Black Friday 2021 Poll: Found any tech bargains yet?

Well, first of all, I would like to point out that the participation to this poll was very low compared to the previous ones. Is it due to a general fed up after days of media hype? Or a total indifference towards this commercial event? Perhaps you were simply too busy shopping frantically and captivated by our fascinating selections that you forgot to go and vote?

I know, we're just trying to make ourselves feel better. But if there's one general feeling that comes out of this poll, it's disappointment at worst and feigned indifference at best.

Apparently, you did not buy anything during Black Friday

I don't have any precise data on this subject, but if only based on the page views of our Black Friday deals selections, this assumption seems false. But according to our survey, the absolute majority of our 4 reader bases (France, Germany, Brazil, US/India) declared not to have bought anything during Black Friday.

A little less surprising but still, among those who bought something during Black Friday, the majority did not buy any tech product. I say it's less surprising because it was also the case for me. Due to the lack of PS5 restocking, I didn't have any tech products to buy, and threw my money at a pair of New Balance Utility X-Racer and my annual batch of boxers and socks.

But this survey, as explained above, is not necessarily the most representative one we have produced due to its low participation. Especially since I have the impression - and this is a personal opinion - that some people wanted to present a principled opposition to Black Friday rather than a rejection in reaction to bad promos.

What I mean by that is that I wonder how many people who said they didn't buy anything really didn't? And how many of them say they didn't buy anything because they don't want to "play the game" of Black Friday. It's well known that we tend to hate it when an ad works on us.

"In fact, this tsunami of advertising for the Frail Black Friday has had the opposite effect on me: I haven't looked at ANYTHING anywhere. In short, too much Frail Black Friday has killed the Frail Black Friday." - Jerome69Paris

"The only thing about the blaque frailledais that I used was the promo for another plan than my current Sosh 80GB at €15, I switched today to NRJ Mobile with a 70GB at €7.99 with no time limit." - Jerome69Paris

A lot of false promotions and few discounts, according to you

This is one point in this survey that I won't try to contradict. I could see it myself when I was checking the many Black Friday deals for you. A very large portion of the promos had an inflated price tag, indicating a false discount. If I had to determine an average discount at first glance and knowing that I almost failed my maths finals, I'd say we were around 10-15% off.

That's not very much and it's far from the 60% or more discount that most of the French readers were expecting, for example, as illustrated by our survey on your buying intentions before Black Friday.

"I received the Samsung Galaxy A80 at the time as a real bargain, but I haven't seen any other offers since. What I would have wanted (tablet, laptop) cost as much as usual, the Playstation Plus subscription was 1/3 cheaper, I jumped at the chance. For me, those are the deals that speak for a Black Friday." - Alexander R

Basically, I'll only remember a handful of deals like the Apple AirPods Max for $480, the OnePlus 9 Pro for $799, and some very good deals on Samsung devices.

But I completely understand the clear majority of you who considered that Black Friday prices were still too high or that the crossed out prices were too often inflated. And personally, I'm kind of glad because we're about the only ones in the tech press who checked the real recommended prices and compared those real prices to determine the real discounts.

What's Christmas? Is it to be eaten?

You've already made that clear to us in our survey on Christmas 2021 buying intentions, and you've confirmed it in this one. You are literally beating your brains out with glee about your Christmas shopping!

Most of you said you didn't buy anything during Black Friday to prepare for holiday gifts. But in fact, the vast majority of you simply didn't plan to buy anything to prepare for Christmas during Black Friday. Bravo Antoine, we could have done without this question.

Conclusion

Well, I squirmed on my chair trying to explain or even presume any contradiction or lack of representativeness of this survey. But I think that in any case, we have to face the reality of the numbers.

Just as Amazon can't fool me with its inflated slash prices, you obviously haven't been fooled by a commercial operation whose growing popularity year after year is hard to understand when "nobody" is participating.

What is certain is that more people would participate if the discounts were as interesting as those you can get during real sales periods. Maybe retailers should look into this. And maybe publishing Black Friday selections TWO WEEKS before the big day has contributed, at least in part, to the depletion of consumer goodwill.

Regardless, I hope NextPit's coverage of the event helped the minority of Black Friday attendees get some real bargains. And I thank you all for participating in this survey and venting a bit in the comments! I'll see you all on Friday for a new survey of the week.

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Original Article

So, the day has finally arrived - Black Friday 2021 has taken place and before we move on to Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, let's take a quick look at the shopping experience with this week's poll. Who discovered good deals out there? Who got ripped off with discounted prices? Tell us all about it, there is no shame in doing so as no one will judge you (except me).

Haaaaah! Did you feel it? That primal instinct of the hunter-gatherer returning to his tribe, his chest bulging as he carries the game he's just clobbered by the sweat of his brow and the strength of his hands? I don't either, but I think that's how the fathers or mothers must feel after buying an OLED display that is on special offer at Amazon and other online retailers during Black Friday 2021.

Yes, the smart buyer, the one who reads NextPit, doesn't get fooled despite being flooded with so many commercial promotions. He checks and compares prices to avoid falling for a fake discount. And above all, he resists the blackmail to buy by respecting his wish list that is set in stone right down to the very last item. As for you, you are part of that club, the Alpha consumer, the elite among the cyber-buyers, I say, the pantheon of the paladins of modern consumerism?

What did you buy? (yes, I am indiscreet and am totally relaxed, so what)?

I suspect there must be some champion shoppers with a 5th degree in promo code hunting among you. But let's see who's got the best deals and the most profitable bargains, shall we?

As we've explained many times in our multiple articles on the subject, fake promos are common during Black Friday. Normally, you were perfectly armed to avoid the most in-your-face promotional materials from the merchants. But I'd like to know on a more general level what you think about discounts that you discovered during your research.

Did you find a lot of artificially inflated crossed-out prices when you compared them? Did the amount of discounts seem worthy of a sale period?

Good deals or great scams?

Finally, I have one last question. I know that multiple question surveys are boring. But come on, all I ask for is 2 additional minutes of brain time and I'll let you enjoy your weekend, I promise! I just want to know whether you managed to complete all your Christmas shopping this Black Friday 2021.

• Also read: Christmas 2021: Buy your gifts now!

Much has been said about the topic, from buying intentions to component shortages, Black Friday is the time when consumers prepare their gifts for the holiday season. But was there enough supply this year to meet your needs?

Let's do it again for Christmas?

Thank you in advance to all those who will participate in this survey and especially, those who shared their choices with me in the comments. It's time to let you go. I also hope that you were able to find your happiness at a good price and that our various guides and our selections were useful to you. Finally, I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next week to discuss the results.