Every year in Canada, companies try to give the highest discounts to make the best use of Black Friday sales. Students can also benefit from these sales if they properly use this opportunity. In this blog, we will talk about the origins of Black Friday (November 29) and Cyber Monday (December 2) and how students can use this time to their advantage.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
The term ‘Black Friday’ has its origins in the 1960s. The police officers in Philadelphia started using this term to label the chaos caused by the shoppers who used to come in the city for Thanksgiving (a federal holiday in the US celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year) shopping. These shoppers used to create problems for the police, who had to deal with traffic jams, shoplifting, and other such problems. This shopping trend gradually turned into a shopping season by the 1980s. Today, it is considered the start of shopping season in the US and Canada that goes until Christmas.
Electronic Items
International students are usually found themselves on a tighter budget. Students need electronic items like laptops, portable hard drives, mobile phones and accessories, USBs, printers, e-readers, power banks, etc., and all these items have massive discounts on Black Friday. All these products are essential items that are needed for studies, and if you have not looked for discounts so far, check out now at Amazon, BestBuy, Costco, etc. to see how much discount is available on your favourite items. Sometimes, we want to buy a necessary item but delay its buying because it is out of our price range. For all such essential items, this is the best time to do some research, and you can get up to 30 to 60% off on so many products.
Household Items
Many students live in dorms, and they need household products like coffee makers, cutlery, plates, mugs, microwaves, and other such items for daily use. Sometimes these products can carry a very big price tag, but they are essential items to have. Black Friday has the best deals, sometimes up to 70% off.
What Is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is a relatively new term, and it was first coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005 in the United States. It was noticed that people continue to do online shopping until Monday, so retailers thought, why not give it a specific name and provide discounts? So after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday comes Black Friday, and then on the very next Monday comes Cyber Monday. Unlike Black Friday, when people do shopping at the stores and malls, customers on Cyber Monday do shopping online because retailers offer huge discounts during these days. Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are getting popularity in other countries like Canada, the UK, Japan, and Germany, though they either have Thanksgiving holidays on a different date or they do not have these holidays at all.
Books, Software, Subscriptions
Sometimes students require specific software for their assignments, and this is again the best time to search for sale offers. You can also check out software and other subscriptions because tech companies usually offer more than 40% off on certain software and annual subscriptions. Don’t worry even if you miss a deal on Black Friday. Many companies continue to offer deals even after Black Friday, especially on Cyber Monday, so you can order products online. If you believe that you cannot order your product online, then try your luck by visiting shopping malls because some companies continue sales even after Black Friday.
Travelling
These are winter times, and winter vacations are around the corner. If you want to meet your family in your hometown and you think your airfare is getting too expensive, try to check the ticket prices at this time, and you may find a good deal of up to 30% off.
Conclusion
If used properly, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can save you a lot of money. So do your research in advance and try to compare prices of items on different websites beforehand. However, keep one thing in mind: you should first buy all the necessary items for your use and then see if you have enough money to spend on those items that can be postponed. Companies do massive advertising during this shopping season, and sometimes we buy a few things that we really do not need, but we buy them just because they are available on discount. Edison College wishes you a happy shopping season!
Pictures by Freepik
