48 replies to this topic

[bpr]

While we are waiting for the ads to appear  , I have a question for all; How long have you been shopping Black Friday? BF has been around a while. We (my DW and I) have been shopping BF for about 20 years now. We started when our DS was a babe and have been doing it ever since. We used to get in line at three in the morning at KB/Toy Castle. Our shopping later moved to COMPUSA and other stores over the years.

Edited by bpr, Oct 12, 2013 - 7:50 pm.

[stevierocks]

hmmm. this was a good question...not sure when i started, but at least 10 years.this is one thing to be proud to say"i started young."

[DeanH]

Got introduced to hardcore BF'ing back in 1986.  Been doing it ever since, but it's changed a lot over the decades.  About to lose interest in it now, tho, because you typically get better deals closer to Christmas or, if you are very patient, immediately post-Christmas.  And I'm just getting old and am tiring of the zoo it inevitably becomes just before the doors open.  Have a better time sitting at home these days BF'ing Amazon.

[lesomom]

1995 my first year as a mommy!

[arci122]

Late 80's

[jaymacfla]

It really started for me back in 1994 with my then bride of only 2 years, although I claim the last 15 years as a serious BF expert. In the early years, we would go to Walmart. For some reason back then, not all Walmarts in my area were created equal and some did not carry the same stock. Does anybody remember the razor scooter frenzy??? During those times, I often would venture out alone. In the early 2000's I noticed a change toward lining up for what you wanted. It always seemed to be some young married guy, huddled with a girlfriend (ahh, the romance of it...). It was at this time when I got into computers very heavy and found that I could line up early at CompUSA and then be back before Walmart opened up to help out the wife with the rest of our shopping(we also hit up the smaller stores!). We did this for many years and eventually I was #1 at CompUSA consistently through 2003. I had learned how to play the game and win at it, but all that would change when a detour to Best Buy in 2003 changed the way I would shop for electronics to this day. Again, I had to beat out the guys with girlfriends, coworkers, and friends who competed with me to line up for deals. What once took hours of committment, now took over a day. By 2006 tents were a requirement for success, and by 2009 long haul camping was the only way to go. Every year, the media makes it harder for us to keep under the radar, so who knows how long it will take this year, or next!!!

[SaBell]

I have been Black Friday shopping for over 40 years.  I first went out while still in my mommy's tummy back in the late 60s .  Back when I started there was no camping out, no pushing and shoving and none of this I'm first, I'm first.  It was all about families getting stuff for their kids and homes.  I think things really started to change in the 80s (cabbage patch frenzy anyone) when people started to line up for a particular item and fight over things and the media got involved.  Now with these early opening times it's just not the same.  I still go Black Friday shopping but I wait and go out at normal time 4am, it's a family tradition.

 

[momofangel]

I first went BF shopping with my mom in the 80's. Now my teenage daughter shops with me.

[tinkrbel]

Its probably been right around 20 years now, It started off so simply just hitting KBtoys (around 5am open maybe?)for my cousins gifts and maybe RadioShack for a new game/control for my older brother to getting older kids toys and now mostly household/electronics for the home and a few gifts. So many things have changed since then from prep through to execution.

 

In the early days my dad would go out and buy the paper for us and I'd sit and review it all while helping my mom with whatever prep work she needed while watching the Thanksgiving parade. We could leave the house 30 minutes before stores open to allow time for finding a parking spot and being at the door for opening, we could get everything we wanted in 1 mall from a couple of stores.

 

By about 2001, I was finding the ads online in advance and buying the paper on my own, attaching my list of wants to the store ad while watching the parade and taking that with me for quick reference. A couple of years later I decided I wanted a new TV and got to BB on Thanksgiving night JUST managing to get one without a ticket. Since then I've spent most of Thanksgiving week online stalking the best deals before going out Thanksgiving/BF mostly missing the parade.

 

Thankfully I have always been a deal shopper and never NEEDED to BF shop. I do BF for the deals available, between clearance deals year round and online availability I have needed to go out less and less each year. I may never stop BF shopping (even if they took away my JCP commemorative snow globe) but I will definitely be cutting the # of stores I hit and how early I get there.

[tifflan83]

15 yrs, I was 15 yrs old when my mom let me come out with her and the rest of my family.

