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No joke: I got an email from Amazon the other day about Black Friday and I actually thought for a moment that Thanksgiving must have come a week early. But no, Thanksgiving still has the same schedule, landing on the fourth Thursday of November. But that doesn't mean Black Friday can't come an entire week early. In fact, it has.


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That's right. Amazon.com, America's largest e-commerce company, has announced that it will begin offering Black Friday deals on Friday November 21 -- one whole week before the traditional Black Friday, which lands on the day after Thanksgiving.

Throughout the eight days between November 21 and November 28, Amazon will also be adding new deals as often as every 10 minutes. Holy consumerism, Amazon!

What do you think of Amazon.com kicking off Black Friday an entire week in advance? Is it rad that we get to snag Black Friday deals as early as possible? Or has all the consumerism ********** with the holidays gotten completely out of hand?

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39 Answers

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I HATE it!! Amazon, whatever, but for other retailers, WE ARE OPEN ON THANKSGIVING. ALL DAY.

WHY!??! To cater to the NUTS that want a cheap TV?

Newsflash, people, there are 363 OTHER DAYS IN THE YEAR that you can hold a big ol' sales event!! WHY choose the day after AND day of Thanksgiving!?!

To **** with you, corporations.

boycott black friday
boycott black thursday
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I am probably older than you :-D

While once upon a time no one was open on Thanksgiving, times change. If it were so socially unacceptable today to be open on Thanksgiving, then no one would show up and the market would shut those businesses down (or at least make being open unprofitable... same effect).

Companies don't compel market actions - they respond to them. If shoppers didn't want these businesses open by showing up, they wouldn't be.

The major retailers aren't the one's calling the tune - the market is. They are just responding to it's demands.

If you are looking for someone to blame, blame the general public (which determines what is and isn't socially acceptable) for demanding the stores be open...
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Maybe just reduce prices YEAR ROUND??? and forget the insanity.. besides.. if I want something, I save my money and go get it when I can afford it.. yeah I know I know.. weird huh??
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Ruining employees' day of Thanksgiving by making them work that day really *****. I NEVER will go shopping on Thanksgiving, nor will I shop at stores that were open then. If more people were thankful for what they have, they'd stop wasting money on "Christmas presents". It shouldn't be such a big deal in the first place. Both Christmas and Thanksgiving should be spiritual observances, not commercial ones. Bah, Humbug!
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Same! I'm stuck working Thanksgiving, then coming back FOUR IN THE MORNING on Black Friday. Oh, and forget calling in: It's the only job I have, if I call in or don't show either day, I am fired on the spot. LOVELY, right?

I am at the very least spreading the word to boycott Thanksgiving shopping. Friday is bad enough, but Thanksgiving is a freaking HOLIDAY and should be treated as such.
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If it increases sales, good on them - businesses exist to make a profit, no other reason
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"If it increases sales, good on them..businesses exist to make a profit, no other reason"

To a degree yes but businesses are not isolated entities and sales are not the only factor to take into consideration. Businesses are owned and operated by real people with real lives and families and they serve customers who also have opinions on businesses about the way it conducts itself and treats its employee. Yes a business has a responsibility to their bottom line, but they also could be doing a disservice to their bottom line by being inconsiderate to their employees and the community they serve if those groups turn on them for being abusive, over-reaching or culturally insensitive.

From investopedia:

Corporate Citizenship - The aim is for businesses to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the communities in which they operate, while still preserving profitability for stakeholders. [note: forcing employees to work on days that have traditionally been work-free family holidays can detract from quality of life)

Social Responsibility - Social responsibility entails developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society which they operate in. According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), this relationship to the society and envir...

"If it increases sales, good on them..businesses exist to make a profit, no other reason"

To a degree yes but businesses are not isolated entities and sales are not the only factor to take into consideration. Businesses are owned and operated by real people with real lives and families and they serve customers who also have opinions on businesses about the way it conducts itself and treats its employee. Yes a business has a responsibility to their bottom line, but they also could be doing a disservice to their bottom line by being inconsiderate to their employees and the community they serve if those groups turn on them for being abusive, over-reaching or culturally insensitive.

From investopedia:

Corporate Citizenship - The aim is for businesses to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the communities in which they operate, while still preserving profitability for stakeholders. [note: forcing employees to work on days that have traditionally been work-free family holidays can detract from quality of life)

Social Responsibility - Social responsibility entails developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society which they operate in. According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), this relationship to the society and environment in which they operate is "a critical factor in their ability to continue to operate effectively. It is also increasingly being used as a measure of their overall performance.

Sorry, didn't mean to write a novella. LOL.
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Management has a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder profits - Amazon didn't do anything fundamentally immoral - if an employee objects so strongly, they can reject the policy along with the job. If you, as a consumer, object so strongly then vote with your dollars and take your business elsewhere.

The Market determines the wisdom of these things
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Management also has a responsibility to treat employees and the community they exist in properly and ethically.

I'm not sure how old you are but there was a time in the not too distant past when it was socially unacceptable for all but a few businesses to make their employees work on Thanksgiving and Christmas (as well as a few other holidays).

