His & Hers Black Friday Sales in Canada

Every year I saw I'm not going to give into the consumer blitz of the holiday season kickoff, but now that Black Friday is almost upon us, I've started to cruise around for decent deals.

I've been checking in with Amazon daily to see what kind of deals they've been putting out and I can easily say that the Black Friday Sale at Amazon.ca is a total bust. The 'top' deal today is on a boxset for Battlestar Galactica and the other day it was an eliptical trainer for around $1000. I've checked in around mid-day each time to find that most of the 'great offers' are only 30% claimed. Take that as an indication as to how good they really were.

Today, however, I found a couple of good ones.

For him, there is the Canadian Tire Black Friday Event with some insane discounts on socket sets, space heaters and home appliances. Wow... Just writing that I feel like a total shill. Seriously though, if you've got a dad or a brother in-law who's into tools and always wants more there is some good deals on brand name stuff like Stanley. If the person on you list is a hardcore fix it guy, stray away from the Mastercraft stuff, as that is considered pretty amateur on the tool scene.

For here, (sorry if I'm being stereotypical) there is a wicked Black Friday Deal at the Body Shop Canada. They are having a sale where you can buy any three pieces of inventory for $30, regardless of what the regular price is. My sister is a sucker for two things at Christmas; the Body Shop & Lush. I personally find the scent to be overwhelming but she's all about it and it's an easy way for me to shop to make her happy.

There are thousands of sites out there posting Black Friday sales, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for more deals and report back as I find them.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, How about "Giving Tuesday"?

Black Friday is next week. Cyber Monday is on the following Monday, and now the Red Cross is trying to start a new reason to spend your hard earned money: Giving Tuesday.

Yep. "Giving Tuesday". Do you think this named shopping day thing is getting a bit out of hand? According to this article the American Red Cross is designating the tuesday after Cyber Monday as the day to kick-off philanthropic efforts. Since most American's consider the giving spirit as a big part of their holiday season, Giving Tuesday can serve as a reminder to the reason for the season after the big Black Friday binge.

Their representative pointed out that, while Black Friday has been around for a while now, events like Cyber Monday have cropped up within the past 6 years.  Why not have a kick off for being nice?

While I see what they're getting at, I'm not sure it will catch on. At the very least it will give them some in-kind promotion from news outlets throughout North America, but I'd be surprised to see it have any amount of longevity.

The skeptic inside me wants to shake the hand of the executive who went out on a creative limb to come up with the name. I can picture the boardroom now... whiteboards and big sheets of paper covered in scrawled mind-maps and sketches... and then it happens. That 'aha!' moment.

"Giving Tuesday!" the exec shouts and everyone slow claps, patting each other on the back and smiling.

Ugh. 

Anyway. "Giving Tuesday" is also coming. Put it on the calendar and get excited.

Is Black Friday Hypocritical of the Holiday Mood?

 

We all love Thanksgiving. The food, family and football are great and the Black Friday deals are often pretty  nice as well. But is the shopping mayhem stepping on the meaning of the holiday season?

This article raises some questions about whether or not Black Friday and Cyber Monday get in the way of the sentimental meaning of the season. He discusses how the shopping has been pushing into the "family time" of the prior Thursday. But does anyone really care?

We're in an age where "extreme couponing" is entertainment and families (mine included) consider shopping trips to be valuable bonding time. Yes, evil capitalists are getting their share of my money and we may be buying things that we don't necessarily need to survive in this life, but (providing we're not spending on credit) does it really matter? I go out of my way to give to charity and volunteer throughout the year. Putting too much emphasis on a specific holiday or event doesn't make sense to me if I'm being a good friend and family member throughout the year. 

What are your thoughts?

Call a Plumber - Dell 'leaks' their Black Friday Ads ads

I think these big companies need to look at who their hiring if these Black friday ads are all 'leaked'. To me, we should just be honest about the fact that these major companies are trying to get us excited about the fact that we can buy stuff for super cheap on Black Friday.
Anyway, Dell has announced that there will be some major discounts on laptops, servers and other computers this Black Friday. If you're in the market to get your wife, friend of family member some computing power, now might be the time.
Dell is advertising laptops for as low as $249 - so if you have a student in your life, be a hero. Get him or her an (ok at best) Dell laptop for the remainder of the school season.