Black Friday has now become part of the purchasing habits of Italians.
Every year, for the occasion, almost all brands, shops and online stores launch unmissable offers: the promise of discounts that you can normally only dream of.
This encourages the consumer to spend frantically, as if there were no tomorrow. Instead, we should ask ourselves whether we can really save money with Black Friday.
How was Black Friday born?
Let’s start from the beginning: this “trend” originates in the United States, where “Black Friday” means the Friday after Thanksgiving.
In America it is a public holiday and historically marks the beginning of Christmas shopping.
The origin of the name is not certain: it could refer to the account books of traders, which on that date were filled with black writing, i.e. profits, rather than red writing, which indicated losses.
Today Black Friday is also widespread in Europe, where it began to make itself known in the two-year period 2011-2012 mainly in the e-commerce of technological items such as cell phones, computers and televisions, and then reached clothing, make-up, books, toys and accessories.
This year Black Friday will be Friday 24 November 2023, although, recently, many brands anticipate the anniversary by offering discounts throughout the entire week.
Is it worth buying during Black Friday week?
Black Friday 2023 week starts on Monday 20 November and will extend until Monday 27, the so-called Cyber Monday, dedicated to discounts on hi-tech.
Are the offers made during this period really advantageous?
Not always. In recent years, it has been seen that the prices given as super-discounted during Black Friday are also available at other times of the year.
Sometimes, products are even cheaper at other times of the year. In short, to find the best offer you don’t necessarily need to wait until the fourth Friday of November: it is much more useful to monitor the cost of the items you are looking for over time and make comparisons between the various retailers.
Black Friday 2023: some tips to save seriously (and not get scammed)
As mentioned, the best way to make sure you take advantage of the offers at the end of November is to keep an eye on the price trend.
To do this quickly and easily, you can use various sites and applications that track the online costs of various products.
It becomes easy to find out whether a supposed discount is real or not.
Furthermore, we should be far-sighted and avoid indulging in compulsive shopping or throwing ourselves into purchases of all kinds, perhaps thinking we can do all our shopping for Christmas gifts in one fell swoop. Let’s keep in mind that there will be new offers as the holidays approach.
One of the risks associated with Black Friday is, in fact, that of getting caught up in the enthusiasm and not thinking clearly.
Behavioral economics teaches that when managing money we often let ourselves be influenced by emotions, and this prevents us from making the best choice for our financial well-being.
Furthermore, on occasions such as Black Friday, people mainly buy online and, as is known, online shopping increases the risk of running into some scams.
To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is important to know that a secure website protects transactions by allowing you to pay in a protected way, indicates the conditions and procedure for the right of return, offers a two-year legal guarantee from defects in conformity and ensures that the purchased goods arrive at the recipient on time and in perfect condition.
Whether it is during Black Friday or at another time of the year, having some basic information is essential to avoid being scammed on the web.
This is also why the Museum of Saving organizes numerous activities to promote cybersecurity for children, adults, families and schools.
All information is available on the website.