Real cost of Black Friday

WERE any of the shoppers caught up in the Black Friday hysteria familiar with the adage “a fool and his money are soon parted”?

When you buy an item because it is marked down, you do not “save” the 10%, 20% or 50% discount. You spend the 50%, 80% or 90% that constitutes the price. Money that you would not have spent at the regular price.

To that you should add the cost of interest on your credit cards and store accounts.

Those who took leave from work, add the cost of one day’s leave.

Having committed a large portion of your income to paying off your debt and the interest on that debt, you will experience difficulty in paying for groceries, rent or bond, school fees, municipal services, etc.

Economic history indicates that most will “solve” this problem by credit card, overdraft or micro loans, thus increasing their indebtedness and the portion of income to service that debt.

Many will find themselves being summonsed for non-payment of debts they cannot afford, the costs of said summonses being added to their debt.

That debt spiral is the real cost of your Black Friday “bargains”.

All so that you could buy stuff you don’t need, with money you haven’t got, to impress people you don’t like. — Dave Rankin, Cambridge

WHAT on earth was all the Black Friday commotion about?! In the stores that I went to, the “discounts” were pitiful and to find them was like hunting for the needle in a haystack.

My total “savings” for venturing into the chaotic traffic and waiting in hideously long queues was a paltry R8.

What an utter waste of time and effort. I sure don’t intend getting caught out like that again.

If our retailers want to cash in on Black Fridays, the discounts in the US, where this phenomenon comes from, is usually in the vicinity of 50% to 66%. And for good quality stuff. –

Come on, South African retailers, get with the programme. — Hannah Rose, Beacon Bay