Is It Just Me or Is This “Black Friday” Deals Complete Crap? Corporate Manufactured Inflation Reduced to RRP to Trick You

CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:11

Apart from a very rare few, these deals I’m seeing are complete garbage and the actual good ones lack a decent amount of stock and sell out straight away. If I'm being honest I feel like the corporate manufactured inflation has been acclimatizing us for so long the sales companies are running are attempting to sell us products that appear discounted but are in fact the actual retail price.

This is the first time I don't see an actual deal worth buying that's worth the discount and the ones that were good had so little stock you were lucky if you got the item.

This is part of Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals for 2023
General Discussion Black Friday

Comments

    • CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:28
      +34

      I don’t think so, name one amazing deal that lasted more than 30 minutes, I’ll wait.

      Even in the US where Black Friday originated majority say it’s been garbage. It's not how it used to be and manufacturer-made-up inflation has been reduced to make it "appear" there are deals but they're really not. The only actual deal I saw was the Dyson and Series X deal on eBay and that lasted 15 minutes.

      https://x.com/alphafox78/status/1728139538990825953?s=61&t=v…

      • mbck on 25/11/2023 - 09:31
        -6

        The 'black tag event' design seems to show its 2017, not 2023.

        https://twitter.com/currys/status/932564193315717120

        You should do your own fact checking and not take things at face value. The same as deals. Youve got to shift through to find the good deals…

      • SBOB on 25/11/2023 - 09:51
        +19

        one amazing deal that lasted more than 30 minutes,

        if its an amazing deal, one would assume it wouldnt last long due to being so amazing.

      • timthetoolman on 25/11/2023 - 11:37
        +4

        Why'd you ask if it's just you, if you're not willing to accept that it's just you?

      • freedoom on 25/11/2023 - 12:08
        -4

        so you wanted a 90% discount or something? ofcourse deals will bring it back to the previous RRP, its how its always been. always

      • pwnd on 26/11/2023 - 19:23

        We randomly went into the Nike factory outlet store over the weekend. Had really good sales and prices on gear. Bought a few items. Was pretty happy with what we got for us and kids.

        • superflute on 26/11/2023 - 23:01
          +1

          Saw the queue in Canberra, as if it were back in ye olde Covid days. Definitely some high levels of FOMO

      • sauce2k on 27/11/2023 - 00:18

        Not sure why this guy got negged so much, maybe the way he said it but what’s amazing to you may not be amazing to others. What’s your definition of amazing? Please elaborate

      • Munka on 28/11/2023 - 16:41
        +2

        The Vodafone deal at Costco, $200 SIM card starter for $100. Which does me a whole year with 240GB, 5g and international calls is the only good deal I saw that lasted. I got 3. I agree with you in general though.

  • Kirbieb on 25/11/2023 - 09:25
    +5

    Yeah ive been waiting for a laptop deal but without the cashbacks there has been little to no good deals. I will wait until monday to see if anything comes up and then ill bite the bullet

    • virhlpool on 26/11/2023 - 12:11
      +3

      Great laptop deals in sub $800 category that used to be 3-4 years back seem to have disappeared all together.

    • dbmitch on 27/11/2023 - 16:29
      +1

      Nothing is gonna beat that Omen laptop with the specs it had for the near/sub 1k it was, for a long ass time.

    • FBI on 27/11/2023 - 18:59

      Same here.. Looking for a good non gaming work from home 15 - 16 " laptop. Upto $1300. Nothing exiting with Lenovo or Dell. Dont like Acer.

  • xazark on 25/11/2023 - 09:26
    +57

    I had planned to spend a fair bit but as yet haven't found a single deal worth jumping on, mostly the same / worse deals than a normal week

    • CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:29
      +13

      Yep, exactly.

