The Dirty Little Secret About How Black Friday Sales Really Work
An ex-retailer (aka me) spills the beans
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I’ve never seen Black Friday be taken so seriously as 2022.
Even though I don’t subscribe to many marketing emails, my inbox is still full of everything BF. I'm currently in a small town in Southern Spain and it’s overtaken what seems like every store here.
Nowhere is safe.
Most minimalists and simple living advocates will be angry today about the consumerist nature of Black Friday.
That’s cool and all but seeing as you’re an S+S subscriber, you’re probably already aware that Black Friday doesn’t exactly shine a great light on our relationship with stuff. You don’t need to be reminded again.
What you might not know is what I — as a retailer for nearly a decade — can spill the beans on. The dirty little secret about how Black Friday really works and how it affects how much we pay for stuff — and how we buy — all year round.
Most of the time, it’s not pretty. Because for every “good deal” you receive as the end consumer, someone else in the supply chain is getting screwed.
Including you.
***
Here’s how companies make their money during sale periods:
They overinflate their prices for a period of time before “slashing’ them back to make it look like you’ve got a deal.
They negotiate a hard deal with their suppliers (or if they’re big enough, simply tell the suppliers they’re not paying full price, no negotiations required).
They take a battering on their margin because they know they’re about to sell the crap out of their store.
Similarly, they might take a battering on some items but make it up with other high-margin items across the store.
Each way screws with the system. Overinflate prices? That’s terrible for the customer who bought just before the “sale” price comes into effect.
Negotiate with suppliers? Sorry suppliers, you might not be able to feed your family this month.
Take a lower margin? That puts pressure on smaller businesses to slash their own prices, many of which can’t afford to take the hit the way a larger business can.
Black Friday - and all the other sale periods like it - is not just a quick way to eliminate excess stock or set up a company ready for Christmas. It establishes precedents and strategies whose effects can be felt across the whole year - they define the way companies are expected to do business.
***
I reflected this week about something I wrote on my own small business's Instagram page on Black Friday 2019:
At Vino Vero, we don't engage in the madness that is Black Friday. We don't believe in a world that overinflates its prices just to be cut for one or two days.
Instead, we believe in giving value everyday, with fair prices all year round. No one in the supply chain is getting screwed; us, our staff, our suppliers or our winemakers.
Surely that's something to queue up about and fight over.
Three years later, I still stand by this manifesto. Because I know what discounts mean:
Companies purposely buy more stock than they need to ensure they have something to put on sale, thus contributing to overconsumption and excess.
Suppliers, manufacturers and growers know they are required to offer discounts throughout the year to keep competitive, thus they may lower the overall quality of their products across the board.
It psychologically screws with for customers who see the sale price as the “real” price, thus diminishing the value of the item. Again, this sucks for small companies selling quality products who are forced into making discounts for the sake of keeping up with their larger competitors.
It harms specialist stores. Specialist stores have the same margin across the board whereas places like supermarkets and big stores selling lots of products will have different margins across different products. Thus they can slash the price on one thing and know they’ll make up the margin with another. Not so for specialist stores.
Companies have a lower overall margin across the year. That might not hurt shareholders who will expect the same or bigger profits year on year, but it’ll sure hurt the staff members who don’t receive a pay raise (or even see their pay cut) to pay for their overlords.
It creates weird cashflow patterns because customers wait until they know a sale is about to happen before buying *insert item here.* That might be OK for large businesses but it sucks for small ones who might not have such deep cash reserves.
Black Friday isn’t just one day of sales. It affects everything you buy, 365 days a year.
***
I hate to say it, but companies are either playing you today, or they’re screwing up their supply chains, staff, and themselves by offering discounts they can’t really afford.
So what can you do to take a stand?
The simplest (but not easiest) thing is to not buy into the Black Friday — or any other sale day — madness.
Turn that TV off. Unsubscribe from marketing emails. It’s remarkable how quickly you can forget Black Friday is even A Thing if you stop listening to the noise for a moment.
Shop local. Support stores that don’t discount their wares. These are the stores that are likely working on small margins (our wine store margins were tiny) thus giving you better value every day of the year.
Don’t buy what you don’t really need.
Be loyal. Take the sale from a favorite store if you want or need to, but ensure you support them throughout the year too.
Do something — anything — other than going to the stores (be they physical or virtual) today.
Walk.
Read.
Exercise.
Cook.
Go out for dinner.
Go for a drink.
Go for a coffee
Play with your kids.
Tidy your house.
Declutter.
Meditate.
Journal.
Enjoy yourself in a way that doesn’t require spending yet more money on yet more stuff. Give a big two fingers up to Black Friday by voting with your wallet.
Because that’s the only vote anyone ever listens to.
3 articles from my collection (paywall free)
7 Reasons (And Ways) I’ve Sustained a Simple, Minimalist Life for 9 Years
Yes, You Really Can Feel Vibes. Here’s the Science Behind “I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This Place”
The best pieces of Black Friday content I’ve consumed this week
Article - Let’s Talk About Black Friday by The Minimalists
Substack - An intentional shopping on Black Friday manifesto by Jessica Rose Williams
Article - Five retailers taking an anti-Black Friday stand - Retail Gazette
Thank you for this reminder! We spent the day trekking through the woods :)