Amazon’s Black Friday 2018…as it happens
We are in the midst of Black Friday, so I thought I’d do a little check-in while my Significant Other goes to the gym. 😉
First, as regular readers my recall, Black Friday is our favorite “date” of the year. We go into the stores specifically to buy things for Toys for Tots. We have a budget, and we have our own guidelines:
- Nothing with batteries
- Nothing with a lot of little parts (some recipients may have to move relatively often)
- We like to get some things for older kids (who tend to not to be the first ones on most people’s minds)
- I especially like to get well-known brands and characters…recipients do know who Black Panther and Wonder Woman are, for example. I think it can make people feel more “normal” if they have things they think other people have
- We get some traditional toys
- We also want to get inspirational things, something that can open the world (and imaginations)…maybe give an idea for a path in life. That, of course, includes books
After we are done shopping, we take the toys to a fire station…they love getting them!
As to the standing outside waiting to get-in? We like it! We chat with other people…this year, it was funny, somebody came up and said hi to me who we had chatted with last year. 😉
Speaking of last year…the crowds were definitely smaller!
We went to Target, and got there maybe fifteen minutes before it opened at 7:00 AM. There were only about twenty people in line. By the time it did open, there were still quite a bit under 100, I think.
Target did have a nice cart in which I could ride while my SO pushed…designed for people with disabilities (I have one). It wasn’t easy to manage because it was so long, but I couldn’t have walked around the store very well.
My SO noted that the toys seemed to be more expensive this year, speculating if it was because of the closure of Toys R Us (removing downward price competition). That’s possible…I think we got fewer items, but “bigger” ones, for the most part.
Half Price Books was the same. We got there about half an hour before it opened at 9:00…and there was one person there. I didn’t see how many people were in line when it opened, but probably under 100 again.
Half Price Books is one of those places that I think can do well with the online competition existing. People shopping there like it, and it has a good sense of discovery (they do have some new books, but they also buy used/collectible books directly from locals). They brought coffee out to people waiting in line. It’s worth noting that there were a lot of older people, and some kids…but I wouldn’t say there were a lot of millenials in line. That’s interesting, since millenials tend to be big buyers of paperbooks, from what I’ve seen.
I could see how the brick-and-mortar Black Friday shopping could become an anachronism within ten years (and I’m a former brick-and-mortar store manager). Some people would still do it, and it might be more common in certain parts of the country…but stores could go back to opening normal hours.
Now, as to that online shopping at Amazon…
While there are certainly lots of great deals on
Amazon’s Black Friday page (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*).
I wanted to start with today’s
Kindle Daily Deal (at AmazonSmile…benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)
There are 161 titles listed…looks like they are all under $5, except for the
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged 3rd Revised ed. Edition, Kindle Edition (at AmazonSmile*)
which is $14.99…which is 75% off the regular digital list price of $59.95.
There are many well-known books and authors in today’s list, and many well-reviewed books (in some cases, all three).
Here are ten I’ll note…remember that you can buy these today at this discounted price, and then delay the delivery until the appropriate gift-giving occasion, or send them to yourself to print out and give whenever you want. Books like these make great gifts…big or small!
- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande | 4.8 stars out of 5 | 7175 customer reviews | $4.99
- The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl | 4.7 stars | 4380 reviews | $1.97
- Call Me By Your Name by by André Aciman (inspiration for the recent movie)
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (2017 Newberry winner) | 4.7 stars | 171 reviews | $1.99
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | 4.6 stars | 12114 reviews | $3.99
- A Game of Thrones (A Song of Fire and Ice #1) | 4.6 stars | 9838 reviews | $2.99
- Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read | 4.6 stars | 337 reviews | $1.99
- Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly (A Ballard and Bosch Novel #1) 4.4 stars | 575 reviews
- City by Clifford D. Simak (classic science fiction) | 4.5 stars | 277 reviews
The deals on
Amazon Devices (at AmazonSmile*)
are as expected…excellent! 😉
My top recommendations:
There is a giant discount on the
Echo Look (at AmazonSmile*) | 3.4 stars | 148 reviews
That’s always seemed like an odd duck to me…but if you are interested, it’s 75% (!) off: $49.99 instead of $199.99.
That may seem like a good price for an Echo device, but it’s limited…no calling, messaging, or Bluetooth. I’m guessing this is the last hurrah for the Echo Look, but we’ll see.
Here are some non-Amazon device deals, good through midnight Pacific time on Friday:
- Instant Pot $69.99 instead of $139.95 (50% off)
- 23andMe DNA kit $99.99 (50% off)…also on sale, Wisdom Panel dog DNA kit for $49.99 (41% off)
- select Seagate hard drives starting at $39.99
- select Chromebooks (that’s what my non-techie SO uses) from $399.99
- Blue Yeti USB microphones: 30% off roughly
- Oculus Rift and Touch VR ($50 off…$349). Perhaps more interesting, even though it isn’t just Black Friday: Oculus Go 32GB ($20 off…$179)
That’s just a tiny percentage of the deals…remember that there may be even bigger deals on some things on Cyber Monday. Sales will also continue (but change) through the weekend.
Other deals you’ve seen/gotten you’d like to share with me and my readers? Feel free to do so by commenting on this post.
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* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get. 
Shop ’til you help!
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
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