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Black Friday, in U.S. history, Sept. 24, 1869, when plummeting gold prices precipitated a securities market panic. The crash was a consequence of an attempt by financier Jay Gould and railway magnate James Fisk to corner the gold market and drive up the price. The scheme depended on keeping g

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Facts That Will Make You Skip Black Friday

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Nearly nine in 10 products sold on Black Friday are available for the same price or cheaper earlier in the year, according to consumer group Which?.

It urged consumers to "do some research" in order to spot genuine bargains during the 27 November sale.

Retailers including Amazon, Argos and John Lewis said they offered good deals all year round, not just during seasonal shopping events.

Many shoppers see Black Friday as a way to buy gifts cheaply before Christmas.

More than two-thirds have delayed a purchase to try to find a bargain in the sale, according to Lloyds Bank.

It expects Black Friday spending in the UK to soar to £750m this year.

Which? tracked the prices of 219 popular home and tech products for six months before the 2019 sale and for six months afterwards.

It looked at goods from Amazon, AO.com, Argos, Currys PC World and John Lewis and found only three items were at their cheapest on Black Friday.

Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which?, said: "Deals that look too good to be true often are, so don't fall for time-limited offers and if you are looking for something in particular, do some research first.

"That way you'll know a genuine bargain when you see one."

'Low prices all year round'

Currys PC World was the retailer most likely to have cheaper or similar pricing earlier in the year.

For example, a pair of Bose Quietcomfort headphones at the retailer was £249 on Black Friday but had been cheaper or the same price on at least 15 occasions in the previous six months.

At John Lewis, 70 of 78 products were found to have cost the same or less before the sale.

For example, a De'Longhi coffee machine cost £1,285 on Black Friday, but had cost the same or less on at least 35 occasions beforehand - falling to less than £1,200 on several days in May and June 2019.

Amazon came out top of the retailers Which? looked at, although over half (57%) of its products were available cheaper or for the same price in the six months before Black Friday.

Responding to the research, most retailers stressed that they price-matched throughout the year.

Amazon said: "We seek to offer our customers great value thanks to low prices all year round as well as a number of fantastic seasonal deals events."

AO World said:"Last year's Black Friday event had over 9,000 fantastic and fair offers for customers and we expect this year to be even bigger."

Argos said: "Our Black Friday event gives customers access to hundreds of products at their lowest ever price. They may also be part of sales and promotions we run the following year."

Currys PC World said it price-matched throughout the year and has additional sales "to ensure we keep our promise of amazing tech that is affordable and accessible".

John Lewis said: "In addition to the variety of offers we have in-store and online during the promotional period, our never knowingly undersold price promise means that we continuously monitor and match the prices of our high street competitors throughout the year."

Fraud warning

Shoppers are also being warned to watch out for Black Friday scams.

Barclays said consumers who fall victim to an online scam this week could lose an average of £735 each.

Electronics, trainers, phones and clothing are all popular products used to trick people.

Criminals set up fake websites and may offer goods that are bogus, shoddy, or never arrive.

A bargain is only a bargain if you get a cheaper price for something you were going to buy anyway.

Which? says shoppers should do their research, which may include using websites to check previous prices, and should not buy on impulse.

Debt charities would say that, even before you get to that point, make sure you are not busting a budget. Only buy what you can afford and, if it is on credit, have a strict plan to make repayments.

Getting caught up in a Black Friday frenzy risks your financial health and, research has shown, your mental health, if a spending spree gets out of control.

More on this story

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Most Black Friday products 'were same price or cheaper' beforehand

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Nearly nine in 10 products sold on Black Friday are available for the same price or cheaper earlier in the year, according to consumer group Which?. It urged consumers to "do some research" in order to spot genuine bargains during the 27 November sale.

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Black Friday: Prices 'same or less before in 2020 sale'

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By Michael Race Business reporter, BBC News More than 90% of Black Friday deals were the same price or cheaper in the six months before the sales event last year, a Which? investigation has found. The consumer champion advised shoppers to make sure the discounts were "truly genuine" ahead of this year's sales.