      • paulojr on 25/11/2023 - 11:54
        +2

        with you dude

        • cameldownunder on 27/11/2023 - 09:30

          Add me. And it's my birthday soon … only thing I got, was 2 weeks ago, an Anbernic console

    • susmind on 25/11/2023 - 18:49
      +1

      The Aldi Visa gift card 10% off & no fee was a great deal but the cashier told me each store got a bundle & they put it on the rack yesterday so it was a very limited deal coz it would have gone in ~ 3 minutes

    • Ievgen on 26/11/2023 - 11:27

      Agree. These days I find more good deals on Facebook Marketplace.

  • mbck on 25/11/2023 - 09:29
    +4

    You do have to shift through a lot to find good deals.

    I mean if everything was a good deal, then there is no such thing as good…

    Ive definitely found some great deals.

    • CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:34

      To be fair there has been a great deal, the one I saw was on eBay for the Dyson and the Series X that was on the front page a couple days ago. Two caveats though, had to be a eBay plus member and only so many of each uni available. It lasted all of 15 minutes, That’s the other issue the ones that are actually half decent have very little stock, the rest are just run of the mill average at best.

      • mbck on 25/11/2023 - 09:39
        +1

        Its all subjective, we could be here all day pointing this and that, but both of ours (and others') view points and threshold for deals are different.

        All the best

        • CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:49
          +2

          Of course, no debate there, you’re 100% correct. I may need something entirely different from you so it could also come down to product needs as well. I’m talking more in general, not specific product categories. That said electronics deals have been average at best, JB Hifi thinks $100 off a Dyson is a deal and other retailers think 10-20% off is a deal, Black Friday was a time when people would claw your face off, and walk over your corpse to get that 70% off TV, etc. now they're just average.

          I'm not seeing anything on my end that I couldn't get same price or very similar at other points throughout the year, there's just been nothing this time round that's made me feel the need to reach for my card.

          • mbck on 25/11/2023 - 09:56

            @CheetoJesus: It's funny how in the past, people would be ridiculing those who would 'claw at others'. There were so many videos making fun of people and saying how it's stupid to be so competitive about sales. And now here we are ridiculing there are no sales.

            I like it because it's not as crazy as those times, but I can still find excellent deals. I dont look for the cheapest of the cheapest (like the duramo 9 discounted for 10 bucks or something), but there are definitely great discounts when combined with reduced gift cards, cashback and a bit of negotiating on price.

            It's more satisfying to work for a deal than just expecting a deal, to me anyways.

            In your case, maybe there's just nothing you need to buy. Youre already content and that’s good. Save your cash for another day.

          • SydStrand on 25/11/2023 - 19:40

            @CheetoJesus: Those '70% TVs' sales aren't real, either. They were just doorbusters, ie. low quantity, loss leaders priced to get you through the door to buy other things, just like eBay's Xbox Series X. Maybe get your expectations in check, this year is no better or worse than any previous Black Fridays or Boxing Days.

            I personally saved a fair amount via gift cards and cashbacks for things that I already wishlisted but haven't been on sale throughout the year. There were also a few surprises, like the heavily-discounted Sonos Roam, 60%+ off a new pair of running shoes, or 15%+ off Ikea items which were never on sale. If you looked beyond your own nose, there were a lot of heavily upvoted bargains.

    • Usernames on 26/11/2023 - 12:51
      -1

      I usually scroll through rather than using Shift key. Does that work too?

  • bdl on 25/11/2023 - 09:29
    +19

    Wait til you see Click Frenzy

    • Neoika on 25/11/2023 - 09:51

      Yes, normally 1 sale per 1 hundred clicks, why not drive up the clicks to 1 billion?

    • zinkle on 26/11/2023 - 19:47

      That's why it's called click frenzy, not sales frenzy….
      technically they're not wrong

    • snackerjoe on 27/11/2023 - 07:14
      +2

      I haven't bothered with that for years.

  • cashless on 25/11/2023 - 09:34
    +10

    You are a consumer, therefore you can expect to be manipulated. Surely you don’t still believe that all this selling frenzy is for your benefit?

    • CheetoJesus on 25/11/2023 - 09:42
      +10

      Of course not, I haven’t spent a dime on anything Black Friday because there’s nothing special about this one. Feels like they’ve just pulled their manufactured inflation off, marked the product down just above what the real RRP should be, and tried and present it as a Black Friday deal. If I was a betting man I would say the lack of people actually purchasing and more tightening their spending due to interest rate rises will put overall sales at an all-time low.

