The history of Black Friday and the ways to cheat suckers on the main sales day in the world.
"Black Friday" is the last Friday of November, when everything and everyone is guaranteed discounts of up to 90%. In reality, it's a perfect storm of marketing, fake pricing, and stolen accounts.
The tradition originated in the United States in the 19th century during pre-Christmas sales, when stores wanted to "close out the year" and let people go on vacation. The term itself survived even attempts by feminists to change its name "as offensive to blacks". No, not just because of the "black" in the name. According to the New York Police Department, blacks commit 72% of the thefts and even some of the murders on this day.
So why "black"? There is a version with huge "black" plugs. If - with accounting, where losses were written in red ink, and profits - in black. Now there are no losses on Black Friday. In the United States, about 90 billion dollars worth of goods are purchased on this day, spending the GDP of a small country in a day.
The official Black Friday rules seem nice: you can't raise prices before the discount, you have to guarantee a real supply of goods, and you can't return what you bought. In reality, everything is disturbed. The US and Europe have become more cautious after the migrant crisis - native shoppers prefer online to avoid crowds.
Russian retail has its own classics. The product cost 22,000 per month, then increased to 29,000, and next to it appeared the deleted "old" price of 42,000. Or a "new product at a super price" at 15,999, even though the same product without a remote costs 9,999. They often sell out of stock and in season. The discount applies to the "carcass" of the device, and the accessories become more expensive. An asterisk on the price tag may mean that the price is valid for the first ten buyers. which in reality does not exist.
By 2026, market sellers will have perfected the art of discounting without discounting. At the same time, price trackers that consider real benefits show (in a sample of 20,000 products) that the prices of the last "Black Friday" in the two leading markets fell by 3-4%.
Europe has its own miracles.