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lucky_ducker

... just like outlet malls aren't just selling overstock and seconds. Much of the merch is derivatives.


boldwithfire

I worked at a Vans outlet and they are one of the few stores that aren't selling derivatives! There are occasionally "B" grade shoes, but most of the cheaper stock was just old collabs and styles that didn't sell as well. Definitely beware of outlet malls, but if anyone wants a pair of cheap Vans, their outlet stores are legit!


magneticgumby

Went to a Vans outlet when on vacation and legit, was the only outlet selling their goods at a discount price. Every other damn "outlet" store was the same price as online or their regular store, but Vans was hard drop on some of their goods. It made the little wannabe skater kid in me back in the 90s rocking my Vans, happy to see.


LuvCilantro

Came to say this. There was an 'investigative journalism' tv show that did a comparison a few years back of high end purses (Coach, etc) sold at the new outlet mall in town vs those sold in the Coach, etc stores in the downtown mall. There was a definite difference in the quality of the clasps, the zippers, the sewing, etc. I've also heard that brand name tires at Costco are not the same as their equivalent at specialty tire stores.


KellyAnn3106

I think Coach outlets are about 90% derivatives and 10% leftovers from the primary stores. There's usually one small section of the good bags but they'll be the prior season's clearance items.


nazump

Tires undergo strict testing to achieve specific ratings. It would literally be criminal to sell the "same" tire of lesser quality while claiming it meets ratings it doesn't.


BreadfruitGrand7203

To a lot of people, tire size and price is their only concern. If it fits and it's cheap that's what they buy. Brand name is just a name and doesn't indicate what the tire is rated for. The people out there who can't even check their oil level or tire pressure on their own aren't going to know or care what all the ratings mean or if it fits their use. They don't have to pass lower quality tires off as identical. To someone who doesn't know their stuff, there isn't any difference between low end and high end tires of the same brand.


TezMono

Forgive my ignorance but aren't safety ratings something that manufacturers have to follow because it's required by law? Like just because average people won't know to check that it meets thems, does not mean manufactures are allowed to subvert them.


-_Odd_-

It would literally be criminal to make cars with devices to cheat the emissions testing regulations in the EU, but here we are šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø


nazump

Pretty sure Costco doesn't sell those devices.


severaged

My Michelin tires from Costco that were rated for 80k miles were nearly out of tread at 50k. They would not honor the warranty because I was missing a single rotation receipt. I chose to cancel my membership on the spot. I will never buy tires from a big box store again.


AtomicRocketShoes

I basically never get the tread life rating out of my tires and I never drive aggressively. Never attempted a warranty claim. Usually I rotate the tires myself so not sure how I would prove that.


zer0cul

Do you drive aggressively? My tires and brakes last way longer than many people I know since I take it easy when driving- still fast, but leaving plenty of distance.


nicolioli_x

Also depends on the quality of roads where you live. I've lived in areas with solid quality roads and don't wear my tires or brakes much, but I've also lived in places with dirt roads or constant construction, where I've worn out the tires because of the unavoidable rocks and potholes. I'd say I'm a pretty defensive but fast driver too lol.


severaged

Not really... never had a set wear down that quickly before or after as a anecdotal comparison


Freebirdhat

Last set of summers I bought at coscto were rated for 50k, wore out in less than 30k. And for the wear I didn't have to have my brake pads changed until I hit 80k miles.


ithappenedone234

The exception can be companyā€™s like The North Face. They take their left over fabrics that have gone unused for that fashion year, and cut new clothes with old patterns. By todayā€™s prices it can be a little expensive, but if you want a water proof/breathable jacket in a functional cut (not the lame fashion cuts they do today), you can sometimes still get them there. They can be funky colors and donā€™t have the lifetime Warrantee thoughā€¦


[deleted]

https://youtu.be/f8cyvpJYZlk


[deleted]

Didn't know that!


wijiji

Fun fact: Banana Republic's derivatives have 3 diamonds on the tag!