      Most have cottoned on to what a real deal should look like.

  • neo on 25/11/2023 - 09:50
    +1

    100%

  • Cheaplikethebird on 25/11/2023 - 10:00
    +28

    Is it just me or do we have one of these posts every single Black Friday? Just like any sale event there'll be some great deals but the majority will be junk deals.

    I just check against my list of 'to-buy' items. If I end up getting an awesome deal on something I've been wanting to buy then great and if I don't and I end up spending no money that's also great.

    • callum9999 on 25/11/2023 - 15:00
      +8

      It happens every year, and I find it incredibly hard to believe that these people just suddenly noticed out of the blue that sometimes special offers during sale events aren't that good…

      No judgement as I do exactly the same thing (though am trying to cut down!), but far too many people are just desperate to find anything and everything to moan about! If you don't want to buy anything in the Black Friday sales then just don't.

      • Cheaplikethebird on 25/11/2023 - 16:03
        +7

        Black Friday is good for the sitewide deals to get discounts on never-on-sale type items/brands, that's usually what I'm looking out for.

        The true deals, the OzBargains, the ones you only ever see after they've gone OOS, come from…

        • End of line
        • Pricing error
        • Company going out of business
        • New business blowing VC money to build their user base
        • Harold Halfprice on 25/11/2023 - 16:37
          +2

          The true deals, the OzBargains, the ones you only ever see after they've gone OOS, come from

          Back in the days you used to genuinely get some good deals from time to time.

          But these days sales are frequent and always the same. Stores collect so much data these days that they can be far more precise with their inventory and pricing.

          I haven't really bothered with black friday, but the few emails and stuff that I've seen are the same discounts and deals that were offered not too long ago for the mid-season sales, and eofy prior to that.

          They're good if you need something now and were going to buy it anyway - but it's very rarely "price is too good to pass on"

  • valuer on 25/11/2023 - 10:04

    Well the JB price for memory cards was more than their recent special.

    Yes, it was a lesser event than 11.11.

  • holdenmg on 25/11/2023 - 10:07
    +13

    I blame Gerry Harvey.

    • Minimum chips on 25/11/2023 - 12:35
      +4

      Since I have never seen a picture of him, I always just imagine Scrooge McDuck.

  • quill on 25/11/2023 - 10:11

    For limited quantities yes. For example Black and Decker reflexia range, (jigsaw, sander was $16 each and the electric screwdriver was $12. But 5 of each quantity. But yeah checking some of the deals RRP is way higher than other stores

  • battler on 25/11/2023 - 10:14
    +2

    Everything is always on sale throughout the year, therefore when Frenzy, Boxing Day, BF & CM come around we are underwhelmed.

    • Gunnar on 25/11/2023 - 10:26

      The best deals I’ve had on stuff are rarely from a big sales event. What the big sales may help with is stuff you need/want semi soon and can get it at a reduced cost.

  • Ocker on 25/11/2023 - 10:27
    +9

    Looking at the claimed 50% plus discounts offered it makes you realise just how much we are being ripped off on items they sell at their normal prices.

  • ninohax on 25/11/2023 - 10:31
    +4

    Totally agree. 80% of the time there is no real deal. Its the usual discounts or Inflated RRP which is then discounted to the Original RRP or ever so slightly less than that. The real deals are extremely rare and very hard to come by.

    • Mechz on 25/11/2023 - 11:08
      +6

      Don't forget 70% of statistics are made up half of the time.

      • Gunnar on 25/11/2023 - 11:10
        +1

        Forfty percent of all people know that

        • valuer on 25/11/2023 - 16:28
          +1

          It doesn't matter when people lie to you. It only matters when you find out.

  • add-delay on 25/11/2023 - 10:38
    +1

    I've actually found this years Black Friday to have been much bigger than in the past. In previous years it's been largely a shrug from me, but I've managed to knock off 80% of my Christmas shopping this time around (plus some items I regularly buy anyway) with a pretty decent amount of discount.

