Scrapbooking

Ah, yes. The sacrifices one has to make in order to get land those pesky Black Friday deals!

That’s right, that day is here. Y’know, the one day of the year where stores across the US all simultaneously go berzerk slashing prices, thereby forcing grown men and women to act like children, getting into physical altercations with strangers just to get their hands on the “limited number” of door crasher sale items that they had stood in line in the cold for hours (or even days!) to get.

Seriously, have you seen some of these pictures of Black Friday lines? It’s utter insanity! Check it out.

Photo collage depicting the utter insanity that is Black Friday

Now, I’m not saying people shouldn’t take advantage of rock-bottom Black Friday sale prices. I mean, I’m all for discounts and savings. Me and frugality? We’re best friends. All I’m saying is, it just doesn’t make any logical sense to stand around for hours at the crack of dawn (I’m not even going to acknowledge those who would stand in line for days… don’t get me started!), all so you can fight, claw and push your way to those coveted door crasher items.

Do you know what does make sense? Taking advantage of online Black Friday discounts! Why, you ask?

Perks to online shopping on Black Friday

1. Shop from the comfort of home

>> Why freeze to death while standing in line for hours (or days!), outside on a cold November morning (old days!)? If you shop online on Black Friday, you won’t even need to change from your pajamas!
>> Plus, the chances of you getting into a physical altercation with a stranger are zero to none. Whereas if you were to hit the stores in person? If you want to get your hands on those door crasher deals, good luck trying to avoid a fight!

2. Access to “online-only” Black Friday deals that are as good as (if not better than!) the in-store offers

>> With each passing year, more and more retailers are going down the online route. So y’know those coveted door crasher in-store Black Friday deals that people stand in line for hours to get? Retailers are slowly starting to post those same deals online. That means you’ll likely able to get equal access to those door crasher deals, but from your computer!
>> Retailers are also starting to offer Black Friday deals that are exclusively available to online shoppers only! So if you neglect to go down the online shopping route, you may actually miss out on the best Black Friday sales available!

3. …there are many more perks, too many to list here!

Like I said, with each passing year, more and more people will be turning to online shopping in order to take advantage of Black Friday discounts. We’re pretty much almost reached that point already in 2010. How do i know this? Because I tried checking out the online Black Friday offers for Victoria’s Secret during my lunch break at work on Friday, and discovered the entire Victoria’s Secret website down!! Can you imagine? A company of that caliber, having its entire online shopping site crash due to an overload of visitors… on the busiest shopping day of the year!

There were so many people checking out the online Black Friday deals on Victoria's Secret, they temporarily crashed the entire website!

Since I’m both a die hard shopper (let’s just say, if shopping was like martial arts, I would have a black belt), and I work in the online shopping industry, Black Friday is like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one… and I’m not even American! But like I said earlier, more and more retailers are rolling out their Black Friday sales online, and most ship to Canada. I spent the majority of tonight mining through offers from my favorite retailers, and here are some notable ones that caught my eye…

"Buy one, get one 50% off" Black Friday bra sale at Victoria's Secret!

• Black Friday Offer: Buy one bra, get one 50% off!
• Coupon code: VSBOGO
• Expiry: Valid through 11:59pm EST on November 30, 2010 (while supplies last)

Rag & Bone Bindery's "25% off" Black Friday sale!

Rag & Bone Bindery

• Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer: Save 25% off sitewide!
• Coupon code: None needed
• Expiry: Valid November 26 to 29, 2010

The Paper Place's "20% off Chiyogami paper" Black Friday sale!

The Paper Place

• Black Friday week offer: 20% off Chiyogami paper on our online shop!
• Coupon code: None needed
• Expiry: Valid November 22 to 28, 2010

Image Sources: Images used in Black Friday lines photo collage courtesy of Blog.BlackFriday2010.com, NoCaptionNeeded.com, DoorofTruth.com, USAToday.com, NYDailyNews.com & Technorati.com. Victoria’s Secret images courtesy of VictoriasSecret.com. Rag & Bone Bindery image courtesy of RagandBoneBindery.com. The Paper Place images courtesy of ThePaperPlace.ca.