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But its massive popularity - the term Black Friday has been used more than 2 million times on Twitter in the past 24 hours - has a dark side. The vast volume of shoppers has led to chaotic scenes and outbreaks of violence. Stampedes and shootings have plagued the day, resulting in four deaths and 56 injuries in the past five years.

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But its massive popularity - the term Black Friday has been used more than 2 million times on Twitter in the past 24 hours - has a dark side. The vast volume of shoppers has led to chaotic scenes and outbreaks of violence.

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Black Friday Shopping | Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

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Black Friday Shopping is one of the busiest shopping days of the year in November. Listen and Learn.

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Shopping online worksheet for B1. You can do the exercises online or download the worksheet as pdf.

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Black Friday | American Culture | English lesson

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10 Tricks Retailers Will Try To Use On Black Friday

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Black Friday is the biggest shopping day in the world. People leave their home in the middle of the night just to get in line and wait in the cold for

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10 Tricks Retailers Will Try To Use On Black Friday

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As Black Friday approaches, I thought I'd share this collection of activities that Krista presented last year at a BART event. For those looking for still more ideas, here is a post from 2012 on teaching about Black Friday / Buy Nothing Day, and here is one from 2007.

Target audience: EAP students, high intermediate to advanced. Can be done in one long class, or in several parts over different classes.

Warm Up: What is Black Friday?
Talk with a partner. If neither of you knows, guess what it might mean.

Reading 1:

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. As the first day after the last major holiday before Christmas, it marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Additionally, many employers give their employees the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Black Friday is not a federal holiday, but some states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees. Most schools have both Thanksgiving and the day after off, followed by a weekend. In order to take advantage of this increase in the number of potential shoppers, virtually all retailers in the country, big and small, offer various sales. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year.

In recent years, most major retailers have opened extremely early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000's many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This was taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers opened at midnight for the first time. In 2012, Walmart and several other retailers announced that they would open most of their stores at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, prompting calls for a walkout protest among some workers.

Black Friday shopping is known for attracting aggressive crowds, with annual reports of assaults, shootings, and huge crowds of people trampling on other shoppers in an attempt to get the best deal on a product before supplies run out.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black." For large retail chains like Walmart, Black Friday can boost their year to date net profit from $14 billion to $19 billion.

(Adapted from Wikipedia)

Questions:

1. Define Black Friday in your own words.

2. Why is it the biggest shopping day of the year?

3. Why is it called Black Friday?

4. The article mentions that some workers wanted to protest stores being open on Thanksgiving. Why do you think they were upset? What do you think about the store hours?

5. The article discusses some problems with Black Friday. What are they? Why do you think these happen?

6. Watch this short news clip "Storming the Malls" (Published on Nov 23, 2012) and take notes on main points and interesting facts. After watching, explain what happened in this video by writing a short summary.

7. Google "Black Friday." What kind of information do you find?

8. What do you think about this American tradition?

Now consider this:

(from www.buynothingday.co.uk)

9. How does Black Friday contribute to this phenomenon?

Reading 2 - " Websites: Buy nothing for holidays " By Katherine Dorsett, CNN, December 15, 2010

(CNN) - While millions may be running to the malls this holiday season, there are some people running away from the buying frenzy.
Several online movements have inspired thousands of people to attempt to spend little or no cash on holiday presents. Followers are avoiding shopping malls and opting to save their money, make their own presents or provide free services like baby-sitting or massages as gifts. "The holiday season is about sharing time with loved ones, not going into debt," said Cat Ellis, a Facebook "Buy Nothing Christmas" follower. "It is entirely unnecessary to spend money in order to show others that you care."

In addition to the Facebook page that Ellis and some 1,700 people follow, websites called buynothingchristmas, buynothingday and revbilly are encouraging people to stop spending a lot of cash on gifts and reduce holiday consumerism. Aiden Enns co-founded buynothingchristmas.org and said during the holidays, his site attracts up to 7,000 hits a day from people wanting to learn more about the movement. "Our website challenges people to de-commercialize Christmas and connect in simpler ways, such as spending time with friends and loved ones and giving to less-privileged people," said Enns.

