What is Black Friday?
The legend of ‘Black Friday’ comes from Philadelphia in 1952. Police used this phrase to describe the heavy shopping traffic on the streets after Thanksgiving in the USA.
However, this meaning changed around the 80s when the phrase became more widespread and came to represent a change in sales from loss to profits (red to black). It is also seen as the start of the Christmas spending period as people look for Christmas present deals in the run-up to the festive season.
Where to look for deals?
Amazing Black Friday deals can be found everywhere. Where deals were once touted on money-saving websites, they are now advertised by brands directly with the likes of Currys and Amazon advertising their Black Friday deals already. Black Friday is especially huge for Amazon who extend their specials to not just the Black Friday weekend but also in the week running up to the event. The high street will also be packed from the 29th of November till the 1st of December with Argos and John Lewis boasting of massive savings.
While Black Friday has traditionally been popular with people buying electronics like 4K televisions or mobile phones, fashion brands and grocery stores have also been keen to get in on the action. The easiest way to find the bargain for you is to do some research, find the products you’re looking for and hunt for the best price.
What to look out for?
Shopping online is convenient. With 62% of adults in the UK planning on buying this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shopping from the comfort of your own home means avoiding crowds, queue and a lack of stock. However, this time of year also pricks the ears of would-be scam artists. Online security should be your main concern to ensure you purchase from a reliable retailer who won’t use your data, run away with your money, or send you shoddy products.
Secure your device
Your digital devices store a lot of sensitive banking information. Protect them from any viruses or malware by making sure your antivirus is up to date.
Use trusted websites
Safe websites have security certificates which help separate them from websites that don’t. When looking at a site, use a website you’ve used before or make sure the site has ‘HTTPS’ at the beginning of the URL.
Use secure payments
Paying online is one of the most secure ways to transfer money. As long as you use a trusted platform. Paypal, Google Pay and other platforms exist to transport funds without exposing your details. When visiting a site, read about how transactions are completed before committing to a purchase.
Read reviews
Finally, shoppers vote with their feet and their fingers. Reading reviews gives you great insight into the customer service of a brand as well as any red flags. Do they respond to all their reviews? Have any customers complained about not receiving goods? These are just a few of the questions you should be asking.
How to afford Black Friday Deals
There are several ways to make sure you can afford Black Friday deals. Saving is the best way to go.
Finder found that:
“Of those hanging out for a bargain, holding out for a few weeks is the most common (14%), followed by one- to two-months (13%), three to six months (8%) and a patient seven to eleven months (1%). There are even 1% of us willing to wait an entire year before taking on our next bargain shopping spree!”
The longer you save, the more you’ll have when Black Friday rolls around.
Black Friday may be the perfect time to replace that old washing machine or faulty television. Don’t miss out on Black Friday savings. If you’ve had a chance to save up then keep an eye out for specials. If you haven’t got the savings but need to replace a necessary item then QuidMarket provides simple short term loans with no hidden fees or catches. All our loans are manually underwritten by our skilled underwriting team.
QuidMarket is also a short term loan direct lender and not a credit broker. We offer a quick, easy-to-understand application process. Simply use our handy tool to calculate how much you want or can afford. Once you’ve done that follow the steps and submit all the information required.
As always, we advise customers that short term loans are an expensive form of credit and are not designed for long-term borrowing meaning there may be cheaper options available. Please only apply for the amount you need and take note of the monthly repayments to ensure they are affordable.
Black Friday is a special occasion but please be careful to watch out for buyer’s remorse. 21% of Brits regretted their purchases in 2018 so don’t spend beyond your means and don’t get sucked into false ‘special deals’ or add on purchases.