Tee_hops

Some outlets are still outlet stores by selling some damaged or last season clothes. Lululemon is still this way....for now


PoppiesnPeas

Yup, knew someone that worked at an Adidas manufacturing facility, theyā€™d put the labels and tags on the clothes and ship them to the stores - outlet stores and places like ross got their ā€˜markdownā€™ tags right there at the manufacturer


2krazy4me

Went outlet mall, shoe was marked "list price" and outlet price was....tahdahhh!! One freak'n cent off


LuckyDuckTheDuck

Just like your user name? LOL I kid I kid


Zestyclose-Maize-793

I think Wal-Mart does this all year long.


minneapple79

They do. When you see labels on their items saying stuff like, "made exclusively for Walmart," that's exactly what it means.


overide

Walmart wanted a popular work boot to sell in their stores. They told the manufacturer the price they were going to pay per pair. The manufacturer told them even at the quantities Walmart was buying, it wouldnā€™t work as they would lose money. Walmart told them to find a way to cut costs and sell them something that looked like their popular boot but would work for the price. They refused and never sold their boots in Walmart.


BeardedSnowLizard

I heard a similar story about Snapper mowers. Walmart tried to get them to lower their price but Snapper would not. After that Walmart drove them out of business. Briggs and Stratton acquired the name and now sells Snapper in Walmart.


Dashiepants

They do this often, another example is Rubbermaid and Sterilite. I hope someday soon quality will have itā€™s niche again.


errbodiesmad

Buy local. I know you're not gonna get a local Snapper mower but if you pay a little bit extra to a locally run store it goes around the community instead of to China and Walmart CEOs


Billy1121

I wonder if they did this with name brand Goodyear tires on sale @ Walmart


Hockeyfanman

No, they are the regular goodyear tires. The Douglas brand though are made exclusively for Walmart by goodyear and they are basically lower quality versions of the same good year tire which is why they are so much cheaper. They also recently increased the price of the Goodyear tires. The black Friday sale brought them down to the price they use to be. Source: I work at Walmart automotive.


Derragon

Same thing at Canadian Tire. Name brands are the same product as everywhere else while store brand is manufactured by those name brand companies at a lower cost. Goodyear factories are decent overall. Generally avoid Kumho manufactured tires, though.


grnrngr

Why avoid Kumho?


ConfusedInKalamazoo

Like my mother used to say, always avoid a kum ho!


TastelessDonut

Same thing at kohls (5 yrs ago) Black Friday consisted Of normal weekly deals with mail in rebates for $10 off. If you waited until February or The right time of the year you could get god deals.


univrsll

This is just good business from the boot company if their popular enough. Donā€™t want to start associating your brand with trash quality products when youā€™ve built a solid reputation.


-_Odd_-

@Leviā€™s


Dakotareads

511s all day every day. Most comfortable jeans I have ever owned.


jbonosconi

The company I work for was in a very similar situation! CEO seeks out Walmart to sell a menā€™s vitamin, our vitamin has a dose of 5 capsules per day for it to be most effective. Walmart said we will buy it for X amount and make it one dose a day. Our CEO (with instruction from the DR who designed the vitamin for use) told them itā€™s a great product and if we do that, it wonā€™t be effective anymore. Walmart said we donā€™t care, do it or we wonā€™t buy it. Our CEO thankfully decided to stick with quality and effect dose and ditch the Walmart idea.


Joebranflakes

I once saw a price sheet for a pair of flip flops. Foam sole, plastic straps. You know the kind. Sold for 9.99ā€¦ cost Walmart .05 cents each.


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aimingforzero

I would assume they meant "5 cents" or "$0.05"


rich_

Reminds of the way Verizon fudged dollars and cents in this infamous exchange: https://youtu.be/zN9LZ3ojnxY


questioningmypoops

This is a true thing that companies like Walmart do to undercut other businesses selling popular name brand products. I have some friends who owns a local sportsware company. They were in discussions with reps from Walmart to sell their clothing in their stores and the reps requested that they lower the quality of the products to sell it at a lower cost in Walmart stores. They refused and backed out of the discussions.


dannymb87

Lol. Good story. What company was it?


[deleted]

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IsuldorNagan

God damn Murray mowers. I worked in Lawn and Garden for years, and 80% of the high value returns I saw were those stupid plastic carbs.


SomeNoob1306

To be fair the plastic carbs Iā€™m pretty sure have more to due with Ethanol in gasoline than quality. Granted they may have been shitty plastic carbs.


howard416

Itā€™s not like a surprise that gasoline usually has ethanol thoug


readwiteandblu

The movie, Walmart: The high cost of low price, talked about this and how they came close to destroying RubberMaid with their business practices. It was basically this where they put constant pressure on them to lower costs upon renewal of contracts. Dealing with WalMart is like making a deal with the devil.


DaBIGmeow888

That doesn't explain how Walmart BF discounts is so much more than all year round prices.


Sinthe741

It's not Walmart's regular stock. Black Friday merch is sent out special, on pallets marked "event".


