Cyber Monday

(Google Image) 

By Terry Orr

(Google Image) 

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving in the United States, created by companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year." (Source: Wikipedia)

(Google Image) 

Cyber Monday Online Sales

Source: comScore, Inc.

Day	Year	Sales (millions US$)	% Change
November 27	2006	$610	N/A
November 26	2007	$730	20%
December 1	2008	$846	16%
November 30	2009	$887	5%
November 29	2010	$1,028	16%
November 28	2011	$1,251	22%

(Google Image) 

Sitting here at my desk on Sunday evening, Sunday Night Football on the TV, trying to find the best deal on a few items for the Christmas – and Sears website is not working properly (sad face).  One of my pet peeves is companies failing to do their due diligence in preparing for big events.  Home Depot has the two items I’m looking for and can deliver and install them next week – where as Sears will that at least 34 days – and is more expensive.

(Google Image) 

One word of caution as there are some rotten eggs out there trying to steal your identity and money – shop at known companies.

(Google Image) 

Good luck and hope you find lots of good deals!

National Garage Sale Day

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest

When I was young, I remember we were going to move to a different city, so our family had a huge garage sale with 3 other families.  It was a great day, there were people shopping, and I was there helping, running the cash box and helping to sell old clothes and toys.   We were even treated with a hamburger for lunch for all our hard work.  As I got older, I was in a club that was having a fund raiser.  We decided on a garage sale to raise money, and all the members brought things to donate.  I had such a great time that I kept returning home to find more stuff to sell!

(Google Image) 

When my son was younger, he spent the week with his grandparents.  One of their neighbors had a garage sale all week.  His grandmother would give him a dollar and he would go find something that he wanted.   He had such a great time that when he came home, we had to go to garage sales every weekend I was off.  We found all sorts of great things.  So much stuff - that we had to stop going because we ran out of room to put anything else.

(Google Image) 

Today is National Garage Sale Day.  There are some tips that I have learned along the way in my quest for good finds.  The most important tip is to buy a map.  Well I guess now you can use a gps.  Check the paper for ads.  Then map out  the route you want to take.  The ads will usually say what time the sale starts, but nobody pays attention to that. If the ad states the sale will start at 7, people will show up at 6 or earlier just to find the good stuff.  If the ad is published the day before the sale, people will come the day before.

(Google Image) 

Reader's digest had a list of 10 things you should never buy at a garage sale.  They include:

1. Bike helmets
2. Child car seats
3. Tires
4. Swim suits
5. Mattresses
6. Cribs
7. Laptops
8. Plasma TV’s
9. Shoes
10. Hats

Today, go out and hit a few garage sales, you will be surprised at what you can find, and you will get some good bargains along the way too.

Sale!!!

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest

(Smart shopper)

Years ago when my 4 cousins from Texas were young, they would travel to Mississippi for Thanksgiving.  The following day was the Annual Crackerjack Sale.  The local department store would hand out boxes of crackerjacks to the early shoppers and the prize inside were percent off coupons.  Some 10%, 15% and 20%.  There was also a diamond ring and a gift certificate per store. Since my mother and aunt took a little longer to get dressed, I would take the 4 girls with me.   The store has several doors, so we would go in one door, get our crackerjacks, then go out and come in another door.  We would hit all the doors, then head out to my mother's, by then my mom and aunt would be dressed, then we would go back again for more coupons.  At the end of the day we would pour all the crackerjacks into a zip lock bag and give them to my grandmother who would take them on a church trip that the seniors would take following Thanksgiving.  We did this every year for many years.   It was wonderful fun and made for many good memories.  Later on my husband, who was unable to move around in the store in his wheelchair, was asked to hand out the crackerjacks to incoming customers, a job he really loved doing.

(Google Image) 

Black Friday is not a "holiday".  It refers to the shopping day that takes place the day after Thanksgiving.  It is called Black Friday because it indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black."  Black Friday has not been considered the biggest shopping day of the year until 2003.  In 2004 it came in second, but has held first place in the years that have followed. There have been occasional problems with Black Friday.  People lining up at the doors wanting to be the first in line, fighting over sales have resulted in police being called, and in 2008 a 34 year old man was trampled with the rush of shoppers, and later died.

(Google Image) 

One of my best Black Fridays’ happened a few years ago, in 2007.  My stepson was getting married the following March, and I had been looking for a kitchen aid mixer for them.  I happened to look at Wal-Mart’s website and noticed a secret sale.  Each store was going to have one mixer for $199.00.  It was so secret even the employee’s didn’t know about it.  I went at 4 a.m., since the store is open 24 hours, but they were not going to ring up items on sale til 5 a.m.  I picked up the mixer, put it in the cart, and stood at the register until time for them to start ringing up.  I was the first to get the mixer, so I won!  I was so excited I told everyone I met the rest of the day.

The best way to shop is to check out the sales, make a map of the items you want, purchase your items, then head back to bed.  Be safe, have fun and good luck!

Did you know?

In 1939, retail shops would have liked to have a longer shopping season, but no store wanted to break with tradition and be the one to start advertising before Thanksgiving. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date for Thanksgiving one week earlier, leading to much anger by the public who wound up having to change holiday plans some even refused the change, resulting in the U.S. citizens celebrating Thanksgiving on two separate days. Some started referring to the change as Franksgiving.

(Google Image) 

For the official Black Friday deals online, check here: http://www.theblackfriday.com/