BLACK FRIDAY

UPDATE: I survived the crazed people, obnoxious kids, all the mayhem and landed upon some great deals. Best Buy gets the award for the worst store to try to get the “steal deal.” I waited in line for an hour before they told us that all of the laptops had been sold out. What a joke. I Left - headed out to find a real steal. My best deals of the day: a new Samsung $200 phone for my wife, free! Then another great kill. It took talking to several salespeople until I heard the correct answer (which is “Yes”) and I came out of Sprint with a free upgrade from a Treo 600 to a Treo 650. The 650 is a $500 phone. The first guy would go down to $299 and that was the “best deal” anywhere he said. It wasn’t a “steal” at that price, though. As it turns out, there was actually a better deal and it was right in the same store. FREE! Don’t take “no” for an answer if you don’t feel it is right. Have a great day! I am staying clear of the stores today and having fun with my kids.

Original Post:

I thought people were going to strangle the guy. It is Black Friday and I am a guy. I am one of the few guys I know that will openly admit liking Black Friday.

Why do I like it?

It is the thrill of the kill. It has become a war between stores to sell PCs, cameras, all sorts of electronics for ridiculous prices. There is a catch. You must show up to the party at 5:00 a.m.

10 Things to make your BF experience the BEST!

1. Rent a helicopter for the day. A car will get you nowhere fast.

2. Be prepared to look through bins of thousands of DVDs to find one that you actually would watch.

3. Don’t really expect to get that laptop for $349.00. They only have enough for the first 10 people in the first line around the store.

4. 10% coupons are a waste. After sales tax, your bargain just became a waste of time.

5. Bring your digital camera and take pictures of the people who physically fight over the last DVD recorder for $79.

6. Tell yourself that a 45 minute checkout line is really pretty good. Most are over an hour.

7. Get all the flyers out the night before and plan your attack. Rank each store by taking the total number of offers per store, divided by the number of expected crazed people to show at 5:00 a.m., weighted by the number of miles from your house.

8. If the sale item has more than 1 mail in rebate, don’t buy. You will end up paying full price because you will never get all of the rebates filled out on time, properly - if at all.

9. There is a reason it is called Black Friday. Do your research and understand the historical significance.

10. Don’t bring any of your kids. That will slow your S.P.H. (store per hour) way down. Kids don’t understand what is so great about standing in line for an hour just to get into a store. They also do not have an appreciation for finding out what you wanted is already out of stock (no rainchecks). Standing in line at the check out for an hour for the $29 bargain you actually found? And who is smarter?

Hope to see you out there at 5:00 a.m.! I am ready to get my 42 inch HD TV for $249. IF not, I will be on eBay trying to make the kill.