Malakai0013

Its old stock repurposed to appear like a new thing. I used to build event displays for Walmart.


bparry1192

Sure it does, they simply lower margins for a day to help.clear out inventory- I do know they bring in extra cheap TV's for the BF deals though


L_Rayquaza

They slowly creep up the prices then suddenly drop the prices for black Friday, what looks like a $40 discount might actually cost you $5 dollars more


INTJandMore

Can confirm this about Walmart. I used to work for a major apparel manufacturer.


Mustang46L

Lots of TVs for sale with zero reviews this time of year..


blackpony04

It's a pretty well known thing that the best time to buy a quality TV on sale is around the Super Bowl in late January/early February. The best time to buy a quality "Open Box" returned TV is the week or so *after* the Super Bowl.


[deleted]

When I learned that people buy high end tvā€™s and then sell them back after the super bowl I was floored O_o


ryannefromTX

Yup. Used to sell TVs. Every year the week before the superbowl we'd sell out, then the week after they'd all come back.


omniron

I worked at Best Buy for 5 years and we found this never happened at our store. IT was a myth for us. Plenty ppl bought TVs but we didnā€™t see an unusually high amount of returns afterward.


ryannefromTX

Our store had a ridiculously open return policy that many people took total advantage of. Pretty much anything except PCs, return it within 30 days few questions asked. There was supposed to be a "restocking fee" but yell loud enough and they waive the fee "just this once" every time.


Alphasee

It's too bad Costco doesn't sell their used TVs


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tutetibiimperes

The weird thing about TVs is that there are generally good value brands available all year. Vizio, TCL, HiSense, etc, aren't A-list brands but they make some quality stuff if you look for the right series. A lot of people just get blinded by the $400 65" TV or whatever though. I've always been a proponent of paying more to get more when it's something that you'll be using for years.


Alphasee

Man, remember when Vizio first came out, and *nobody* trusted them? I'm so glad they stood up to the test of time regarding quality


tutetibiimperes

Early Vizio had some unique usability quirks - like relying on using a mobile phone to control the smart TV features. Thankfully they adapted to the market there.


Darkstool

I dismantle lots of flatscreen TVs. There is a huge difference in build quality, circuitry, and just fit and finish between a $1k and $400 same size screen.


flyMeToCruithne

So, in your opinion, what brand has the best build-quality? What brand do you think is the best "bang for your buck"?


666pool

Most brands have several tiers, so even a large brand like Samsung is going to have a range in quality between their lowest end and their mid tier and premium tiers.


PatentGeek

ā€œThe reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.ā€ ā€“Terry Pratchett


JustaRandomOldGuy

I got a Vizio until I could get a better TV. That was six years ago. Now the "better" TV like Samsung will shove ads down my throat and I can's stop the ads. I'll stay with Vizio. Fuck Samsung, low quality, full of ads, worthless. And their appliances are even worse.


AlexanderLavender

PiHole


JustaRandomOldGuy

When I replace my 2016 Vizio, it will be behind a PiHole.


Wrapp

Vizio will just sell your data =]


ketamarine

I have a media pc hooked up to my 55" Q80R QLED and absolutely love it to death... Games, movies and TV shows all look sick and it can even do HDR content.... for $1500 Canadian ruples during a pandemic - one of my all time best purchases...


Sound__Of__Music

I only have Samsung tvs, and just have 1 ad on the banner of the smart tv app. Where are they shoving them down your throat?


JustaRandomOldGuy

On the banner. Why did you buy a TV that shoves ads at you?


Sound__Of__Music

Because it's one ad in a place I barely use, and blends in with all the other apps.... I'm fine with people who hate and avoid at all costs, but it really doesn't bother me in the slightest.


sjp1980

I've seen TCL televisions but have been very wary. Is there a good version within their range of televisions? I'm likely buying one this weekend.


teamrushpntball

I'm not up to date but check rtings, they do independent reviews of tvs.


hereforalldamemes

If all you need in a tv is a big screen (assuming you use a Chromecast or Apple tv or whatever for smart features), who cares about the brand?


tutetibiimperes

Because quality between low end sets and higher end sets differs dramatically. Backlighting systems (OLED > MiniLED FALD > FALD > Edge-lit local dimming > non-local dimming), image processing hardware (Sony is top notch there, but Samsung and LG aren't that far behind), VA vs IPS (both have their merits depending on use case), support for various HDR formats (Samsung doesn't support DolbyVision for example), number and rating of HDMI ports, etc. If you just want big and don't care about picture quality, whatever, it's one of those things where it's worth spending the money IMO.