  • saltypete on 25/11/2023 - 11:07
    +4

    It’s an extra spoonful of gruel to the compliant masses.
    Hurry in and get yours before it’s all gone…..
    There’ll be value there (perhaps) if you have taken the time to research the item you want.

    Black Friday beckons
    We race to snatch the ‘Bargains’
    Remorse overtakes

    • Mechz on 25/11/2023 - 11:09
      +8

      I feel like this site isn't really for you.

      • saltypete on 25/11/2023 - 11:29
        +3

        Came for the bargains, stayed for the forum.
        And occasional bargains….😁

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 25/11/2023 - 12:11
      +3

      saltypete user name checks out.

  • Dollar General on 25/11/2023 - 11:15
    +4

    Media can’t be bothered reporting real news anymore so they have turned into PR companies and now pump out all these stories on grabbing a bargain during Black Friday sales. This means retailers only offer lame discounts as they know the sheep will buy it up thinking it’s a great deal.

    I’m holding out for a few more weeks when retailers start getting desperate for more sales revenue

  • Mechz on 25/11/2023 - 11:16
    +1

    Plenty of deals, depends on your needs and wants.

    I asked for a 1TB micro SDXC for nearly a year now and here it is, my request granted.

  • branners on 25/11/2023 - 11:17

    Not quite complete crap IMO but not as good as last year, at least not for me.
    Some good mobile phone offers on handsets and long-term SIMs, like the Vodafone half-price deal at Costco, but I have not seen anything as good as the half-price Amaysim deal from a year ago ($200 to $100, plus CR).
    On the internet side NBN seems to be costing more, so fewer tasty offers. And nothing like TPG's 5G home internet half-price-for-six-months offer of 2022, at least that I have seen.
    Swings and roundabouts, I guess

  • Ocker on 25/11/2023 - 11:32

    The journos in training these days don't know how to research and/or write a decent story. Uni's no longer offer this sort of study for a degree.

    • altomic on 25/11/2023 - 12:55

      "Kitty litter- which one is less likely to kill you? The results may shock you!"

    • cashews on 25/11/2023 - 16:13
      +1

      The problem is a lot of people aren't interested in reading traditional journalism anymore. People just want to watch an endless stream of 20 second videos, served up by an algorithm that aims to keep them scrolling as long as possible.

  • onetwothreefour on 25/11/2023 - 11:33
    +6

    50% off pirelli tyres is a good deal although they do have deals during the year for 33% off so not a huge increase in discount from those sales.

    • franco cozzo on 25/11/2023 - 15:58
      +2

      i booked/bought 4 new tyres, fitting, balancing and a wheel alignment for $477 total
      ….ridiculously cheap for auto

      • onetwothreefour on 25/11/2023 - 20:32

        That is cheap, my two cars the tyres were $127 per tyre.

    • dbmitch on 27/11/2023 - 16:29

      If nothing else, the tyre deal made my black Friday worth it

  • ihbh on 25/11/2023 - 11:33
    +2

    It depends how you shop. I had a couple of big ticket items I wanted to buy up to 2 months ago. They dropped and when combined with cashback offers, were cheaper than all year round by ~$100 (only a bit more than 10% but these things rarely get discounted and not by much). There was also something I was sort of wanted if the price dropped significantly and it did. There were also two impulsive buys due to good prices.

    On the other hand, Amaysim net $30 12 month plan from 2 years ago hasn't been repeated and probably never will.

  • Powershopz on 25/11/2023 - 11:56

    I've seen a lot more decent deals this Black Friday promotion compared to last years and the last two prime day sales.

    Lots of junk deals but you're still able to find some great bargains.

  • localhost on 25/11/2023 - 12:02
    +2

    Plenty of deals advertised 10%,20%,30%,40% off. But when you see the actual deal - Meh!

