by Ella Casey ‘21

When are the biggest sales of the year? Black Friday, of course–or so one would think. If this is the case, then why does it seem like things on Black Friday and Cyber Monday are often still so expensive? It’s no secret that good quality items are commonly overpriced–on average a shirt is at least $30-40. But Black Friday sales seem to help very little nowadays in bringing down prices. Perhaps this is due to the increasingly extended sale period, meaning that sales are happening all week instead of just on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  In fact, many sales within the time period around Thanksgiving are actually higher than on that Friday or Monday. Throughout the year, there are frequent sales at most stores that could rival or best that of Black Friday’s, like several back-to-school and mid-summer sales.

People begin shopping on Black Friday because they believe they are getting a good deal, which starts a forward momentum until they are just buying anything remotely interesting because it has a good sale. All Black Friday really is is a bunch of frenzied shoppers overspending on things they do not really need simply because there is a sale tag on them.