WHen this first started, it was a novelty, with the stores actually having to work to attract some shoppers that early.
Now it has become the “in” thing. 138 MILLION people are expected to shop today. Hundreds of people show up at a store that has 5 of each item, which you can print store maps showing the location. YOu have to rush in, because being first in line doesn’t mean anything, you have to actually make it to the loot.
It’s a system destined to reward boorish and uncivilized behavior. Some stores are smarter; they hand out tickets to people in line, but there are two problems — first, people just take tickets for things they don’t want, and give them to friends who show up later. And second, if you tell people in line that the tickets have run out, they will leave. And the whole point was to get people into your stores, having wasted hours, so they feel they HAVE to buy something to make their work pay off.
I’ve given up on these sales. My time is worth a lot more than the discounts. However, I find I can’t guy stuff at regular price if I know it was on sale, so these sales tend to discourage me.
And to make me feel better, I then skip going to the stores altogether, and order stuff online. It’s cheaper, and I can pretend I saved all the more time for not going to the store, to make up for the lost sale price.
Funny story. One year we went to a Target that was attached to a mall, but had it’s own separate doors. We were all lined up outside, since the mall itself wasn’t going to open until later. The line was very well-behaved, single-file down a sidewalk, because this was a few years ago. But that almost changed.
About 5 minutes before opening, a group of about 20 people were seen walking through the mall to the inside door. Turns out one of them worked in the mall, and had a key. They walked up to the interior door, and when the employee came out to unlock, they started knocking, and he started walking to their door to open it first.
Well, the first 10 or so people in line noticed and started screaming and pounding on the door. I doubt the employee could hear them, but just before unlocking the interior door, he figured out what was happening, and opened our doors first.
He still opened their door eventually, and they got in front of probably half our line, but at least there wasn’t a mob attack.