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

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 26/11/2023 - 09:33

    Same thing every year, just like Boxing Day sales. Just a marketing gimmick to make people the discounts are something special. The thing that got me this year was stores starting their Black Friday sales weeks ago. I genuinely thought Black Friday had already passed based on the amount of email spam I’d received. Apparently it was just the entree.

  • Randolph Duke on 26/11/2023 - 09:41

    Plenty of great physical media deals on 4K’s and bluray.

  • pformag on 26/11/2023 - 09:47

    Looking at getting blinds from blinds online. They has a sale for 25% off, 3 weeks ago. Black Friday sale is 15% off.

  • payless69 on 26/11/2023 - 10:11

    add a poll please

  • Nebargains on 26/11/2023 - 11:04
    +2

    I've seen plenty of deals that are better than any price Ive seen. But as always some deals are gonna be better than others.

  • Yaren24 on 26/11/2023 - 11:29

    Not many great deals atm, it has been shit in the last 2 years.

  • zonavida on 26/11/2023 - 11:53

    Black Friday is mostly 'normal' deals. But it's a good excuse when the missus pushes back and I can point out 'its a good deal' ¯_(ツ)_/¯
    To be fair, I get that from her too. •̀.̫ •́✧

  • ozbs25 on 26/11/2023 - 12:20
    +1

    I gotta say this Black Friday has been better than any that I can remember ever. You just have to spend time looking. Amazon have had a tonne of items at clearance prices.

    • TeamSAXON on 27/11/2023 - 10:20
      +3

      More like Amazon had a tonne of cheap shitty Chinese dropship garbage at clearance prices.

  • Ebany on 26/11/2023 - 12:42
    +4

    I share the same feelings. I have a list of wanted items, not desperate enough to buy them at full price I hang out for events like Black Friday. Problem is they never seem cheaper than at other times of the year when specials are on.
    Compounding the issue is the new way deals seem to be perceived. I feel a deal is where we just get something for a decent price without needing to mess around getting a slightly discounted HIM gift card to exchange for a JBHiFi gift card while signing up for a newsletter to buy a slightly discounted mouse with flybuys while getting Cashback only to have the thing go on standard discount 2 months later and wind up cheaper. I'm a single dad, don't have time for all that merchant work.

    • dbmitch on 27/11/2023 - 16:26

      I feel the same, I'm not hoarding giftcards for potential deals and when I see some 'amazing deal' that's mostly the cashback offer, I sleep.

  • cobknob on 26/11/2023 - 13:24
    +2

    What is it with all this crap constantly being posted* on ozb starting ~2x weeks prior to black friday sales. Every1 must've been afraid of Amazon deals or something.

    A lot of posts looks more like clearance to push old stock. Also bargain price product clickbait in low quantities (eg. Mwave, etc just 1 example that comes to mind) and these cashback sites offerings' for spending to entice - I like Mwave and cashback but some of the tactics are just crazy.

    I've been 'marking as read' alerts* for 3x categories; computers, electrical and electronics, gaming, only 100+ deals every day for over a week now = wtf. Mostly useless stuff!

    • TeamSAXON on 27/11/2023 - 10:21
      +1

      Agreed on mwave.

  • Arnold1 on 26/11/2023 - 14:04

    Got the Pixel 8 for like $688 and Spiderman 2 for $20 albeit by loopholes but great success for me.

    • King Steuart on 27/11/2023 - 15:12

      Price error isn't a black friday deal lol, there are price errors all year

      • Arnold1 on 27/11/2023 - 15:20

        lol

  • Anahera on 26/11/2023 - 14:18

    Aminoz sales are great

  • relentless on 26/11/2023 - 15:39

    https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-retailer…

    interesting read. i got that link from wall street bets after watching the new dumb money movie. the increased amount of people returning goods might explain why retailers appear to be clamping down in australia.

  • maverickjohn on 26/11/2023 - 16:55
    +4

    I disagree with you, I think this black friday was incredible.
    Bought myself a nice set of global knives for $227.50, had many opportunities to get some of the great eBay plus deals.got my brother in law some super Bluetooth earbuds for cheap. There was the black friday deal of the year for the bang and Olufsen earbuds but missed out on that.
    Things that I really wanted but didn't buy, include - ooni fyra practically at all time low, bicycle for men and women down to $129 each just to name a few

  • Roe Jogan on 26/11/2023 - 17:10

    the ps5 spiderman deal for 506 dollars was amazing but name one person who could buy one before it sold out..

    the only thing i bought was a bunch of anker 45w chargers from ebay for 20 each great deal

    • maverickjohn on 26/11/2023 - 17:23

      I added it to my cart twice very easily, I just didn't need one

      • Roe Jogan on 26/11/2023 - 18:02

        ill only need it for GTA 6

  • cunningdrew on 26/11/2023 - 18:32

    Easily the worst Black Friday deals I've ever seen. I've only spent half my budget.