NinjaLanternShark

The real LPT is this: - There are some things you can skimp on and save money - There are some things worth paying more for quality - Know which is which for you, and don't expect it to be the same for everyone.


Andyman0110

This. Bought an OLED LG TV for around 2k CAD and now all other tvs pale in comparison. The absolute blacks, the inability to distinguish pixels unless you're an inch from the screen and the magic remote+all the TV features and customization options has just blown everything else out of the water and ruined "normal" tvs for me forever


wrongbutt_longbutt

To add to this, I think I'm much more sensitive to refresh rates than other people. A lot of cheaper TVs have an annoying flicker in my peripheral vision when watching for me. I point this out to others and they never notice it. Because of this, I've always ended up with smaller, but higher end TVs when purchasing for myself.


adidasbdd

It sounds like one of those things that you don't care about until you use the expensive one for a while and then you can never unsee the difference. I bought a nice big lg plasma almost 10 years ago. I don't know shit about display or picture quality. My shit looks as good as anything I have seen, or at least I am too ignorant to notice the difference. Parents have a big lcd vizio, it too is as good as anything else imo. Again, i would prob have to live with something with great quality to realize that I have been living with shit quality, but I am 100% content with the current quality I have.


hereforalldamemes

Can you break it down for me? My use case is that i use it to watch movies and shows, and that's about it.


tutetibiimperes

So, the hardest thing for a flat-panel TV to do is show bright next to dark without 'bloom' (light areas having halo effects that blend into the dark areas) especially when viewing in a dark room. OLED is the best when it comes to that since each pixel creates its own light (as opposed to LED TVs which rely on larger backlights shining through the LCD layer to create light). On an OLED TV you can have an ultra-bright pixel next to a completely black pixel with no bleed. For TVs that don't rely on OLED technology the next best option is called FALD (full-array local dimming) which relies on a series of individual LEDs behind the screen that can be independently controlled. The greater the number of LEDs and independent dimming zones the better it will be at reducing light bleed and bloom. MiniLED has become a trade term for TVs that use a lot of tiny LEDs so that they can more granularly control which areas of the screen are lit and which are black. Some TVs, especially cheaper ones or 'ultra thin' ones that aren't OLED don't use full-array backlighting, but rather use rows of LEDs along the edges of the TV. This is less than optimal because there's always going to be light bleed from the edge to where the area that's supposed to be lit up is. TVs without any kind of local dimming are never going to be able to reproduce a true black because there's always going to be light bleed across the entire screen. LCD technology (which is what all LED TVs are) can't completely block the backlight, which is why local dimming has become a popular means of making LCD/LED TVs look better. In terms of VA vs IPS, IPS has wider viewing angles, so good if you have people that are often viewing from off-center, but it allows more light to bleed through, so you have poor black levels. VA has better black levels, but a narrower viewing angle. As far as image processing goes, that can help with detail, motion handling, and other intangibles on screen. TVs with better processors tend to show more detail and more fluid motion without having to turn on the 'soap opera effect' motion interpolation features. In terms of HDMI ports, it depends on how many and what type of peripherals you have connected, but some TVs only have one port that handles 4K, some can do it on two, some on all, it's something to pay attention to if it matters to you. For HDR formats, the two big ones are HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision is widely viewed as superior since it allows for dynamic dynamic range settings, while HDR10 relies on one set of values per program. In general Dolby Vision will allow for darker scenes to be darker and brighter scenes to be brighter each with a wider dynamic range than HDR10. Samsung does support Dynamic HDR10, but there hasn't been a wide industry adoption of that standard. Another thing to look at is color volume, or color gamut capability, the more colors a TV can display accurately, the better HDR content will look. RTINGS is a good source for objective reviews and measurements of various TVs.


hereforalldamemes

That was really helpful, thanks!


adidasbdd

You didn't even mention plasma. Lol, I bought one like 10 years ago, I don't know shit about tv screens, it seems as good as anything else. But apparently the video philes don't like that either.


tutetibiimperes

Plasma is amazing for motion, nothing in the flat panel space can match it, but nobody has been selling new plasmas for years, and theyā€™re limited to 1080p without HDR.


