The Chaos of Black Friday; Deals or Overconsumption?

Ashlynn Morgan
Social Media Manager 
  Black Friday creates an extremely chaotic time of the year, with in-person stores and online shopping having deals all month long. It can be an excellent opportunity to get exceptional deals for the upcoming Christmas season where shoppers can stock up for the holidays. Many adults and teens buy impulsively , convincing themselves that they need the product on sale. Questions arise about Black Friday; are there actual deals, or is it all just consumerism? 
  According to Yale School of Management, one in three shoppers will return what they bought during Black Friday. The deals on Black Friday create a sense of scarcity to people, making them think if they do not buy something, it will be gone forever. The time Black Friday starts is also different for many brands, with some starting from early October to a week before Thanksgiving. Due to that, it makes it a whole month and a half craze that hits the world, over 100 countries participate to some extent. 
  Black Friday can be extremely stressful for holiday shopping too. With all the deals and the stress of the holidays it can lead to violence from shoppers if they do not buy an item they want. Black Friday is a bit different from the previous decades where traditionally it would all be in-person shopping. When COVID-19 hit the world, it led to people buying online and picking up in stores, or ordering and curbside pickup. With online shopping now available, people get the items directly to their house, still leading to overconsumption and impulse buying in many cases. It can also lead to overspending, with some people spending money that they do not have in order to get a deal. Some deals at stores are scams, where they lower the price but the quality can also be lower. One way to avoid being scammed is planning what to buy beforehand and looking at prices and quality online and in-person before Black Friday. 
  Whether online shopping or in-person shopping, it is crucial to budget and enjoy the holidays. Students should research prices beforehand and set spending limits to avoid the chaos of impulse purchases.

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