  • JIMB0 on 25/11/2023 - 12:11
    +2

    Most of the deals are crappy token offers. Mitre 10 sent an email with black Friday specials. The highlight for me was a 20kg bag of rapid set concrete reduced from $10.65 to $9.40

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 25/11/2023 - 12:16
      +1

      Gotta love an 11.7% discount. Works out 1kg of harden up mix @ 47c. How much for a teaspoon full?

      • Minimum chips on 25/11/2023 - 12:45
        +3

        About $0.0023. That is a great deal, as I like to add a teaspoon of Harden Up to my breakfast every morning. Keeps me tough.

        I also do a shot of Formalin every night so I don't age.

  • Herbse on 25/11/2023 - 12:16
    +11

    It's become an excuse to spam everyone with emails from what I can see.

    Everything's gone up 40% since last year and they're offering 10% off discounts.. thanks..

  • KernelPanic on 25/11/2023 - 12:38

    Some good deals actually. Bought a pair of Ferragamo loafers for 50% off. Bargain.

  • AustriaBargain on 25/11/2023 - 12:38

    If I had a lot of spare money I'd probably spend thousands on random crap.

  • Look Up on 25/11/2023 - 13:48
    +4

    @CheetoJesus

    Be more specific - what deals have you been looking for and what categories have you been looking at?

    There have been plenty of good deals from the Computing and Electrical categories:

    Crucial P5 Plus 2TB SSD $128.54
    Massdrop X Sennheiser HD 6XX Open Back Headphones $272
    Sennheiser HD 600 Open Back Headphones $292.55
    Acer Predator BiFrost OC Arc A770 16GB GDDR6 Graphics Card $418.48
    HP Pavilion Plus i5-1335U, 16GB DDR5, 256GB SSD, 14" 2.5K IPS 300nits VRR 120Hz $748
    TCL C845 55" 4K Mini LED TV $935.72

  • node modules on 25/11/2023 - 14:02
    +1

    I think there's been less sales in general since COVID

  • Farrba on 25/11/2023 - 14:06

    the sonos move stand is discounted at 88% and not sold out yet ;D

    grabbed some deals like the lg projector though not sure if its really worth $2500 lol

    • mooney on 26/11/2023 - 19:46

      What was this Sonos move stand deal?! Is it still there? Link???

  • thebiscuits on 25/11/2023 - 14:41
    +2

    I noticed a price increase on a product I was looking for, it was roughly 25% higher than the 'Black Friday Deal' and from a well known electrical gives manufacturer, so there's definite manipulation of pricing occurring. It's not a new thing, I guess it's reliant upon you being knowledgeable of the recent price fluctuations.

  • BuDWiZe on 25/11/2023 - 14:49
    +1

    I saved $100 on some horse riding gesr for my daughter. Saved nearly 200 on some exercise gear i ordered from usa. And sved sbout $80 on some afl shoes for my kid which hardly ever get a deal

  • Misha Bakunin on 25/11/2023 - 16:00
    +2

    I've been looking a moderate amount this year.

    Found nothing I want to buy which is odd.

    Seems to me this year there are some savings but not amazing ones, and the few deals that are amazing seem to sell out super fast. Probably because there's not that many of said great deals…

  • Goonos on 25/11/2023 - 16:06
    +5

    Agree. Most of the good sale items this year were part of the pre Black Friday sales. When the actual Black Friday rolled around there wasn't much new added. Disappointed with Amazon. Felt last year they had a lot of good deals but seemed quiet this year. When Black Friday was a new concept it was great but as its become mainstream I think retailers feel they don't need to really entice people with great deals. Same thing happened with Boxing Day sales and are pretty rubbish now days.

  • skittlebrau on 25/11/2023 - 16:11
    +3

    Everything I bought was an actual good deal, but only because I've tracked the prices of these particular items over time so I know what the RRP is, what the 'normal' price is and what an actual 'good deal' price is.

    If you're just buying in Black Friday sales (or any sale) without doing due diligence, then you're not getting a good deal.

  • MyAccount on 25/11/2023 - 16:15

    I saved quite a fair bit of money on upgrading my PC.

