The Friday after Thanksgiving used to be a blood sport. You probably remember the grainy news footage from the early 2000s: people camping in tents outside Best Buy, literal stampedes for $200 laptops, and that frantic, caffeinated energy of a crowd that hasn't slept in twenty-four hours. But if you’re asking what are the Black Friday traditions today, the answer is unrecognizable from a decade ago. It’s shifted. It's quieter. It's mostly happening on a glass screen while you’re still digesting turkey on a Thursday afternoon.
The term "Black Friday" actually has a pretty dark history that most shoppers ignore while they're hunting for a Dyson airwrap. In the 1950s, Philadelphia police used it to describe the chaos of suburbanites flooding the city before the Army-Navy football game. It wasn't about "getting into the black" financially—that was a PR spin added later by retailers who wanted to make the day sound more positive. Now, it’s a global behemoth, a multi-day psychological experiment in FOMO (fear of missing out) that dictates the fiscal health of the entire retail sector.
Why the Definition of Black Friday Is Moving
The biggest mistake people make is thinking Black Friday is still just a day. It isn't. It’s a season. Retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have pulled the calendar so far forward that "Black Friday Deals" now start appearing in mid-October. This is "Christmas Creep" on steroids. Why do they do it? Simple: they want your holiday budget before the competitor gets it. If you spend your $500 on a new TV in October, you don't have that $500 left for the actual Friday in November.
Honestly, the "doorbuster" is mostly dead. Retailers realized that having people get injured in their aisles is a PR nightmare and an insurance liability. Plus, the logistics have changed. According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), online shopping eclipsed in-store shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend years ago. We’ve traded the adrenaline of the crowd for the convenience of the couch.
But there’s a catch. When everything is on sale all the time, nothing is really on sale. You have to be careful.
The Math Behind the "Discounts"
Let's talk about the 70% off stickers. They look great. They feel like a win. But price-tracking experts at sites like CamelCamelCamel or Honey have shown time and again that many products see a price increase in October, only to be "discounted" back to their normal price for Black Friday. It’s a psychological anchor. They show you a high "original price" to make the "sale price" look like a steal.
There are also "derivatives." This is a sneaky industry secret. Major manufacturers sometimes create specific models of TVs or laptops just for Black Friday. These models look identical to the premium ones you’ve researched all year, but they have cheaper components—fewer HDMI ports, lower-quality panels, or slower processors. They are built to be sold at a specific, low price point. If the model number on that $199 4K TV is slightly different from the one on the manufacturer’s website, you’re buying a derivative.
What Are the Black Friday Essentials to Actually Watch?
If you want to win, you have to ignore the noise. The noise is the $5 waffle maker or the $2 fleece blanket. Those are "loss leaders." They exist solely to get you into the store (or onto the site) so you’ll buy other things with higher profit margins.
- The Tech Cycle: Apple rarely does direct discounts. Instead, they give you gift cards. If you see a direct price cut on an iPad at a third-party retailer, it's usually because a new model just launched or is about to.
- Old Inventory: Black Friday is a giant warehouse clearing event. Retailers need room for the new stuff coming in January after CES (the Consumer Electronics Show). This makes it the absolute best time to buy last year's flagship phone or a high-end dishwasher.
- Gaming Consoles: This is one of the few areas where the deals are actually standardized. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo usually set "promotional windows" where prices drop across all retailers simultaneously.
The Shift to "Green" and Ethical Shopping
We’re seeing a weirdly cool counter-movement. Brands like REI have famously started the "Opt Outside" campaign, closing their doors on Black Friday and paying employees to go hiking instead. There’s a growing awareness of the environmental cost of "fast shipping" and the massive carbon footprint of returns. Estimates suggest that up to 30% of items bought online during this window are returned, and a staggering amount of that ends up in landfills because it’s cheaper for companies to dump it than to refurbish it.
People are starting to care. Or at least, they’re starting to feel the "stuff-ocation" of too many cardboard boxes arriving at the doorstep.
Navigating the Scams and the Hype
It’s not just about the stores; the scammers love this time of year too. Phishing emails skyrocket during the last week of November. You’ll get a text saying your "package is delayed" with a link to "verify your info." Don't click it. FedEx and UPS aren't texting you from a random Gmail address.
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And then there's the "Limited Quantity" trick. It creates an artificial sense of urgency. Your brain enters a "fight or flight" mode where you stop being a rational consumer and start being a hunter. You buy things you don't need just because they're 40% off. If you wouldn't buy it at full price, you probably don't need it at half price.
Real Strategies for the Modern Shopper
Forget the flyers. Use technology to beat the retailers at their own game.
- Browser Extensions: Use PriceBlink or Keepa. They show you the price history of an item over the last year. If that "deal" was cheaper in July, walk away.
- The "Cart" Test: Put things in your cart a week early. Many retailers will send you a discount code to "nudge" you to finish the purchase.
- Social Media: Brands often drop "flash codes" on TikTok or Instagram that aren't advertised on their main site.
The Future: Is Black Friday Dying?
It’s not dying, but it is dissolving into the background noise of the internet. With "Cyber Monday" and "Travel Tuesday" (the new day for flight deals), the urgency is gone. We are moving toward a world where "Black Friday" is just a synonym for "The Q4 Sales Event."
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For the savvy shopper, this is actually good news. You don't have to fight someone for a microwave at 4:00 AM. You can be methodical. You can compare specs. You can actually think.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Shopping List
- Audit your subscriptions now: Retailers often hide their best deals behind "memberships" like Amazon Prime or Walmart+. If you don't want to pay, sign up for the free trials on November 20th and cancel them on December 1st.
- Check the model numbers: Before you click "buy" on a big-ticket electronics item, Google the specific model number. If the only results are for Black Friday ads, it's a "derivative" model with lower-quality parts.
- Focus on the "Big Three": The best genuine value is almost always found in TVs, kitchen appliances, and older generation smartphones. Fashion deals are often better in late December/January during "end of season" clearances.
- Set a "Regret Threshold": Decide on a maximum price you're willing to pay for a specific item. If the sale doesn't hit that number, don't buy it. There will be another sale in three weeks.
- Protect your data: Use a masked credit card service or a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay. This adds a layer of security between your bank account and a potentially sketchy "discount" website.