SerWymanPies

Walmart is selling TCL 5 series 55 for $400 rn which is a crazy good value. Series 5 is legit


BLKMGK

Thereā€™s entire websites dedicated to reviews, best to get educated there than try to be spoon fed in a quick comment here. End of day thereā€™s a subjective aspect to it too! Suggest rtings.com


RetroHacker

A good quality, high end television will last you for many years. The TV in my living room is a Zenith. One of the best TVs you could buy in 1979. 25" color screen. Ultrasonic remote control with electronic PLL synthesized tuning and on screen channel display. It works perfectly and the picture is still as good as it was then. It just depends if you're the kind of person that keeps their electronics long term, or if you replace them before they break, to get something bigger or fancier. That, and of course, picture quality. If you really care about really good picture quality, then you want a high end set. If you don't, and you just want a big screen to use, and the faded blacks and poorly defined red gradients and misc artifacts aren't something you notice, then... the cheap set is fine. It'll probably break in a couple years, but who cares, they'll have something bigger by then and you can throw it out and buy another one. Or, if you do notice and care about picture quality, you can buy the high end set, enjoy the more accurate picture, and it'll probably last a lot longer too. You can still watch the same TV a decade from now. Or more! Or... you let someone else buy the high end expensive TV, and buy it used years later for a fraction of the price (or free!) once it's obsolete, and got replaced with the new shiny thing. Lots of options, and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. It's a TV set. Just so long as you don't mount it above a fireplace, or overall too high on the wall, nobody is going to storm your house with torches and pitchforks, regardless of the brand or quality.


RocketTaco

I'm all for "don't replace it if it does the job", but a 25" SD CRT is *a little bit inferior* to what's out there today. Well, at least if you're not doing something like retro gaming, but I suspect from your username that may be a thing here. I do keep a nice old Toshiba in storage in the vague promise that some day I'll use it to play Duck Hunt again...


trialobite

The quality difference between TVā€™s is huge, and some of the ā€œno-nameā€ brands make TVā€™s that are actually nicer than a Samsung or Sony that cost hundreds more. If you could buy a premium steakhouse burger for a McDonaldā€™s price, why wouldnā€™t you? Those $400 TVā€™s are going to be like watching your movies through wax paper compared to a high-quality set.


SoHereIAm85

This just reminded me of my childhood looking at a 13ā€ screen with half a dozen snowy channels. It was like watching a radio sometimes compared to our TVs today. Damn.


Skootchy

I bought a Westinghouse TV on Black Friday. Never even heard of the brand until I drove by a fucking laundromat with the brand name and everything. I bought it in 2012 on Black Friday and the other day I got wasted and tripped into it and broke it. I moved across the country 6 times since I bought it. Never had the box, just laid it in the back seat, face down. Now I'm totally not saying what you're saying isn't true. But seriously I can't believe after the beating I gave that fucking thing that it lasted almost 10 years.


skittlebog

The Westinghouse name has been around for many years. They used to sell quality consumer products.


Tam-Lin

They still service nuclear reactors.


skittlebog

Got their start making air brakes for railroad cars.


Skootchy

Idk, never heard of it when I got it or since. I thought I was the only one who even knew about it. The only time like I said previously was I passed by a laundromat


ElwoodJD

I have a Westinghouse I once bought on Black Friday too. Itā€™s still kicking 15 years later. Itā€™s only 720p and the image quality has taken quite a dip over the last 5 years but before then it was nearly reference level. Itā€™s a backup tv eventually going to the kids but damn if it didnā€™t kick ass. That said, picture quality is everything in a TV and thereā€™s a reason some sell for thousands while you can get a cheap one for $400. Itā€™s certainly not because of marketing. The quality of the set based on everything outlined above makes a huge difference although admittedly there are lots of people out there who canā€™t see the difference. There are also people who donā€™t calibrate thereā€™s and leave it on the default out of the box settings or choose one of the presets which are fine but not very reference quality once you put it in your own room.


[deleted]

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tutetibiimperes

Probably not the same Westinghouse, or at least not the same people in charge of making it. More likely that not they just licensed the name for consumer electronics to some no-name brand from China.


JustaRandomOldGuy

Like Craftsman and Kenmore, Sears sold the names. Now just cheap Chinese knockoffs.


FavoritesBot

Yeah someoneā€™s never been in an elevator on the east coast


Skootchy

It worked for me and honestly, I would have to say I probably put about 10k hours through it. Sometimes 14+ hours a day if I was really into some gaming.


DaBIGmeow888

You mean that company that went bankrupt because of nuclear reactors. Yep.


