What do you like about Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales? What don't you like?
Tell us what you love and hate about...
— Christine
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I like straight-up sales, but I dislike that many deals only come in sets. For whatever reason, sets automatically turn my eye away.
Here’s my attempt to tilt the windmill…
The words “Up to”. If only one discontinued hand mirror is 60% off, and the overwhelming majority of items are 15% off, I wish ads would use “15% and more”. Yeah, I know that’s not how marketing works. Still, I’ve gotten to the point of ignoring most promotions, and have a building resentment when I see a consistently bad offender.
Agreed!
I love that I ran out of my Milk Boss liner at the exact time that Milk was running a Cyber Monday special, so I got two for a good price and now I’m set for a little while.
But that’s about it. I hate Black Friday, I hate Cyber Monday. I hate the push to consume, consume, consume especially during a time where a lot of us are rethinking our spending habits. But then again, I don’t participate in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday mess (unless I happen run out of a beloved eyeliner at the exact same time).
I like that they are an opportunity to finally be able to afford a more expensive item you’ve had an eye on all year.
I dislike that the best sales happen during a time of year when I’m focused on buying things for OTHER people, most of whom wouldn’t want makeup for the holidays.
I’ve liked that I have gotten some excellent deals, ie; my Roku TV.
But, man, I HATE the chaos, the rushing, people’s behavior!
I like that I can occasionally try new brands, get a few fun things off my wishlist, and stock up on staple products without shelling out huge $$$.
I don’t like that a lot of brands sorely underestimate how much they’ll sell and will blow their TAT, and then ignore customers asking for estimated ship dates or refunds. I’ve ordered things on BF/CM and not gotten them until FEBRUARY. I’ve had brands ignore their BF/CM customers while pushing out a new launch in December and the holiday launch customers got their orders before BF/CM (coughpatmcgrathlastyearcough).
I dislike the timing of some of the sales (eg. Friday after Thanksgiving ONLY) and the fact there is stock issues. It’s frustrating too when certain items run out while they are in your cart and you can only use a code once. It would be nice to be able to use more than once if you are sending gifts to different addresses. I also dislike how they pile on additional discounts AFTER making a purchase (take an additional 10% off today!!) Also, adding stock AFTER the sale. It’s almost like they wait and try to create FOMO (Sephora is notorious for this).
I also hate having to remember to use a code! If you are offering a discount overall, that should be applied. I had to calm my mother down last year and help her cancel her order and then reorder since she didn’t realize you had to enter a code although the banner said 35% OFF!! but the code was tucked in the small writing.
I honestly appreciate the additional discounts but don’t go crazy for the most part. I love White House Black Market and really enjoyed their 40% off sale this year. I lost weight and needed newer clothes that didn’t fall off of me so that was a sweet deal.
I also dislike when you need to insert a code! I understand on regular deals, maybe, but Black Friday discounts should be automatically. I also had a panic once when I forgot both the discount code and activating cash-back (it was like 10%).
And I have also noticed on Sephora that some great packs and sets usually are out of stock during sales, but surprisingly appear on stock after the sale ends. I understand good deals selling out… but re-stocking so fast seems fishy to me.
I think it can be a great way to stock up on products you use a lot and will go through or maybe get some Christmas gift deals, but going out in crowds, even pre-pandemic has never been a favorite pastime of mine.
I like that most Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales are most times percentage off purchase, so I can choose what items to buy. I also like that they come before the winter holidays, perfect for purchasing gifts on advance.
I don’t like when website over-market sales, like having discounts similar to what they have during the year, but bragging it’s a huge sale.
I don’t like in store only deals, even when it’s not a pandemic outside.
Willingly throwing myself into a chaotic press of hundreds of people for discounts on largely unnecessary shopping is the opposite of a good time, so if I do any Black Friday shopping it’s online. Actually, about 90 of my shopping is online anymore (even pre-covid) so I do appreciate when there are good sales or discounts to be had. When I can, I stock up on staples or take advantage of a deal to get something I’ve been wanting. Also, because I’m part magpie I love looking at all the new things that come out during this time of year. Things I don’t like include how products in holiday launches can have lesser quality or be considerably smaller than the regular line of a brand’s merchandise, the leap of faith color accuracy on a computer screen is, and the eternal wait for delivery afterwards.
What I like: Is that you can get really great deals on products you’ve been looking at for some time and the skincare sets are usually pretty good.
What I don’t like: Is that the very beauty product I am wanting is not on sale. Secondly, the sales are not quite the same here in Aus. It’s generally for products that brands can’t get rid of for a reason – they are sub par (sometimes).
And 10% off is not a sale…..
Maybe it was the concurrence of my semester wrapping up, but somehow I got anxiety each time I got a notification about a Black Friday deal. Maybe it’s the FOMO? Maybe it’s the overstimulation? I still got stuff, a little more on the stocking up on regular products side this year, and a little more controlled. And I’m kind of pleased with myself for holding off on buying so many things until I knew I would get a good price.