  • Korban Dallas on 26/11/2023 - 18:59
    +1

    The deals of the day were awesome.

    Got most of them.

    Also this Pokemon ball for $19 and they Rrp for $180.

    Going to keep it for a bit then sell it.

    $280 pot for $15 as some honourable mentions.

    All Amazon. Didn't buy from any other store.

    eBay was crap. Didn't even bother

    • ozbs25 on 26/11/2023 - 19:14
      +1

      I know it's not for everyone but if you had time and put in a bit of effort, Amazon had so many clearance items. I wonder if they will do this regularly. Would be awesome.

  • NigerianGirthLord on 26/11/2023 - 19:17

    I know it’ll seem strange, but you actually need to put effort in to find some deals.

    Bought

    • Qnap TS-464 for $663 on EBay Futu (usually $850-900)

    • LG C3 55 inch for $1888 from JBHiFi (their sale price is $2168) -> online price match

    • Samsung Q930C soundbar for $650 from Samsung (usually $900-1000)

    • 2x 8TB ironwolf NAS drives for $264 each from Computer Alliance (has been cheaper but not for nearly 6 months now, has been sitting at $320ish local stock)

    • IKEA has 15% off everything, which if you’re getting a big purchase can save you quite a lot

    There are probably quite a few more that I can’t recall at the top of my head, but yes there are good deals if you know what you’re looking for and if you are willing to look around a bit (the 7800x3D deals are making me consider harassing my wallet again)

  • justgooddeals on 26/11/2023 - 19:54

    I think their been some great deals.

    Two I can think of

    Samsung Galaxy A54 $445 if you were prepared to go to Officeworks and get them to price match a Jbhifi deal . $255 saving.

    Or Dyson v7 manufacturer refurbished for $249 with warranty.

    2 years ago (not refurbished ) I paid $349 for new one. Only difference with mine extra year warranty. Which I never used.

    Great savings if your prepared to look around and do bit work.

    So I agree with SBOB first comment in thread

    • CheetoJesus on 26/11/2023 - 20:42
      -1

      So you bought a A54 where the normal price from a recent Google search fluctuates between $529 and $499 with JB selling it currently for $487 and you think you got $255 off? lol. Then you say you bought a Dyson v7 2 years ago brand new and paid $349, two years later you buy the same one, only this time refurbished instead of brand new and a one-year warranty and pay $100 less and think you got a deal?

      I would not call your purchases you just mentioned great savings at all, especially for a Black Friday sale which is entirely my point.

      Oh and by the way (hit the "pay only $234 below) I thought Black Friday was two days ago… https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/155765692498?hash=item24445bd852…

      • justgooddeals on 26/11/2023 - 20:53
        -1

        The A54 was roughly 36% saving. Retails for $699. And the price for the A54 never fluctuates between the figures your quoting. Complete nonsense figures lowest you could have got it was $420 with 15% off JBhifi gift cards. Prior to Black Friday sales lowest was through Amazon at $455 during Amazon Prime day.

        Yes Samsung and Bing Lee also had deal but those sold out quick

        The Dyson normally $699 so $450 saving or >50%.

        Sure there will be haters and everybody would like to pay a $1 for everything.

        I kept real money in my pocket. So I’m happy and got things I needed. But keep bitching and moaning if that makes you happy.

        • CheetoJesus on 26/11/2023 - 21:11
          -3

          Please, type Samsung a54 into Google and go to the shopping tab. It’s only $699 if you were to purchase on Samsung directly, always will be cheaper elsewhere. Seriously you're living in delusion, trying to justify your purchases as "great deals" I literally just linked your vacuum for you even cheaper than you paid on Black Friday.

          All RRP you're quoting is manufacturer-direct pricing, I can literally buy 98% of any product year round cheaper from non manufacturers website.I must be living in the world of great deals then simply by not buying direct from Samsung, apple, etc.

          You're entirely missing the point. Enjoy what you "think" is a great deal lmao.

          • justgooddeals on 26/11/2023 - 22:01

            @CheetoJesus: I am just not agreeing with you.

            So not missing any point. To me it appears you just like complaining. Which is your right. But in my case I actually did my homework studied the prices and jumped on some bargains when they came up.