So, what do you call it when corporate / business interests encroach or disregard cultural values in the name of profitability? How long before workers start wanting to form unions so they don't get made to work on traditional holidays?

A major retail / wholesale company telling it many thousands employees "You will work on Thanksgiving and Christmas or you will be terminated'....seems pretty messed up.

Thanks for the conversation.
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I understand what you're saying. Cheers!
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Everything on Amazon is cheaper elsewhere.
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Cheers to you too :-D
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..... if that's what Floats their Boat, good for them.

Do I need to participate .... NOPE

If it causes more folks to stay home and actually enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving Day with friends + family, well, that's even better.
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Unless you're an employee of one of these ******** companies that forces or entices their employees to work that day.
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..... feel for you/those who choose to work on the Holiday friend, but I'm with family on Holidays.

I happily quit jobs over Mis-Management who thought their biz was more important than our Traditions.

.............. always have Plan B on the back-burner !
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This is one of the reasons I'm beginning to dislike the Christmas season. It's all about stuff now.
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Exactly. I'm kind of proud of my cousin. He and his family have withdrawn from modern Christmas consumerism and usually they rent a lakeside cabin for the week around Christmas and he takes his wife and kids for outdoor family fun (ice skating / skiing / sledding). They do give the kids a few gifts on Christmas morning but nothing crazy.
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I dont do the Black Friday thing, it's awful.
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This story and question is about Amazon ... and Amazon only ... deciding what prices the computers apply, and when. Which is fine. I'm all for a sale price on something I've decided to buy. But most of the comments here are off the mark.

No Amazon employees have to work on Thanksgiving for this. The computers have to work, but the employees can stay home and eat turkey.

That pointed out, I'm completely in accord with anybody who dislikes the practice of making employees in brick-and-mortar stores leave their families to sell stuff in the middle of the night.
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Good, I won't have to buy anything for you on Fri. then! lol
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In a bad economic climate it takes longer for businesses to show a profit. If Obama and the rest of the left would stop attacking profits, we would not have to work as **** or as early.
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as is every other aspect of "Black Friday" !
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Want to see the ugly side of capitalism in America? More and more U.S. businesses have marginalized and over commercialized our holidays to such an extreme its sickening. I can remember when almost no business would be open on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve / Christmas and 4th of July. Now, there are so many. Those have traditionally been family days not working days. More and more U.S. business have allowed profit to trump tradition, holidays and family time. That makes them greedy ***** and us a bunch of pushovers for allowing it to happen.
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"Target Employee Says Workers Are Threatened With Termination If They Refuse To Work On Thanksgiving"

"Kmart To Employee: ‘If You Do Not Come To Work On Thanksgiving, You Will Automatically Be Fired’"

"Buffalo-Area Mall Threatens To Fine Stores That Don't Open On Thanksgiving"
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I got an Amazon Glowlight e-reader, which showed as costing $119, but when I checked out, it was only $99. The price difference allowed me to purchase a one year service warranty, which was $19. I thought it was a really cool, unexpected deal.
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Is black Friday racist?
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Black Fridays are only racist when you paint your face black and go out shopping that way.
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But really, should I give a rats *** what they do?!
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Black friday should not exist.
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...meh. If people want to shop on Turkey Day, who am to say they are wrong? If Amazon wants to stretch Black Friday into "Black Week" (???), I say: knock yourself out! Let the consumers decided if they want this or not. If consumers don't want this, they'll vote-with-their-wallets and Amazon will learn from this and adjust their strategy accordingly.
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black friday is ridiculous anyway...... at least for me it is!
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Reminds me of people putting up Christmas decorations at the mall right after Halloween. No difference there.
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I had a bunch of gift cards to spend, so I bought a really nice, high quality tablet for $68. Free to me, since people had been giving me gift cards to Amazon as gifts for a couple of years but I never knew what to spend it on... now I've got an awesome new toy. :) Why get upset over a sale coming a little bit early. Better than doing so on thanksgiving night or the day after IMO. I always buy my electronics on black Friday online deals if I can. Always nice to save a bit of money. Plus, Amazon was smart to start it early. Not a bunch of competition.
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It seems like companies just want to make money off of the Christmas season without knowing what it's really about.
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Correct. It's all about consumerism!
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Business owners who have advertising money to spend are often approached by the print media with special "Deals"..... if you buy now and not wait. The competition to get the jump first and have the advantage for a black Friday event is too much temptation for companies like Amazon, WalMart and Target.
Only a few years ago every retail company waited until the Friday following Thanksgiving for the big sales event unfold. This year one week before B.F. seems to be the starting point for special price reductions.
If we wanted to blame someone for the early B.F. sale event the printed news media would be a good place to look. Early Black Friday sales are about GREED.
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It's like the American auto industry selling next year's model cars in the middle of this year. Stop manipulating the calendar. Better yet, stop manipulating we consumers as well.
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It should be every Friday, then we could get those sale prices all the time, and Black Friday wouldn't be so black any more.
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Absolutely!
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