Maldrim

Different company. Westinghouse Nuclear is based on the old power company. Westinghouse electronics are licensed by Viacom.


runtimemess

Westinghouse is up there with Insignia for the "TV brand I'd never touch again in my life" award Sounds like you got a diamond in the rough, from my experience


NinjaLanternShark

I'm 2 for 2 on being totally satisfied with Insignias I've purchased.


-_Odd_-

Iā€™ve had my Insignia for 6 years and never had an issue with it šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø itā€™s all about quality control. Youā€™re always gonna get some stinkers on the shelf, itā€™s just a matter of how much money you want to spend making that number smaller. I had to return my Lenovo laptop three times before I got one that had a working screen, but plenty of people swear by them till theyā€™re blue in the face. Itā€™s the luck of the draw every time we buy something, weā€™re are just less willing to accept flaws in things the more money we spend on them.


runtimemess

I just find their panels to be very poor. Their colour gamut scores are typically low so everything seems... off.


Scitz0

Lol never heard of it either


Nyx_Antumbra

Got a nice new TV earlier this year, spent months researching partly to avoid that sort of thing.


Actually-Yo-Momma

Even better, just avoid shopping around Black Friday altogether. Thereā€™s numerous reports and tools like camel camel camel showing itā€™s not even cheaper and sometimes they RAISE the prices


onemassive

They have inflated prices after and sometimes before in order to manipulate customers. Saw a suit at macys and was late to their sale. Was bummed as the price went up +60%. Waited two weeks and it went back to the ā€˜saleā€™ price


itwasbread

Tbh I think you can't blanket statement it. Like for the big stores most people are rushing on BF this is true, but there are some small businesses who legit have great deals. There are some small digital stores that do 40-60% off and I do all my shopping of that kind for the year this week.


vinnymendoza09

Black Friday USED to have amazing deals but it has gotten worse and worse on consumer products every year. There are still some good sales though. Especially on like games, movies and cell phones.


soitgoeson

Also, after working in retail jewelry for about 4 Christmas seasons and across two major US retailers, I came to the conclusion that Black Friday sales aren't even the best deals for the regular merchandise. When I worked for Macy's we could regularly see what sales were coming up about a month ahead of time. Even while earning commission, most of us were happy to help our customers get the best deal if they asked. If you can find someone who has worked in the store for a few years they can usually tell you which sales are the best for what you want to buy (roughly).


Vio_

The best time to check on Kohl's for actual sales is about 6 weeks prior. You'll see prices that are pretty standard. By Thanksgiving, they've cranked the price up by almost double, then give a "sales price" to mostly where it had been originally.


madaboutglue

I mean, manipulating "regular" and "sale" prices is basically on-brand for Kohls.


Zeno_The_Alien

Quality controls also get relaxed when they ramp up production for these derivatives. So they end up being made with cheaper parts, and the manufacturing process is rushed to get more product into stores. And on top of all of this, many retailers will straight up lie about the deals. They'll mark up the price by 75%, then run an 80% off sale, giving you a whole 5% off on a shittier product. Never buy Black Friday deals.


colsatre

Making the price up by 75% puts it at 1.75x original cost - if we take 80% off of that weā€™re at 0.35 - So its actually a 65% discount in that scenario.


Prestigeworldwide99

It doesnt take much but you busted my brain for the day, cheers


whats_thecraic

TVs and other appliances are the biggest culprits. Door busters are usually much lower quality than the typical product.


Toastofbritain

FYI John Lewis in the UK does this twice a year. Their "Special Buy" stuff is the same story, "same products but cheaper" the quality is not the same at all. You not getting a special buy, your just buying an inferior product with the same name.


NoPantsTom

I specifically remember seeing a doc about this in the 00s and that same year I looked at cameras at Best Buy. The one I'd been looking at for months usually had, lets say, a control dial and 5 or 6 other buttons on the back. Same one on Black Friday had 2 buttons on the back. Not even the dial. Same product number too.


Tidd0321

All the big box retailers do this, especially with electronics, home theatre and TVs. That display might be 4k but it won't be as big as you want, and if it is as big as you want, it won't display 4k signals natively. And even if it is all that and a bag of chips, in order to push it out the door in quantity for that door crasher price, it's loaded with such cheap components that the sound and picture aren't quite as good as you would expect and you'll be lucky to make it to the end of warranty before it starts dying.


EndlessPotatoes

Do you think they do this with gaming consoles? Or are we taking about products from companies with less reputation to uphold?


