MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - When to buy the X-mas present.

emellaich · 06-25-2009, 02:23 PM

Sorry, it is a US reference.

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US. In theory, it is the day when retailers start making money. It takes all of their sells up to that day to cover their costs, and from then on they make profit. From an accounting view, losses are in red, and profits are in black, thus black Friday. Of course, accounting for profit/loss doesn't really work that way (where you incur all of the expenses first) so its a funny concept.

Anyway, to spur sales there are often some incredible sales and it is often the point in time when price break throughs occur. For example, GPS systems had been selling in the $350 range a couple of years ago and black friday brought a $200 price point. Last year, there were several price points in the $75 to $125 range for GPS systems. The interesting thing is that once these break throughs occur they often stick (at least for sales). Although you can still buy quite expensive GPS systems, you can usually find them on sale for $100 to $125. Not quite as good as the $75 black Friday price.

Black Friday is seen as a major Christmas shopping day. The sale prices usually concentrate on 'hot' categories that are used to pull customers into the store so they buy regular stuff.

So, back to my original comment. When book readers break through to become of broad consumer interest I expect them to be eligible for Black Friday sale pricing. Given the timeline on new introductions, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a surge in product availability -- possibly for this Christmas, definitely next Christmas. That would allow pixel qi to get in the game. At that point in time, I would expect to see some interesting bargains for Christmas.

Furthermore, in reaction to black friday the online stores have begun to focus on 'cyber monday'. Supposedly these are sales that are timed to occur on the Monday after black friday and its the online method of competing with black friday sales. Of course, cyber monday effects aren't limited to the U.S. . Therefore, I expect to see online sales of consumer electronics occuring beginning on that day.

06-25-2009, 02:23 PM	#14
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	Sorry, it is a US reference. Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US. In theory, it is the day when retailers start making money. It takes all of their sells up to that day to cover their costs, and from then on they make profit. From an accounting view, losses are in red, and profits are in black, thus black Friday. Of course, accounting for profit/loss doesn't really work that way (where you incur all of the expenses first) so its a funny concept. Anyway, to spur sales there are often some incredible sales and it is often the point in time when price break throughs occur. For example, GPS systems had been selling in the $350 range a couple of years ago and black friday brought a $200 price point. Last year, there were several price points in the $75 to $125 range for GPS systems. The interesting thing is that once these break throughs occur they often stick (at least for sales). Although you can still buy quite expensive GPS systems, you can usually find them on sale for $100 to $125. Not quite as good as the $75 black Friday price. Black Friday is seen as a major Christmas shopping day. The sale prices usually concentrate on 'hot' categories that are used to pull customers into the store so they buy regular stuff. So, back to my original comment. When book readers break through to become of broad consumer interest I expect them to be eligible for Black Friday sale pricing. Given the timeline on new introductions, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a surge in product availability -- possibly for this Christmas, definitely next Christmas. That would allow pixel qi to get in the game. At that point in time, I would expect to see some interesting bargains for Christmas. Furthermore, in reaction to black friday the online stores have begun to focus on 'cyber monday'. Supposedly these are sales that are timed to occur on the Monday after black friday and its the online method of competing with black friday sales. Of course, cyber monday effects aren't limited to the U.S. . Therefore, I expect to see online sales of consumer electronics occuring beginning on that day.