont really sleep. You use it to keep warm. Some cities and malls wont let you use tents. Check with the property owner and city code.

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bigjimslade

bigjimslade

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It all depends on where you live and what is allowed. For example I live in Texas and some BF it is warm and some it is not. I use the tent to get out of the cold and break the wind. I would say a chair is a must!

 

 

 

Do you recommend getting a tent,or can you just simply bring a lawn chair to take your place in line?

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zim05

zim05

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I agree.... a chair is a no-brainer! Here in Louisville, it gets COLD at nights, especially around BF. So when I used to camp out... I would take a tent.

LOL try doing it in Minnesota...last year we decided to go to a smaller town which had the basic stores we needed (Target, Walmart and Herbergers, when we were done we went to a larger town for BB, BBW, Kohls,etc..) so I dropped my sister off at Target at 3am with the only chair and blanket and went over to Walmart only to find it was not a 24hr store and I had to wait in a line OUTSIDE without a chair or blanket and wearing only jeans and a sweatshirt! To top it all off it started snowing :no:

 

So lessons learned: Make sure you know a head of time how BF works at specific stores either by asking a manager or others BFers. Also it's better to be over prepared then under prepared.

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dad2trips

dad2trips

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I have to add to Big Jim's comments - regarding city ordinances - my city actually does have an ordinance against setting up tents in retailer's parking lots. Obviously not enforced though. I too set up pretty early, but the store manager is aware and I keep him informed of the extent of what we are setting up.
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bigjimslade

bigjimslade

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The best thing you can do is keep an open line of communication with the store manger and assistants. If the manager says no that means no. Dont try to push it. I have a great relationship with my BB manager and I follow his wishes. In return he feeds me Wednesday night, gives me a employ discount on top of the sale price and makes sure I am happy.
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ShoppingBunny

ShoppingBunny

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So when the doors are about to open, what becomes of your stuff? Deal with it later? ...or forge some quick friendships around you so that you can load your camping stuff into your vehicle and return to your place in line? I would imagine that there is a camaraderie of "we're in this together" sorta thing happening. Ideally, it seems you'd need a support team to maintain your place, but I'm just curious how solo campers cope. And does the peaceful & respectful coexistence in line outside continue when the doors open? It clearly didn't at that WalMart last year, but after investing all that time to be one of the first in the store only to be outrun by Mr No. Fifty would really, ...well... suck! :no:
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bigjimslade

bigjimslade

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Where I camp you make friends fast. With that said when you need to go to the potty let everyone around you know where you are going and how long you will be. Also if you go get food offer the people around you to get them food as well.

 

2 hours or so before the doors open most people will start to break camp. When this happens you need to break camp, clean up the area around you, put it in your car and then come right back to your spot.

 

So when the doors are about to open, what becomes of your stuff? Deal with it later? ...or forge some quick friendships around you so that you can load your camping stuff into your vehicle and return to your place in line? I would imagine that there is a camaraderie of "we're in this together" sorta thing happening. Ideally, it seems you'd need a support team to maintain your place, but I'm just curious how solo campers cope. And does the peaceful & respectful coexistence in line outside continue when the doors open? It clearly didn't at that WalMart last year, but after investing all that time to be one of the first in the store only to be outrun by Mr No. Fifty would really, ...well... suck! :no:

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bpr

bpr

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Right now I am not camping out. I dont see anything in the ads right now that screams for me to camp.

That means one more person will be able to grab something at the store you usually camp at. When they get that LAST ticket, they can say a thankful prayer that BigJimSlade was not there :D, lol.

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lilac100

lilac100

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Right now I am not camping out. I dont see anything in the ads right now that screams for me to camp.

I didn't think anything looked good enough to camp for either unless your looking for TV's. I hope someone comes out with an ad or ad supplement that makes it worthwhile for you Jim. I know you really enjoy the camping and neighbors and making new friends.

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bigjimslade

bigjimslade

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I have enjoyed all of the comments that you guys have posted about my news why I am not camping out. Some of you have asked why I am not camping out so I will share with you.