  • Blargman2001 on 25/11/2023 - 16:17

    I feel the deals on technology and home appliances have been ok; some good deals if you look around. The clothing sales have been exceptionally average this year though, a lot of stores are only offering 30% off when in previous years it was 40%.

  • avoidfullprice on 25/11/2023 - 16:21

    Back in the days when ebay sellers do this before we get the 20% off frenzies

  • Pricetaker on 25/11/2023 - 17:24

    As long as the sale items are at least for what they might be other times of year on this site, the cashreward stacks are where the value is.

  • OzzyBoy1 on 25/11/2023 - 17:27
    +1

    Trying to not spend too much. All I've spent on needed tyres. I got 50% pirelli ones. Same ones were selling for $185 last week or so ago. So $92 per tyre seems good deal. May not last that many years but I am happy if they last me 5 years. Should be ok. I am in market for good TV deal but holding off due to rate rises. I think I might be able to find something decent for 75" TV with decent specs. Let's see. Not going to loose my purse string so quickly..

  • BargainBobcat on 25/11/2023 - 20:20
    +1

    I was thinking the same thing and agree with a lot of the comments here. I am glad it wasn't just me. I spent quite a bit of time scrolling through looking for a bargain, I wonder what other things I could have filled the time in with.

  • CalmLemons on 25/11/2023 - 20:39
    +7

    Every single one of these events is fabricated for retailers.

    Valentines Day
    Diamond Rings in general
    Black Friday
    Cyber Monday
    Sh1t Frenzy
    Mayhem Sales
    Mothers day
    Fathers day
    EOFY
    Prime Day
    Boxing Day
    AfterPay BrokeAF Day

    Are all made up by the marketing department so retail can push a sale.

    • ssfps on 26/11/2023 - 01:56
      +2

      Dont forget 'singles' day 1111, and sometimes new years sales.

      I look at them as below minimum wage jobs. If you put in hours of effort over months tracking prices you can save $50 here or there. I suppose that's 99% of ozb in general.

  • furyou on 25/11/2023 - 22:25
    +1

    Nothing oustanding. Best deal was on hand soap.
    Better than click crapzy tho.

  • BartholemewH on 25/11/2023 - 22:56
    +1

    Are you trying to say this sale day is over hyped crap, just like boxing day / click frenzy and all the rest? Frankly, I am shocked.

  • eudai on 26/11/2023 - 00:17

    Depends what you're shopping for I guess. Low End Box always has a deal or two that are amazing for getting server access for a year. And there are games throughout a year I specifically don't buy because there's a good chance they'll go on a deep cut on black friday (I picked up a few of those.) I also picked up a hard drive for like 60% rrp which sure there are deals throughout a year similar I think it's still a good deal.

    I think what's good about black friday is that it is a time when there are lots of sales so there's a good chance that what you are looking for will be on sale (or certain brands/products that you can count on going on sale, like kogan mobile), when it might not go on sale otherwise often (maybe just a couple other times in a year.) Rather than, expecting these sales to be better than the sales any other time of year.

    And yes, as others say, Aus retail is scummy, I'd rarely if ever touch a big-box store.

  • miicah on 26/11/2023 - 00:25
    +2

    I got my motherboard I was looking at for an all time low

  • DiscoJango on 26/11/2023 - 02:05
    +1

    Kept an eye on a few things i wanted for a while, nothing good was on sale. Mostly just obsolete stock they needed to clear.

  • Myone888 on 26/11/2023 - 07:47
    +3

    Sale is nothing but a marketing ploy and oldest trick in the book. MOST of advertised items have a few units and gone in seconds or outdated stocks which they need to get rid off. Idea is draw u to store so as you buy other unnecessary items!

  • Ade99 on 26/11/2023 - 08:13
    +1

    Normal renewal of 12 month Mobile plan in November……12 months ago $165, this year $180, whilst EOFY same plan was only $150.

  • iCandy on 26/11/2023 - 09:15

    I found a lot of places had ok deals but then increased how much you have to spend to get free delivery.

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