Kyle Denholm of Petoskey, Michigan, is among those who asked his family to attend a holiday event together instead of exchanging gifts last year. "It felt wonderful to create some special memories with people we love and we plan to do it again this year," said Denholm.

It's not just anti-consumerism fueling the cause. "Christmas is an environmentalist's worst nightmare - tons of extra landfill, megawatts of flashing lights and congested shopping mall parking lots," said Liz Wylie, an anti-consumer subscriber. While followers of the movement find various ways to support the cause, Scott Krugman, a spokesperson with the National Retail Federation, has a different take. Krugman said he respects a person's right to celebrate the holidays as he or she chooses and does not want to make it a "we" versus "them" issue. "However, the retail sector helps generate one in five U.S. jobs and it is important to remember how critical this industry is to our weakened economy and to help support it," Krugman said. "Some 95% of retailers are small, independent businesses."

"Some 500,000 retail positions will be created this holiday season in the U.S. and these jobs play a huge role in fueling our economy." But for some people, like Ellis, supporting the U.S. retail sector is not an easy option. Her family was forced to change spending habits a couple of years ago. "After my husband lost his job in January of 2008 he was unemployed for almost two years before he found part-time work," said Ellis. "I had my own business, which became our primary income. Unemployment benefits didn't cover much - we didn't have a choice but to be hyper-responsible with money." The anti-consumerism philosophy has kept the Ellises afloat financially. Ellis said they don't have to worry about credit card bills and she does not argue with her husband about money. "I know some people are willing to run up the charge cards and spend tons of cash on the latest toys and games for children," Ellis said. "I can get 'new-to-my-kids' toys and give an even more important gift - a family that is financially stable even in a failing economy."

Ellis said making gifts for the holidays and finding free or used items is easier than many might imagine. "Look at your talents and ask yourself - can you cook or sew or do you have a special hobby to share? Is there something you can teach or could you clean someone's house?" As a former massage therapist, she has used her skills to give free gift certificates. She also knits and gives away food she has grown, canned and baked.

Ellis' husband, Eddie, is a beekeeper and gives away honey, beeswax candles or honey wine (also known as mead). "I've found people are far more impressed with the time and effort that went into a handmade gift than the perceived dollar amount spent on a retail gift."

Reading 2 Questions

1. What is "Buy Nothing Day" or "Buy nothing Christmas"?

2. Why did people start this idea? What kinds of people like it?

3. Who and/or what does this idea help?

4. What are some of the suggestions the article makes for alternatives to shopping?

Video 2
Watch this video:

Video 2 Questions

1. How do you think the news reporter feels about this idea?

2. What was Kelle Lasn's counterargument to each of her questions or concerns?

3. Which person had a stronger argument? Why?

Application
What is your opinion on Buy Nothing Day and Black Friday?
[Students can discuss or free write on this question and can expand on this prompt in a position paper or another writing assignment.]

Extension
Students can do "on the street" style interview on campus, asking people if they plan to shop on Black Friday and whether or not they have heard of Black Friday.
Another option would be to plan a buy nothing exchange or abundance swap on Black Friday at the school or in a nearby area. See these links for more information on the idea.

Additional Resources
Shopping Checklist

Do I need it?

How much will I use it?

Do I I already have one (or more), or something similar?

How long will it last?

Does it require service/maintenance?

Are the resources that went into it renewable/recycled?

Is it recyclable?

How easily can it be moved?

(From an unknown original source, but here is a similar list)

Today, humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet." -Fawzi Ibrahim

Until we challenge the entrenched values of capitalism - that the economy must always keep growing, that consumer wants must always be satisfied, that immediate gratification is imperative - we're not going able to fix the gigantic psycho-financial-eco crisis of our times. The journey towards a sane sustainable future begins with a single step. It could all start with a personal challenge, such as this: make a vow to yourself to participate in Buy Nothing Day this year.
From https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

More information on Buy Nothing Day

Other ESL / Language Arts / Literacy Lessons on Buy Nothing Day:

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Black Friday, Consumption, and Buy Nothing Day 2014

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As Black Friday approaches, I thought I'd share this collection of activities that Krista presented last year at a BART event. For those looking for still more ideas, here is a post from 2012 on teaching about Black Friday / Buy Nothing Day, and here is one from 2007.

