Last night after I wrote my post I read an article on CNN called “ Dirty Secrets of Black Friday doorbusters“.
Some things I knew already one thing in particular I did not know. I knew that stores often only got a handful of doorbuster items which I agree with the article is stupid. I also knew that even if you got a raincheck or ordered online that you may still never get the item. I find the online scenario to be bad business in particular since you in good faith purchased the item but then a few weeks even months later get an email saying the order was canceled. Meanwhile you have stopped looking for that particular item or something similar thinking you have one coming to you.
What I was not aware of was that many of the T.V. doorbuster models are derivatives. This is a term I have never heard before in conjunction with television.
From another article on Black Friday Television Doorbuster deals from Consumer Reports “Not surprisingly, though, the best deals we’ve seen are on sets designated as “doorbuster specials,” which are typically available only in very limited quantities, and sell out very early in the day, often before the store’s usual opening time. More interesting—to me, at least—are the special “derivative” models listed in the ads. These are one-off TVs with unfamiliar model numbers usually designed to be sold for a limited time, such as Black Friday, or though special distribution, such as mass merchants (like Walmart, Target) or warehouse clubs. Usually these sets have a few less features than standard models, so they aren’t directly comparable.”
These may very well be great televisions. What I wonder though is how good the deal really is since you may be buying a model that has less features than the other models the store normally carries thus making it a cheaper set? If you are buying a lesser quality item even though it’s the same size are you really saving money?
Another point in the article that they bring up, that I also brought up to my husband the other day before reading the article. Many of the doorbuster prices aren’t that much better or even better at all then a good sale price that we have seen before.
“We’re all about saving a hundred dollars or more, but it’s not the kind of savings that would drag us out of a warm bed on a cold morning—especially knowing that everyday TV prices seldom rebound to pre-Black Friday levels once those sales are over.
In fact, Kmart’s ad has Panasonic’ s TC-P42C1 set, a 720p model, listed at $550. That’s the same price I saw the TV this weekend at Target as part of a “pre-holiday” sale.”
I think it’s important to be informed as to exactly what you are buying and making sure that it has all the features that you want. If I had not read these articles I don’t think it would have ever crossed my mind that some stores were offering lesser quality Televisions in their sales.