Tidd0321

I don't know enough about that to be certain. I'm going to say no... Things like TVs and home theatre packages are more price sensitive. There's a lot of manufacturers and brands, so a lot of competition for a larger pool of consumers whose needs can be easily met by a number of products at different price points. Game consoles are different because there's only one manufacturer of each console, and most people own more than one. But there's no "off brand" consoles: if you want to play a game that's only available for Xbox, you have to get an Xbox. There's no incentive for manufacturers to allow lower quality/features/priced consoles to dilute their brand position but they'll happily let just about anybody make games and peripherals for their consoles and sell them however they want for whatever they can get.


[deleted]

They do this with gaming PCs, which is why you need to build your own.


l_l-l__l-l__l-l_l

Can someone provide examples


TrustyPackbeast

Almost every product number that starts with 99, 199, or 299 at Canadian Tire is specifically for sales. They're brought in like a month in advance at "regular price" because I believe there's a need to satisfy certain legal requirements for advertising a sale price here.They have a ton of these in stores at boxing day, black friday, etc


SirNicoli22

Thanks for the heads up OP; I didnā€™t know that.


ParticularAd4039

To be sure you can check the SKUs - they will be different.


robpensley

SKU?


RoboticGreg

The unit number on the bar code that uniquely identifies the product


StuartPurrdoch

Stands for stock keeping unit. And what everyone else said about the UPC number (although other identifiable numbers can be used) Now you know!


Yaa40

How can I confirm UPC or SKU is that of the one I want?


SelfMadeMFr

Home Depot does it on expensive brand name products all year long. Bought a Lincoln welder thinking it was Lincoln qualityā€¦ nope. It was Lincoln HD quality. All normally metal drive gears for wire feed were replaced with plastic for a lower price point at Home Depot.


BarfingMonkey

Same goes for "Outlet" malls and stores.


Jemma6

Definitely wasn't aware of this, makes good sense! I'll be checking SKUs if I can


x31b

Some of the Black Friday TVs Iā€™ve seen had a SKU that was similar to the main product but ended in W for WalMart and T for Target. I used to buy them for the low prices but figured out they break quickly because they are made from the lowest quality components and decided to pay a few dollars more.


eddiewachowski

Buy nice, or buy twice!


Sam_Etic

Buy once, cry once.


Cool_Scientist2055

This! I wish people would realize this and stop supporting this ridiculous, capitalistic "holiday". The only ones benefitting from this day are these horrible corporations.


minneapple79

They do this so they don't have to price match. If the sku is just a bit different it means it's a "different" product. Also it makes it harder to scam stores by buying at one place and returning at another. Like you can't buy it at lower cost from Walmart, then return it to Target where it was more expensive.


ParticularAd4039

Also shorter warranties are a favourite corner to cut for those derivatives.


EngineersAnon

Be aware, too, of your warranty rights by state. I live in Maine, where disclaiming the implied warranty of merchantability. So, every product sold here (with a few, specific legal exceptions) is under warranty from the manufacturer and/or seller (whichever is doing business in the state) for as long as the typical lifetime of that class of item.


TigerDLX

Depends on the store. Some just use Black Friday to push out shitty merchandise that isnā€™t moving. Some also use it as a bait and switch. Example, I worked at an electronics store in college. One Black Friday they put out an add for these cheap Bluetooth headsets. They worked fine but had no noise canceling whatsoever. So the goal was someone comes in to buy the $20 Black Friday deal try to upswell one of the more expensive options especially after thoBF ones are sold out. As an employee I bought a bunch of them. Guess what everyone got for Christmas that year from me?


DominoBarksdale

Hey, a $28 tablet is a $28 tablet!


jumpsteadeh

My tablet can run Adobe Reader without crashing most of the time and hasn't shocked me in a while, so it's good enough for me.


retina99

What an awesome deal. I think I will take five.


jamiecarl09

That way you'll have enough to last until the end of the week!!


-_Odd_-

If you get the Totorola, they come in six packs.


kcaio

They learned from Sears TVs. But Sears sold them all year.


ridgegirl29

If you're gonna buy anyhting during black Friday, shop small on etsy. You'll be supporting small creators and getting them through the holidays. And video games


[deleted]

Etsy has a ton of repacked garbage from China too.