            The eBay deal you listed is the deal I mentioned. That is the vacuum I bought for $249 A saving of $450.00

            The other link where you reference Google shows the lowest price as Bing Lee at $477 but that has only been over the Black Friday and cyber Monday deals. So to say they routinely hover at current prices (of $450 -$500) is complete and utter nonsense. Yes they go on sale at those prices but Jbhifi was selling it for $700 prior to the current sale.

            Prior to these few days, in last month or two ,the lowest price was $455 through Amazon during Prime day(back in mid October) and other than that deal routinely sold for $600-$700 .

            If Jbhifi sold the Galaxy A54 routinely for $487 and claimed it was on sale now they would be breaching the Trade Practices Act. That why the usual price at Jbhifi was and is normally $699. And after cyber Monday and Black Friday will probably go back to close to that $699 price.

            I saved nearly $700 over retail. So to say I’m ‘’DELUDED’’ and missing the point is just not true.I’m just not agreeing with you. And $700 is significant amount of money.

            Before you call people “deluded” learn to read what is written. Not what you think is written.

  • JackedBargain on 26/11/2023 - 21:16
    +1

    Well for me, this has been the best Black Friday sales period for about 3 years.

  • 2esc on 26/11/2023 - 22:12
    +2

    Generally its all hype its marketing that works. Never buy something just because its on a special.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/11/2023 - 22:15
    +1

    And at the same time, there are ads all over the radio that if you're doing it tough and can't make your mortgage repayments, speak to your bank.
    All these artificial sales do is trick us into thinking we need to purchase something, and it allows the government to determine how much disposable income we have but the funny part is, most people are probably making payment with BNPL and CC which is skewing the result and thus, increasing the interest rates due to discretionary spending. Yeah, people are probably doing it though because they're living beyond their means. Who can we thank for that? Social media.

  • Uncle Roger on 26/11/2023 - 22:28

    A few decent deals this year, but otherwise I had the exact same thoughts

  • Altashi on 27/11/2023 - 01:21
    +1

    I bought a bunch of half-price pots.

  • Ifndefx on 27/11/2023 - 02:24
    +3

    That's normal in australia. Black friday in australia is like "take $10 off on this $10K product, hurry while stocks last" two weeks ago the same product was 20% off.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 27/11/2023 - 08:51

    I agree there is an issue with limited stock but if you can get your hands on some of the sales ie a ps5 $506 that was on ebay etc it is pretty good

    i think most people dont realize is most of the extremely cheap items are retailers 'selling at a loss' in the hope you buy other stuff - so they need to 'limit' the loss by having order/stock limits

    overall ive found it good but i understand some people might not have had as good of an experience

  • squaredonut on 27/11/2023 - 09:29

    It's been average. I doubt retailers would be discounting as much unless they aren't moving stock.

    Also I think retailers have done such a bad job with ecommerce presence still. Even after all the COVID times. A lot of shop facing stores seem to still just use their stores and shelf space as their warehousing, and it just ruins the flash sale experience when it's available online, when a lot of click and collect orders or delivery orders get cancelled because well people can walk into stores and buy the item before the online team of store pickers get to it.

  • Mysterious Laptop on 27/11/2023 - 09:33
    +1

    The way I approach the sales is to check for the items specifically on my list and the normal prices of those items. I think if you just browse random deals you won't find anything too great.

  • BoltThrower on 27/11/2023 - 09:43

    I bought a Galaxy 6 watch
    Fred Perry Polo
    Black Timb boots with gold hardware.
    $1600 from Katies for around $220 which was a whole bunch of $80 stuff for $15-20 and another $20-off coupon and some cashback I think.
    Rivers was similarly cheap but didn't get much from there.

    Missed out on Merino wool sweaters from CK. I gotta remember they have little stock.
    What grinds my gears is navigating Amazon specials. Camels price is flat, but specials say 50% off.

  • burningrage on 27/11/2023 - 10:07

    Noticed no GooglePlay gift card discount and PS subscriptions deal restricted to new or upgrading members this year.

  • nedski on 27/11/2023 - 11:52

    I thought the deals were a bit meh. Did get a killer laptop from JB for $748 which had amazing specs for the price and a Breville Coffee maker from $949 to $649.

  • gimme on 27/11/2023 - 12:40
    +1

    The reason Ozb exists is because the vast majority of great deals fall outside the widely advertised corporate driven so-called bargain days. It sucks in the masses, adds to their bottom line and enables people like us to get real bargains outside of those days. Of course they need to throw in a few deals for dramatic effect and only available to a small number of people with fast fingers.

  • Yeah OK on 27/11/2023 - 13:03

    I don't know. I've been eyeing off a 65 TCL C845, or a few months now. Bit the bullet last week and got one for $1299,- at the Good Guys. I'm pretty happy with that price.