[KimberlySA]

11 years, I was hugely pregnant with my youngest.

[Jen08]

I started in 2002. I was a new mom and my SIL and MIL finally talked me into giving it a try. I was hooked after that and been going every year since then.

[momof3luvs1]

I first started by working at kbtoys Black Friday weekend when my brother was manager. They always needed extra staff that weekend so he could hire a few people just for that weekend. My friends and I would always do it and it was so much fun back then. After I worked a crazy long day a bunch of us  would then shop at the mall for the next few hours. I dd that for about 8 years. Then for the past 8 years I have been bf shopping with my bff's. It really turned into a tradition that I look forward to all year. So I guess I have been at it for about 16 years. So exactly half my life =) As soon as my oldest is old enough to handle it I will bring her with me but that is probably still a few years away...

Edited by momof3luvs1, Oct 13, 2013 - 4:08 pm.

[mcwalker]

I feel like an old pro at this now, but in fact I am a relative newcomer compared to most of those who have replied so far.  My family was philosophically opposed to shopping on Thanksgiving weekend, which we usually spent at a farm house west of Fort Worth enjoying traditional family fun.

 

I started in 2006 when my family decided to have a get together at a hotel in Chicago instead.  My nephew and I went out to stores in that area while the others slept.  According to my profile, I joined GottaDeal on Nov. 14, 2006 as I was researching how Black Friday works and how to take advantage of it.  We returned to New York with a trunkload of BF deals squeezed in with the luggage  and I have been at it every year since, so far in four different cities.  

[Bopeep]

I can't remember exactly how long, but it would have been the early 90s. My oldest was born in 91, and he was little when I started.  I agree with everyone else, it sure has changed a lot in the last 20 years or so.

[Elmck]

Its probably been right around 20 years now, It started off so simply just hitting KBtoys (around 5am open maybe?)for my cousins gifts and maybe RadioShack for a new game/control for my older brother to getting older kids toys and now mostly household/electronics for the home and a few gifts. So many things have changed since then from prep through to execution.

 

In the early days my dad would go out and buy the paper for us and I'd sit and review it all while helping my mom with whatever prep work she needed while watching the Thanksgiving parade. We could leave the house 30 minutes before stores open to allow time for finding a parking spot and being at the door for opening, we could get everything we wanted in 1 mall from a couple of stores.

 

By about 2001, I was finding the ads online in advance and buying the paper on my own, attaching my list of wants to the store ad while watching the parade and taking that with me for quick reference. A couple of years later I decided I wanted a new TV and got to BB on Thanksgiving night JUST managing to get one without a ticket. Since then I've spent most of Thanksgiving week online stalking the best deals before going out Thanksgiving/BF mostly missing the parade.

 

Thankfully I have always been a deal shopper and never NEEDED to BF shop. I do BF for the deals available, between clearance deals year round and online availability I have needed to go out less and less each year. I may never stop BF shopping (even if they took away my JCP commemorative snow globe) but I will definitely be cutting the # of stores I hit and how early I get there.

Snow globe is going to be back this year.

[Kanyon71]

Off and on for probably 25+ years, used to go out with my mom or grandma when I was younger then slacked off as I got a little older then pretty much every year for the past 16 years. Man had the internet only been as popular back then. Brad you should have started sooner lol

[firegirl719]

I have been BF shopping since 2004.  I'll never forget it because I had very little money for xmas, 7 months pregnant with my first and only son, and needed to find some bang for my buck.  I stumbled across this site at work one day when I went on a Google "walk about."  I didn't actually join the site until a few years later, but came back to it often to help keep me organized and in spirit!  I had never even really heard of BF before that year, but one of the girls at work had mentioned it when I was desperate to figure out how I was going to get all these presents with little money.  I went with my then sister in law and our first stop was Best Buy.  She needed an Xbox and they had them for next to nothing.  Back then, the store opened at 5AM.  We went to Mickey D's for breakfast and a coffee, and were in line by 4:45AM.  I think we were only about 20 people deep in the line before the store opened and this was in a major Denver subarb!  She got what she wanted in less than 5 minutes, and off to Walmart and Target for more deals.  You would never believe it, but at that time, Target had nearly no one in the store.  I can't believe this will be only my 9th year BF'ing, but it's amazing how even in that short time things have changed dramatically!  I am not ready to give up on BF, but like most, I don't do it for big ticket items anymore.  Sometimes I think I do it, just for the old thrill of a deal.  I refuse to go out on Thanksgiving night, and still plan to be at the stores about 5AM...right after my Mickey D's breakfast and coffee. Can't wait!  