 

When the BF section of the site opened up I got excited. I knew soon BB ad would be leaked and there would be great things. This year like last I was sad and let down. I come from the old school of Black Friday where this site and another was the only resource of info on Black Friday. Also you did not have to stand in line for more then 6 hours. Since I live in North Texas most families around here eat turkey in the morning so everyone can watch the Dallas Cowboy game. I would take a nap and hit BB around 10pm Thursday and I would get what I want.

 

Time have changed big time big time. Who would think back in 2000 when I started to do Black Friday that 2 MAJOR computer retailers would not be in business now. Black Friday has become such a publicity machine for the stores and 24 hour news media and I think they have forgotten what is a deal. When I started doing BF there were no large large lines like they are now. The stores take for granted that mobs of people will be there which they are. Many of you who read this leave Gottadeal.com for the year after Black Friday. I have stayed around for the last few years and have gotten Black Friday pricing or better on alot of the stuff I was in line for on BF just from the deals that are posted here. For example I have gotten TVs and hard drives for very lost cost.

 

Alot of you know that I am a BIG Best Buy fan and I am still am. Some of you have asked me why is the BB ad not so good. Is it because of CC going out of business? I dont know. I do know the pricing was sweet in years past. Thanks to H_Hancock they have posted a nice chart to show you what the pricing in the past has looked like.

 

Consider BB and desktops: (All listed below were front page doorbusters...not secret sales)

 

'07........eMachines Celeron Desktop w/ 17" LCD & All-in-One Printer - $199.97

 

'06........eMachines Desktop Celeron-D Deskop with 15" LCD - $189.97

 

'05........eMachines Celeron Desktop w/ 17" Monitor - $149.99 (Last year for a CRT monitor)

 

'04........eMachines PC (Celeron 2.66GHz, 17" CRT, 512MB, 80GB, DVD/CD-RW) - $199.98 AR (Last year BB had rebates with doorbusters)

As you can see the pricing has gone up year after year. So the reasons I am not camping out is because the pricing and the ads are not good to stand in line for 48 plus hours. As I said the lines are large because of the media hype over BF. I am not in need for a computer for a long time because I just spent 7k on a MacPro Desktop that will last me for a good 8 years. I am looking for some TVs for my parents and my girlfriends family but I already got some early last month off of GD deal section.

 

Some of you asked about my port a potty and my group that camps out. They will have a port a potty and I am making the people from my group who camps out a Indian and Southern Kosher Thanksgiving. Some of the people are Indian (India) and a few are Jewish and the rest of from the south so I will have something for everyone. I always take care of my friends no matter what.

 

If anyone has any camping questions or anything just ask!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I about spit my coffee out when I saw that BigJim was not planning on camping out! on no what is Black Friday coming too!!!!:eyepoppin:eyepoppin

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ShoppingBunny

ShoppingBunny

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I agree, BigJim. It seems the crowds for today's BFs are there for the sake of BF, almost out of habit. Yes, there are deals to be had, but it's not a deal if you're not in the market for the item. Also, folks are expecting the deals of the past, and the last few years, I think, have come up short.

 

Last year, I was in the market for a large flat screen TV. There were offerings on BF, but, thanks to the GottaDeal site, I was able to find a comparable, actually better, deal at Best Buy just days prior to Friday, eliminating the need to stand in the cold outside Best Buy on Thanksgiving.

 

In the last few years that I've shopped BF - this will be my 4th - I have enjoyed it and grown to understand the appeal: Leaving my sleeping house in the wee hours, warming my hands around a latte while making friends in line, and managing to hit three stores, complete my shopping, and getting home before 7am just as the sun rises. But I haven't saved anything if I've bought stuff just because it's offered on BF. I really appreciate GottaDeal, now and throughout the year, which allows me to compare prices, read product reviews and other shoppers' opinions, and, in the case of BF, plan the most efficient order I will visit stores. If I didn't have this site to assist me in my shopping plans, I probably wouldn't shop on BF!

 

Many thanks to Brad, BigJim, and all the rest of the power behind this site. I appreciate the work that goes into it and certainly grateful for the money-saving deals GottaDeal has pointed me to.

 

:gdthankyou:

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