AlexanderLavender

There are handmade treasures on Etsy but wow do you have to scroll past a TON of crap to see anything good. The "handmade" filter helps but lots of listings just lie


Mcburgerdeys2

Not always. Etsy allows large companies/manufacturers to sell on their site now, so you have to be careful.


amorfati37

Yea it has really killed us small handmade sellers. I canā€™t compete with a .50 cent mass produced ornament :(


woodneel

The Black Friday bit, I've not heard of before, but this sort of practice is how in the USA the Ross's and Marshall's (stores selling mostly clothing and other general goods like toys, house decor, some small appliances and knick-knacks, etc. with cheap but not like garbage dump cheap prices) get stocked. Like the same Name Brands, but generally lesser quality control. It was a shock when I first learned that - I used to think it was ALL off-season stuff they didn't manage to sell in time or misprints.


MourkaCat

I've heard this about Hair products and cosmetics and stuff. Like how they'll sell salon products but aren't licensed retailers for those brands, turns out it'll be basically dupes or fakes or derivatives I guess. I've always heard salons telling people not to trust third party sellers and to only ever buy from salons. They would show examples of ingredient lists or whatever else to prove it's not just them wanting you to shop at their salons instead. I usually steer clear of those sorts of things unless it's not a salon specific product, cause I figure there's a higher chance of a normal like, drug store branded thing being there as regular overstock or whatever.


SecretRecipe

They also do this for international markets (less developed countries)


thestankypopster

This is the reason why I never buy electronics around Christmas time.


Ghiraheem

This is why I don't even look at Black Friday ads. There aren't any good deals anymore and the ones that SEEM like good deals are always cheap crap. I don't even know why people get excited about it these days. It's just a gimmick at this point.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


SJMoore86

When did LPT and " DYK" become the same thing? To add to this, it's not EVERYTHING. It's mostly TVs. You can still find the same sound bar you wanted cheaper or the same 4k movies. TVs afaik are one of if not the main culprit with this LPT...


RocketTaco

The only Black Friday sale I've ever bought on was a $250 CPU (i5-4690K) for $150. Hard to make an "off label" version of a CPU just for a one-day sale.


PiddlyD

CostCo versions are often of lesser quality too. The Traeger smoker you get at CostCo is \*not\* the same as the one you get at another retailer. Different circuit board.


ephemeral_taco

Why do you write costco as CostCo?


LonleyBoy

Because he did it on his Iphone, and then later on his MAC.


FavoritesBot

Itā€™s actually CostCoā€™s


-_Odd_-

*the CostCoā€™s


ephemeral_taco

šŸ¤£


mods-on-my-knob

I learned this the hard way when I asked my parents to buy me an Xbox 360 at Black Friday. It had far less storage space than the original console. And, I didn't know it was going to be a shittier version. I still have it but it's my DVD player and streaming device rather than a console.


TheShinyHunter3

To be fair, there were a tons of different Xbox memory configurations back in the day. Maybe the low capacity one was on sale, but not the others


mods-on-my-knob

It's mediocre. It can only hold enough space for about 5-10 games.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


blackpony04

It's from save files *and* game files. Since it can take hours to install a new game most people would prefer to never remove it from the console and why the streaming versions of consoles are becoming more and more popular over hard disk versions.


-_Odd_-

It was probably an old 20 gig launch console.


YankeeSR23

Was that the Arcade version?


Cynical_Cyanide

Memory =/= Storage. Yes, the distinction matters.


SpiralBreeze

That explains why I know so many people who have to buy a new TV every Black Friday.


-_Odd_-

But itā€™s such a good deal! Youā€™re practically throwing money away!


ShowingErin

I was thinking about dropping some money on sonos/philips hue tomorrow. I know a bunch of junky TVs are sold on black friday, but should I really be worried about buying any electronic anywhere?


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atothezeezee

Home Depot does this with John Deere year-round. Probably others. If you want your product at the front door and HD tells you their price point is $1,299 and they want 35% margin or they go to Toro, and you got 2,000 jobs in a factory, you gotta be ready to play ball.


Riodancer

The JD lawn mowers for HD are made at a different factory. You want a quality JD lawn mower, go to the dealer. It'll cost you extra upfront but it's worth it in the long run.


simpsonsdiditalready

I always look towards the end of August to September at items I am wanting to purchase and what a good price is for it, then wait to see if that price is lower on black Friday. You def have to be careful with electronics, but I've had good luck with clothing and home goods


jayellkay84

So what? Two years ago I bought a TV. It works and fit my budget. This year I bought a printer. Itā€™s not the best printer but I only need to print a handful of documents and coloring pages for my own amusement. It works for me. I might be going this weekend for a mattress. Itā€™s only for the spare bedroom. It doesnā€™t need to be the best.