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Nice story

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260. Shopping on Black Friday

Janice was one of those people that loved getting up early for the Black Friday sales stores have after Thanksgiving Day. She loved going to her favorite stores to see what she could get on sale. A friend told her that her favorite store was going to have an amazing sale. They were going to sell an 60-inch television for $300. Janice wanted to make sure she was there early. She went to the store during the night and set up a tent to sleep over night.

Janice noticed that no one else had showed up when she was getting her tent ready, but she didn't care. She loved being there. She was so excited about the sales that she couldn't get any sleep. At around 3:30 a.m. she finally fell asleep. She set the alarm on her phone to wake her up at 6 a.m., but because she left her music playing when she fell asleep, her phone ran out of battery.

At around 8 a.m. a man who worked at the store came out and woke Janice up. She was surprised and asked him what time it was. He said it was 8 a.m. and she couldn't believe it. She went into the store and left her tent behind. She wanted to see if they still had the televisions. Janice saw that they didn't. People started looking at her, because her hair was a mess. She felt embarrassed and went back to get her stuff.

While she was going back home, she noticed another store that was open. She decided to go in, and was surprised to see that they had the television she wanted. It was $500, instead of $300. She bought the television and asked one of the workers if they could take it out to her truck. She went home and asked her brother to help her move the television. Once she got the television into her home, she climbed into bed and fell asleep.

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260. Shopping on Black Friday Janice was one of those people that loved getting up early for the Black Friday sales stores have after Thanksgiving Day. She loved going to her favorite stores to see what she could get on sale. A friend told her that her favorite store was going to have an amazing sale.

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A Black Friday Guide to Shopping in English | Oxford House Barcelona

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Need help shopping in English? Check out our Black Friday guide full of fun facts, history, useful vocabulary and much more!

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Blog about Black Friday

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In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is known as the first day of traditional Christmas shopping. It is known as "Black Friday." It is the day when crowds of consumers go out to find special offers made by the majority of retailers. In the past few years, retailers have extended normal business hours in order to keep up with the competition. Some stores may open up as early as 8 pm on Thanksgiving day and remain open overnight until Friday night. Even though retailers have incredible deals, I believe it can be extremely dangerous. People act like maniacs both on the road and in the stores. People are obsessed with getting their hands on hot deals, even if it means camping outside of a store in the freezing cold the night before the store is supposed to open. In previous years, there have been many tragedies that have occurred in stores during "Black Friday." This is one of the reasons why I will not go out shopping on this day. Is it really worth it? Are you still able to get good deals in stores on a different day?

traditional- something that has been around for a long time and became a part of the culture

consumers- a person who buys goods and services for personal use

retailers- stores or companies that sell goods bought by consumers

competition- the activity or condition of fighting against someone or something

incredible- difficult to believe

maniacs- a person who demonstrates wild behavior

obsessed- when the mind is focused on something and can only think about that one thing

tragedies- an event that causes suffering

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word

1. Many horrible ________________ occur on Black Friday.

2. Many ________________ have been victims of credit card scams.

3. It is __________________ how much damage a storm can cause.

4. Pumpkin and apple pies are ______________ deserts served on Thanksgiving.

5. People are _____________ on the road and in the stores during Black Friday.

6. ______________ adjust their prices when the competition beats their low prices.

7. The lady realized that her biggest _______________ was her sister.

8. I will never understand why people are ______________ with going shopping at 2 am.

There are many different kinds of sentences. To make a statement, use a period (.). For questions, use a question mark (?). For exclamations, use an exclamation point (!).