[kayray]

Since the Furby frenzy of 1998 which makes this my silver anniversary!

[jakesmommy403]

My first BF was 2005.  I saw the ads sitting out at my family's house on Thanksgiving and was blown away by the deals.  My first son was a year and a half old and WM had a bunch of fun baby toys I wanted for him, and some shop vacs I wanted for the men in my family.  I had to work on BF at 8:00 am, so I headed to WM for their 5 or 6 a.m. opening (can't remember now which time it was) and grabbed my toys and 3 of the shop vacs all by myself, hauled all my crap to my car, and drove straight to work after I was done.  That was it, I was hooked.  I started requesting every BF off from work so I could plan my attack and hit more stores.  I recruited my mom, but she wasn't a huge fan so I recruited my brother in 2007 and he's been my BF buddy since.  The times started getting earlier, online shopping started becoming easier, and eventually I had another baby and went on SAHM status and my husband would take a vacation day on BF for me so he could watch the kids. Now here we are 8 years later and I do most of my shopping Thanksgiving evening online and then head out if my brother wants to for a little while.

[mamat2011]

I have been bf shopping for 25 years.  Started with a friends mom, then on my own.  My daughters and their friends now bf shop with me...it's sooo much fun!!!

[NovemberDiva]

I started bf shopping when I had my first child sooo about 12 years now!!

[msomnipotent]

I think I started in the mid-1990's, but I didn't know it was "BLACK FRIDAY!!!" until 1999. I just got married a few months prior and moved to an out of the way exurb. I was able to get to some computer store (that has since gone out of business but I can't remember the name) just before they opened and still get a cheap computer and a few other hot things. I doubt that will ever happen again!

 

I stopped shopping during prime time a few years ago after 3 different people purposely tried to start fist fights with me at Target. And really, I was just standing in line inside, minding my own business. Too many people think it is an excuse to go ape crazy, so I either shop online or wait a few hours after the stores open.

[shemons]

Since 1998 when I was 22.  I've gone on crutches after knee surgery, and at 8 1/2 months pregnant.  While it's lost some of it's appeal with the all night opens now, I still wouldn't miss it. 

[tyreejames]

I started in 2004; prior to that I was a college student who worked retail so I never got to partake in the deals. That year I went with my best friend and a mutual friend of ours; we left about 4:30 am. First stop was Best Buy where I got dvd's and video games for my sons new xbox. Then we headed to Kay B Toys and a few other spots in the mall. For several years after that my friend and I would always meet at TRU and then head our separate ways after that. I was hooked after that first year and fondly remember the times where I left my house 1-2 in the morning to not return until noon or so Last year I only did Sam's for the 65 inch with my DH and everything else was ordered online.

[Kash]

Since 2001 or 2002

[berry1014]

I have been shopping black Friday for the past 10 years now.

[ilikefree]

My sister and I started going out, I believe, in 1998. We've gone every year since then, except one when she was out of town. But I went alone. When we were kids, we started our Christmas shopping one year the day after Thanksgiving (wasn't called Black Friday then). It was more crowded than normal, but nothing NEAR what it is today.

[TazErase]

About 22 years now. First 13 were in NYC, last 9 was in an upstate NY undisclosed location (not looking to have additional competition, lol). In the past 9 years at this location I have been first at Best Buy for 7 of those 9 years and the past 4 in a row. Used to be 7am when the stores opened when I first started out WAY back... Now some are opening 10PM, and if last year is any indication I'd guess that about 5 more will be joining the 10PM Thursday list.

[jaymacfla]

About 22 years now. First 13 were in NYC, last 9 was in an upstate NY undisclosed location (not looking to have additional competition, lol). In the past 9 years at this location I have been first at Best Buy for 7 of those 9 years and the past 4 in a row. Used to be 7am when the stores opened when I first started out WAY back... Now some are opening 10PM, and if last year is any indication I'd guess that about 5 more will be joining the 10PM Thursday list.

As I recall, your mall management company has a strict rule concerning line up times and even camping.