Black Friday vs Cyber Monday

It was Thanksgiving evening, the turkey was almost done and I was looking at all the ‘Black Friday’ ads in my local newspaper. Not exactly what the pilgrims and Indians had in mind but there I was none the less. Best Buy’s ad caught my eye as they were having a special on a Western Digital External Hard Drive, 250 GB, for only $69.99. These things often sell for over $175 so I was impressed. I needed one to not only back up my web site, Rather-Be-Shopping.com, but I could also use it for my families digital pictures and my music collection. Best Buy opened at 5 a.m. on Friday morning and I decided I would try to get there when it opened and make my move on this external hard drive.5 A.M. – What Was I Thinking??So I get there a little after 5 a.m. and what did I find but a line all the way around the Best Buy store of customers just waiting to get in. I thought this is crazy, I got out of bed in the dark for this? I contemplated getting in line for a total of 10 seconds, but my warm bed at home was so inviting that I fled the scene for some more sleep!Moral Of This Story?You may be asking what is the moral of this story? Well, it was an interesting learning experience because what I found out was that many of the people waiting to get into Best Buy were only going to turn around and sell their merchandise on ebay. I did a search on ebay right after ‘Black Friday’ and much to my surprise there were a ton of my Western Digital hard drives up for auction. And the good news is they were only selling for around $85 due to the increased supply. So essentially I could buy my hard drive for $15 more than what Best Buy was selling it for and I had to stand in line for a total of ZERO seconds. Now I do have to pay for shipping which is around $10, but it is still a lot less than the average retail price. Try this technique next year; you may be as surprised as I was.What Is ‘Cyber Monday’?Also, the Monday after Thanksgiving is now referred to as ‘Cyber Monday’ and is said to be one of the biggest online shopping days of the year as folks go back to work and use their “Free Time” to do some shopping on their computer. What I discovered was online retailers really picking up on this ‘Cyber Monday’ idea and have some amazing deals on their web site for one day only. Best Buy.com, for example had some great online coupons and deals for flat screen TV’s and digital cameras. Also, I noticed that Lane Bryant.com had a 30% off coupon, a couple rare JCPenney coupons good for free shipping or 15% off, and there was an American Eagle Outfitters coupon good for 15% off, all of which were only available on Cyber Monday. I say next year sleep in on Thanksgiving weekend and do your shopping online in your PJ’s with a cup of coffee. Not only will you avoid the long lines and crowded parking lots but you may be amazed by the savings and coupons online retailers are handing out.© 2007, Kyle James