Write 2 statements, 2 questions, and 2 exclamations about the picture below. Make sure to use the correct punctuation.

Have you ever gone shopping on Black Friday? If so, tell me about your experience. Is there a day like Black Friday where your from? If so, what is it like?

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In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is known as the first day of traditional Christmas shopping. It is known as "Black Friday." It is the day when crowds of consumers go out to find special offers made by the majority of retailers.

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Text and exercises about Buy Nothing Day

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Try the online quiz, reading, listening, and activities on grammar, spelling and vocabulary for this lesson on Buy Nothing Day. Click on the links above or see the activities below this article:

Your browser does not support this audio player.

READ

Buy Nothing Day is a great way of reminding yourself you don't need to go shopping. In today's world, most of us buy too much, too often. There is really no need for us to buy half the stuff we purchase. In fact, make that three-quarters, or even nine-tenths. Shopping has become an addiction for many people. Companies are experts at making us buy stuff. TV and Internet ads can even make us buy things we don't really want. There is a well-known bumper sticker that says: "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." I would say only foolish people go shopping to reduce their stress. Anyway, Buy Nothing Day is a fantastic way to avoid crowded stores, save some money (for once) and spend time wisely.

Lots of ideas on how to spend this day are on the www. buynothingday.org website. Here, you learn that you actually help save our planet by not going shopping. You consume less and this means we use fewer of Earth's resources. We easily run out of money when we go shopping, but we can also run out of our planet's animals, forests, water and a lot more. The website suggests you lock your credit card away for the day and keep your cash under the bed. You will not be alone. The website says: "Buy Nothing Day is the biggest 24-hour [campaign] against consumerism. People around the world will make a pact to take a break from shopping as a personal experiment or public statement. And the best thing is, it's free."

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted sites.

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Try the online quiz, reading, listening, and activities on grammar, spelling and vocabulary for this lesson on Buy Nothing Day. Click on the links above or see the activities below this article: Your browser does not support this audio player. Buy Nothing Day is a great way of reminding yourself you don't need to go shopping.

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Is there an alternative to Black Friday?

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Is there an alternative to Black Friday?

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159. Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving has become America's wildest shopping day. Closed all day on Thursday, chain stores all across the nation open early on Friday. Some stores open at 12:01 Friday morning, while others open at 4 a.m. Some "sleepyhead" stores, like Target this year, don't open their doors on Friday until 6 a.m. From Friday to the day before Christmas, this is the season when businesses make as much as 25 percent of their annual revenue. This season puts many businesses "in the black"-that is, into profitability-for the year.

Reporters from local TV stations interview people who camp out in front of stores a day or two before the doors open on Friday. These people patiently wait in line to get products that are discounted 50 percent or more.

"Oh, we have fun," said one camper. "We bring games to play, we watch TV and order lots of pizza, and we meet interesting people. And, most important of all, we save big bucks!" The catch, of course, is that only a very small number of products are available at the largest discounts. Regardless, each store has plenty of other items that are reduced from 10 to 50 percent-saving shoppers from $10 to $400 per item-to entice Americans to shop.

Not all Americans appreciate this frenzy of shopping. Reverend William Graham, pastor of the Church of the Risen Jesus, wants to rename Black Friday. "We want to call it Remember Jesus Friday. People should start the season with the right attitude. Christmastime has become a Season of Shopping. We want to make it a Season of Giving. And we don't mean giving IPods, DVDs, flat screen TVs, and other crap. We mean giving your back, your mind, and your hands. Help an old lady clean up her house. Teach a kid how to read. Visit sick people in the hospital or in nursing homes. Pick up the trash in your neighborhood. Give blood to the Red Cross. Do volunteer work for charities. Celebrate Christmas by remembering Jesus and forgetting Santa Claus."

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The day after Thanksgiving has become America’s wildest shopping day. Closed all day on Thursday, chain stores all across the nation open early on Friday. Some stores open at 12:01 Friday morning, while others open at 4 a.m. Some “sleepyhead” stores, like Target this year, don’t open their doors on…

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Crazy Black Friday