    On the other hand, I haven't been able to find a decent priced external/portable 2TB SSD.
    I'm also still looking for a reasonable priced genuine Nintendo Switch pro controller, or an 8blBitdo Ultimate bluetooth controller.

    I think it really comes down to what you're looking for.

  • SydneySchnorrer on 27/11/2023 - 13:54

    So funny to see this as I'd said the same to friends…shops which are normally running 30% off are still running 30% off…The worst is many US based businesses are running shops in AUD now and charge the 'Australian Tax' which exchanges the currency at near 55c instead of 65c. Am over it…my level of consumerism has been on the wane of late.

  • Brick Tamland on 27/11/2023 - 14:44

    I view it as more as the actual pre-inflation prices. I purchased a few things at what I consider a fair price rather than the current normal rip off pricing.

  • H3R34TH4C0MM3NTS on 27/11/2023 - 15:40
    +1

    To answer your question….It's Just You.

    If you didn't spend any money then you saved on a needless consumer item that provided you with no utility or value so there is a deal in itself.

    Just because you didn't find a deal that was of value to you doesn't mean someone else didn't.

    If the price of an item or service crosses the price/Value threshold for you then go for it, if it doesn't simply walk away you never really needed it anyway.

    • cobknob on 28/11/2023 - 01:43

      As much as I agree with this mentality, it almost always never works out this way. I myself have done this many times before. Purchasing items that just sit around. I still do occasionally but a lot less now than I use too. Regardless of what reasons I have or anyone else does, you only should buy what you'll actually use or resell or whatever reason being it sensible.

  • Fobsessive on 27/11/2023 - 19:10

    Paid net $225 for a $303 eBay item, thanks to stacking 5 cashbacks/GCs.
    However the limited edition item itself was only worth low $100s but I had to order from a scalper.

  • DASHCAM NOW DUDE on 27/11/2023 - 19:43

    Apart from a very rare few

    That's all that needs to be. It just sounds like you're disappointed there weren't more things to buy.

  • Lancerx on 27/11/2023 - 21:37

    Blame on inflation on wages, rent etc..

    • cobknob on 28/11/2023 - 02:00

      Inflation is more to do with corporate profiteering for last ~12xmonths maybe more, house pricing, and poorly thought out government pandemic spending during and post.

      Wages have been stagnant better part of decade+ if your not a government employee, etc and have simply not kept up with much of anything, for eg. cost of living, bills, housing, etc.

      Rent on the other hand is tied to a lot of factors and is just going ballistic at the moment. Personally I'd fukoff negative gearing for anything bar a 2nd house which must be rented out, and not airbnb, and to a maximum value (eg not a 2 million mansion). The government shouldn't be here to help a specific faction of people get rich - cause really it is and that's as descrimatory as you can get, and dam right unconstitutional!

  • thisisscotts on 28/11/2023 - 00:03

    Yeah I had a number of items I was watching but they didn't seem to be included in the sales or the offers were fairly average. Was expecting something today for CM but I guess that didn't happen either.

  • Bid Sniper on 28/11/2023 - 11:03
    +1

    20% off a 50% mark-up, bArGAIn!

  • millarTime on 28/11/2023 - 11:22

    yeah i got a few interesting things, but was overall underwhelming, but then maybe i expected too much. i had high hopes of smashing out my xmas shopping and saving heaps.

  • Cluster on 28/11/2023 - 15:38

    The less we buy the better. That will lead to retailers cutting prices, which in turn show up as disappointing retail trade figures in January. This in turn will stop the RBA raising interest rates ever higher and start to consider cuts.

  • Wiede on 28/11/2023 - 16:12

    The only thing I bought this black friday was from Steam autumn sale. Thank Gabe the sales were decent

  • acersaurus on 28/11/2023 - 22:40

    I had a list of things to buy and in my view there were good deals. Xbox series X for $505 was one I got. I also got some nice dining chairs from target for 40% off.

  • Farrba on 28/11/2023 - 22:53

    assuming this is really worth $2k brand new, this is probably the best bargain this month at $400.

    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/aw/d/B09V15MY49?ref=ppx_pt2_mob…

  • Ramrunner on 30/11/2023 - 14:43

    I have mixed feelings. MOST are indeed crap.

    BUT

    I went to DFO in Perth and got $149 sketchers for $49 for my daughter, and 40% off a bunch of J.M. Bale clothing (checked all pricing a week before and it really was genuine).

    So as long as you go in educated (maybe checking prices on other sites?) I think you CAN have a win but there's a lot of crap out there for sure.

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