Black Friday 2018

[Burkhardt]

My robot vacuum Roomba will arrive anytime now, which I ordered on cyber monday. Couldn't be more excited, haha! I find it quite difficult to stop reading what I'm reading because I get distracted of the dirt on the floor.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Burkhardt

My robot vacuum Roomba will arrive anytime now, which I ordered on cyber monday. Couldn't be more excited, haha! I find it quite difficult to stop reading what I'm reading because I get distracted of the dirt on the floor.

If you have kittehs, make sure they get to ride it

[tubemonkey]

Amazon’s biggest-selling item on Cyber Monday? Take a guess

Pick up any good bargains on Cyber Monday? Amazon has just announced it as the single biggest shopping day (in terms of number of items sold) in the company’s history, with millions of people hitting its site to make the most of the day’s discounts and offers.

In the U.S., the best-selling item at Amazon.com on Monday was the all-new Echo Dot smart speaker, with “millions” sold, though Amazon declined to offer a specific figure. Other top sellers included Bose QC 25 noise cancelling headphones, the multi-use Instant Pot Duo, Michelle Obama’s Becoming autobiography, and the Jenga game.

Across the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, Amazon said customers ordered a staggering 180 million items via its U.S. site alone.

Globally, customers ordered more than 18 million toys and more than 13 million fashion items on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, the company said. The Echo Dot speaker was a big hit around the world, too, becoming the biggest-selling product on Amazon globally, from any manufacturer, in any category.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

Welcome to the Primefree Club! I cut the cord a few years ago. I didn't miss it.

Thanks - I was using it primarily for Prime Video. It was the only paid video service I had. Now that I have Hulu for a year, I see no need to pay for two video services.

Additionally, I was becoming quite displeased with Prime delivery. An increasing number of packages were failing to arrive within the promised two-day widow.

[tubemonkey]

This is a list of the stores I used for BF/CM shopping in descending order of dollars spent. Notice how I spent the least amount at Amazon.

1. Best Buy
2. Costco
3. Target
4. Amazon

[tch65721]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks - I was using it primarily for Prime Video. It was the only paid video service I had. Now that I have Hulu for a year, I see no need to pay for two video services.

Additionally, I was becoming quite displeased with Prime delivery. An increasing number of packages were failing to arrive within the promised two-day widow.

Interesting. I felt just the same about Prime but dumped them a couple of years ago. I suppose at some point I'll do a month of prime (if they still do monthly) to catch up on shows I liked. I don't know what HULU package you got but I jumped on $.99 a month deal (usually $7.99 a month) for a year. It isn't at all what I thought it was. Don't get me wrong, still good value, but hulu has really changed.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tch65721

Interesting. I felt just the same about Prime but dumped them a couple of years ago. I suppose at some point I'll do a month of prime (if they still do monthly) to catch up on shows I liked. I don't know what HULU package you got but I jumped on $.99 a month deal (usually $7.99 a month) for a year. It isn't at all what I thought it was. Don't get me wrong, still good value, but hulu has really changed.

I jumped on the $0.99 offer too. That's what triggered my ditching Prime.

Prime is currently $119/year or $12.99/month.

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by haertig

...Bottom line: If you are unlucky enough, or non-audiophile enough, to have to listen to your music through a Dot's little speaker, 100% for sure get the 3rd generation. However, if you don't listen to music, or listen by connecting your Dot to a real sound system via bluetooth or cable, then I would recommend sticking with the 2nd generation...

Thanks for these observations, haertig -- very helpful! I finally broke down and ordered a 2nd Gen Dot @ $20 ONLY to listen to Audible hands free through a wired speaker. Other than that I am all-in with Google (Home, Home Hub, 2 Minis, 2 Chromecasts, Chromecast audio, Android phones and tablet). But Google does not do Audible without climbing through hoops and I have hundreds of audible books to listen to!

I also took the opportunity to cancel Prime as I wasn't watching any video and my packages NEVER came in 2 days, more like 5 to my PO Box address -- because I don't live in or near a warehouse or big city I guess. Getting to love Walmart free delivery and ship-to-store, and gave Best Buy some Black Friday love after a long hiatus.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Burkhardt

My robot vacuum Roomba will arrive anytime now, which I ordered on cyber monday. Couldn't be more excited, haha! I find it quite difficult to stop reading what I'm reading because I get distracted of the dirt on the floor.

Oh, robot vacuums are great! Once you get used to having one vacuum every day, it's hard to be without it, especially if you have pets shedding all over the place.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Ditto. It went from $99 to $119 earlier this year. Has your price already jumped? It jumped whenever your renewal was due. If it goes up again, I might balk.

My renewal date is mid-February. So that gives me a little time to see how Hulu works out; using the app, I found quite a few shows to watch. If I don't renew Prime, I could pick it up again in July for Prime Day when there might be a special offer. I dunno.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My renewal date is mid-February. So that gives me a little time to see how Hulu works out; using the app, I found quite a few shows to watch. If I don't renew Prime, I could pick it up again in July for Prime Day when there might be a special offer. I dunno.

Short of some fantastic offer, I won't even consider Prime until Prime Day. Even then, the deals may not be worth the $13 surcharge to pay for a one month subscription.

As to video services for me, Prime = Netflix = Hulu. One's as good as the other. No matter which service I use, there's always more than enough programming on any of them to keep me happy. There are no must-watch shows for me.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Short of some fantastic offer, I won't even consider Prime until Prime Day. Even then, the deals may not be worth the $13 surcharge to pay for a one month subscription.

As to video services for me, Prime = Netflix = Hulu. One's as good as the other. No matter which service I use, there's always more than enough programming on any of them to keep me happy. There are no must-watch shows for me.

I don't mean picking up Prime just for Prime Day, I mean picking it up for a year if there's a discount.

Hulu's a great deal now, but after a year when it's full price again, Prime seems better.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I don't mean picking up Prime just for Prime Day, I mean picking it up for a year if there's a discount.

Hulu's a great deal now, but after a year when it's full price again, Prime seems better.

I had Hulu for a while, the commercials were pretty annoying, so I went back to watching Prime. But letting Prime lapse and waiting for a better deal to restart sounds like a good plan. I don't watch that often, it won't hurt me to have a few commercials. I also have free Pandora for a year, so I won't miss Prime music that much.

[tubemonkey]

All of my BF/CM orders have arrived, except for my Dot 3s from Target. They're still backordered.

[tubemonkey]

Between now and Christmas, many of the BF/CM items will go on sale, but at higher prices. The Dot 3, for example, is still on sale, but now it's $6 higher in price. That'll be the trend, with some exceptions.

Feel free to post your experiences with your new devices in this thread. The information may prove to be helpful for those still considering your device.

This thread will remain active until the end of December. At that time, it will be unstickied and deals will then transfer back to the Tablets, eReaders, Media Players thread.

thanks, tm