The Black Friday “Bonanza”

As I am writing this today, on Black Friday of the very tumultuous 2020, I want to search first of all where did the name come from?

According to the Telegraph, the term Black Friday was actually first associated with financial crisis, not sales shopping, referring to Friday 24 September, 1869 when the US gold market crashed.

Also, “when shops in the US recorded their accounting details by hand, they noted profits in black and losses in red“. And usually these companies’ profits plummeted just after Thanksgiving.

Fast forward a few years, the term was first associated to this particular day, because the police officers in Philadelphia had to work extra to manage the the crowds that were out of control and so they called it the Black Friday more as a negative experience for themselves. But the term stuck and it is now heavily used in advertising (you can read the full article here)

I used to be a hoarder (I still am a tiny bit, but I am trying to find a balance between trying to be eco and reusing stuff and keeping unnecessary stuff for “future projects” ). The only times I was realizing that I had too many things that I don’t need or use, was when I was moving. And I moved quite a few times. And the hassle and expense of moving these things should have thought me a lesson, but I kept repeating it over and over again. I used to fall in the trap of buying things on sale just because they are on sale or buying cheap things just because they are cheap.

And then I started getting more interested in environmental issues. I remember the first time that I started thinking about consumerism and waste was when I read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson (I remember buying it online, second hand and it is now with my sister as I like to continue the cycle of moving things around so that other people can benefit as well, in fact my sis and I are exchanging most of our books). Her approach seemed a bit radical for me at the time, but it definitely opened my mind to start making simple changes that were more cost effective and more eco and it stroke me, how in the world I didn’t think about that before?

How was I fooled into buying endlessly plastic razors with a pink tax on top when I can have a more fancy looking unisex steel razor that I only need to buy once and just change the blades? How did I get fooled into buying so many cleaning products that have so many harmful chemicals? How did I get fooled into buying cheap clothes made in very unethical conditions? etc etc

Well I thought about it today when I saw a quote “Stop buying crap and the companies will stop making crap” and I think this is only half of the problem really.

Yes, I needed a big awakening moment and it started with that book and many others after; articles and documentaries and also Mark’s help who was always saying how I don’t need all this stuff. And I started getting better at it in time and with patience as I couldn’t switch my mindset over night.

But let’s think a little bit about big, big companies that have a lot of money to spend for analyzing the customers’ behavior, hobbies, preferences. Data is King nowadays and companies use all sort of ways to get our data and sometimes not in the most orthodox ways (you remember Cambridge Analytica). Loyalty cards, subscribe, take this survey, create a free account, get this, accept this etc.

Sure, GDPR came in handy, but that doesn’t stop conglomerates from collecting data (through terms that we just accept and agree without reading because yes, they are long and boring) in order to suggest you more things to buy and oh waw, that’s exactly what I needed. Did you? Or did the company make you think that’s what you need?

If you are in the UK and have access to BBC Player, I would recommend that you watch this documentary Amazon: What They Know About Us and you will understand the humongous effort that they do to get to know our behavior to use this and make us buy more. I mean, they even have employees hired to listen to your Amazon Alexa recordings!

And I am not saying this to make you ditch your Alexa, that is not sustainable either. I am just telling you these things so that you can start building an awareness. Ask questions, do more research, think about it, do you need this? Do you really need a same day delivery or can you encourage a small local business by ordering from them? Or buy reused stuff (there are plenty of online platforms and when charity shops will reopen, go and find something special while supporting a good cause as well! I found so many nice things in charity shops over the years).

I know, it’s hard, but it’s also hard because companies hire very smart people and they have a lot of money to invest in adverts, marketing, they create algorithms to get you addicted (watch The Social Dilemma). But surely if we start paying more attention, we can make little changes that in time it will make us ignore these big flashy sales.

And I know, companies are going through a hard time and a lot of shops were closed so they need all the revenue that they can get. But where are we going now again mostly? To big companies again? Big brands having big sales. Amazon third-quarter earnings soar as pandemic sales triple profits; but While Amazon temporarily raised its wage rates, workers allege that only in April did masks become mandatory and warehouses over the summer were often uncomfortably hot.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any beef with Amazon in particular, it is just to give you a starting point and it is the most recognizable example so that I can make my case. In fact, I still watch videos on Amazon prime and I have a lot of books on kindle, but when it comes to physical stuff, I look somewhere else first and only if, and that’s rare, only if I can’t find it anywhere else, I go with Amazon. But the point is, support local and smaller businesses first.

So here’s a list of suggestions that helped me so far (and I am still working on it and I fail sometimes, but I’m doing much better than before):

• Only buy what you need (that seems overly simplistic, but it’s the most practical way of living and you might tell me, no, no, no, no, no I need more clothes and shoes than that. OK, why don’t you start by only buy what you will wear? Trust me, I used to have clothes that didn’t see the shine of light, hidden in the cupboard and that is not OK. The best way is to buy quality things that will last and that you will manage to rotate and re-style and keep wearing them. Buy only things that fit and that you absolutely love so that you want to wear them all the time. For me, it’s even better to buy them second hand because I usually get very high quality for a much smaller price);
• One in, One Out (since we left travelling in a motorhome, having a tiny space and reduced number of stuff, if we ever wanted something else, we needed to get rid of something. And I don’t mean throw it, I mean sell or donate and we are keeping to this principle, I am in the middle of changing my wardrobe now so I made a bag for charity, gifted some stuff to a friend and selling some other online);
• Black Friday might be good sometimes (oh, wait Daniela, you spent most of the time for this article writing that Black Friday is bad! True, but, if there is any specific item that you actually need, say a fridge, you can buy one on sale as you will most probably afford better quality for a fraction of the price although, we managed to even get a fridge second hand that was perfectly fine);
• Unsubscribe! (if you’re getting too many emails from a lot of companies trying to sell you stuff, you might fall pray to it so maybe try to avoid temptations)
• Buy experiences or… food/drink related gifts! (sure, we can’t travel now, but many companies offer trips and experiences for the next year; try to find companies that put effort into providing authentic, local, sustainable options. And with Christmas around the corner and many people having the tradition of buying expensive gifts that are many times unnecessary, for me personally it is better to get something that I can either eat or use in my art, so my tip is go for something useful. Look for hampers or make your own, it’s cheaper and more creative! We did this one year for Christmas: bought baskets that people could reuse for storage and filled them up with nice stuff from the supermarket or local shops, wine merchants 😁 or you could go for books, courses, personal development vouchers etc).
• Support Artists and Craftsmen (and not because I’m an artist and I want to advertise myself haha, but artists are going through a tough time, and a personalized painting or a piece of art in general or a handmade object of a very good quality will last … well… forever!)

If I think of anything else, I will add it later on. That’s it for today, as Vivienne Westwood said: Buy Less, Choose Well, Make it Last and I add to that: keep an eye on those practices from some companies that are using psychology to trick into buying more from them.

Ciao!

x

(picture by @pierretindall)