I like that it is typically the best sale of the year for many brands, so there’s some predictability for consumers, but I hate the consumerist nature of it all.
One new pet peeve is when an item is automatically added to your cart and you cannot remove it, like MAC did this year. I ended up with a huge pack of makeup wipes which are not part of my routine (just a makeup remover and face wash work fine for me). Wish I could have opted out and still completed my purchase.
MAC did something similar to me this year — didn’t charge me for it, but sent me a See Sheer lipstick for free. I have no idea why, and I don’t hate the color, but I already have See Sheer and didn’t really want another one. I am still confused about this.
There was one day that had a free lipstick with purchase deal, I believe! That’s funny, wish I had gotten the See Sheer lipstick instead of the wipes. Hopefully you can find someone to re-gift it to!
It’s rather like outlet stores. A bunch of sales on stuff I have already passed on. I prefer flat percentage sales storewide on all items where I can stock up.
Last year my favourite sales came after Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Right now I’m sick to death of deleting emails.. no really…we truly mean it this time.. this is the last last last final final time we are going to be offering this unbelievably incredibly fantastic deal… until the next email two hours later. Le sigh.
On a positive note, thankfully we can buy gifts on-line avoiding crowds and the whole health risk and insanity of that rabbit hole. Problem is they won’t arrive until Valentine’s Day.
You must be getting the same floods of emails that I’m getting, Wednesday! I’m almost afraid to buy something at the 30% off being offered today (“deal ends at midnight so act fast”) because tomorrow, it might be available for 40% off!!!
I used to love Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, because what my family needed and wanted was nonspecific enough that I could find a good deal somewhere. Now everyone wants more specific brand name stuff (even me, honestly) and it’s harder to find good deals.
I do like some of the bundled sets, mostly because they give me a chance to try stuff I wouldn’t want to buy in full size unless I was sure I liked them. The bundle sizes on both Ulta and Sephora have gotten smaller and more pricey, though. They also sometimes bring back discontinued palettes (hello, Anastasia’s Sultry which I snapped up this year) so that’s nice.
I bought Sultry ages ago at full price and don’t regret it. What made no sense was that they got rid of it while keeping other (IMO) far less great palettes. I am sure you will really enjoy the Sultry palette.
I love the sales and deals! I’m kinda sad that I spent full price on a lot of the items that are now really discounted.
First time shopping Pat Mcgrath and the way the sales unfolded was absolutely ridiculous! On black friday there was basically only a storewide sale, and a lipstick I bought went down to about half the price on Cyber Monday (um… this isn’t technology so wtf?) Then throughout the week FOLLOWING the black friday various lipstick styles went on sale substantially each day – meaning that i ended up putting in 6 or so different orders so I could try them all and get the good price (because each day they did a different lipstick on sale). I’m in australia so WHAT A WASTE in packaging and air miles, and also how bloody confusing!! I don’t understand why they didn’t just have all their best deals on black friday, like everyone else. did anyone else notice this?
I don’t like anything about any of it! My email inbox is flooded with deals for both events from my “regular” businesses that I patronize – every single day, more and more emails. And I hate the whole consumer frenzy of it all. I imagine this will insult some people and I don’t mean it that way but, as a Canadian, the whole Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) thing just seems so “American” but it’s taken over our Canadian consciousness, newspapers, airwaves, etc. And the image of people lining up from the wee small hours to buy yet a bigger TV, another TV, another gaming system….all manner of stuff many people probably don’t need and may not be able to afford, people fighting one another in the aisles to get the last monster-sized TV in the store…I guess in this year of the Pandemic and people dying, losing their jobs, struggling to pay rent or feed their families, it all strikes me as a bit obscene. Okay, sermon over.
I think what you are seeing is the “world” shrinking regarding things like this taking over. The Internet and online shopping has blurred everything. Just a while back, Christine posted about Singles Day and gratefully explained it was from China as I had no clue. I remember pre-Internet days explaining to friends what “boxing day” was and I only knew about it from my dad’s Canadian relatives.
I personally HATE going shopping in stores during this time. I only wish they provided stadium seating in places like Walmart with cocktails to watch the mayhem. My husband is not doing big gifts with his kids this year as we made some major purchases for them this year and they won’t be here. I think he’s hurt they won’t even dish out on a card too.
Love the deals. It’s usually the best time of year to snag indie brands at their best price all year. Hate that I never budget properly to take advantage.
I like getting staples, and a wish-list goodie, on a sale. The End.
The same with about everyone here I dislike:
*Stock issues (which should have been anticipated)
*Sephora adding a better deal after the sale (arrrg)
*Absolutely terrible customer service to address a product issue (looking at you Natasha Denona)
*Given everyone is having a sale…. I am curious who really wants my business in 2021. Are we looking at 30% sale? Better point systems? What? Because, honestly, I really don’t need anything. At this point it is a want, not a need.
I like getting a good deal of course, but I don’t like when they say they are starting their Black Friday sale early only to offer a better discount later. Either start it early with the full discount or wait until Black Friday to do it. Also, don’t say a sale is X% off site wide and then have numerous exclusions!