Großbritannien hält sich davon zurück, am Black Friday in die Einkaufsstraßen zu gehen, da die Befürchtungen über die Wirtschaft zunehmen
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/01/uk-shoppers-high-street-visits-black-friday-fears-economy
Von pajamakitten
44 Kommentare
With so much guesswork on what the Budget would entail, there is no surprise that people lack faith in the economy generally, let alone with Christmas around the corner. I suspect some of this is also people finally realising and admitting that Black Friday is a damp squib of a sale.
I feel like Black Friday has just fallen off. Christmas will be far more useful in determining consumer confidence in the economy.
I went to Oxford Circus on Saturday and it was as packed as ever
Orrrrr, it could be that consumers have realised these Black Friday „deals“ aren’t actually very good, and aren’t getting sucked into the hype of it all?
Is it because blackfriday is just a bit more rubbish? Every year I get a list of stuff I need for Christmas and try and pick it up Black Friday. Last year it was about £500 worth of stuff, this year £150 – most of the things I was after weren’t priced any better.
A few years ago there were genuine deals, but retailers want to move away from it more and more.
People just don’t have enough money to spend on irrelevant things nowadays. There has been a huge stagnation in wages and we are all worse off than we were a few years ago. The rich businesses put their prices up and our wages low. No wonder nobody is rushing out for a “bargain” when the majority just want to keep the heating on and feed their families. Some of us are well paid and relatively lucky, but prices and taxes are going up for everyone.
Pay us more we spend more, pay us less and we try to survive.
We’ve got no money left…. Imagine all that cash that would be spent if they moved the tax margins…
Nobody I know gives the slightest shit about Black Friday. It’s just an American import „holiday“ with no basis here that’s intended just to sell shit and people don’t have money for a load of spending.
Honestly the Black Friday deals have got so bad that they aren’t worth doing. It’s normally just a standard 10-15% off but the prices have been inflated from October onwards so it’s basically the same price you get elsewhere.
There wasn’t as many genuine deals, things I bought in October cheaper than last week.
It’s nothing specific about the economy just the stinginess of companies worrying more about their profit margins.
Black Friday is only good for small companies that want you to buy their product or service to get you to come back.
I’m saving anything I can and clearing debt in fear of the annual headcount review and management enthusiasm for automation. Remember the first law of sales: If you don’t need it, it’s not a bargain.
What the hell is Black Friday anyway? I thought all the patriots were supposed to be ‘takin are cuntry bak’ and protecting British culture? Except the imported cultures from a foreign nation based on a holiday we don’t celebrate but it means we get money off shit, that’s ok? Hypocrites to the last.
Not my experience. Went to the shops to get some things, didn’t realise it was Black Friday and nearly had a panic attack from the crowds.
Also:
It’s American
It’s a scam
Not even Americans like black Friday anymore.
Any deal has gone from genuine 70% off last year’s goods to get them out of the door to 5% off when you sign up to our yearly subscription and purchase these two very specific items within the next 30 seconds.
Listening to an episode of [Stuff You Should Know](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6g2faBe4toLJbpCPqJ8I0y) about Black Friday, I was surprised to hear the hosts say that Black Friday is now a thing of the past, in the USA
According to this article, it’s because customers realised the sale deals weren’t that great, stores are spreading promotions further throughout the build-up to Christmas, and trade has moved online (especially since the pandemic)
I’m sure something similar is true, in the UK
[https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/28/black-friday-shopping-retail-letdown.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/28/black-friday-shopping-retail-letdown.html)
Remember This:
1. If you buy something because it is on ’sale‘ you are actually losing money.
2. How many of us bought something because we saw that it was on ’sale ‚ , but we didn’t really need it? If you do,you are losing money.
3. Buy stuff because you need it . If it is on ’sale ‚ then that’s a bonus .
4. Lots of these so-called sales are fake.
I might be getting made redundant in March.
Shockingly, spending £2k on a new gaming PC on black Friday isn’t the best idea.
Dunno about Black Friday but the Christmas Markets in Manchester have spread until they seemingly cover half of the city center with outposts everywhere.
They all seem rammed with people buying overpriced tat.
People dont have spare money to be wasteful with it. So more and more people are doing their research before things like black friday or boxing day deals, to make sure that they are indeed getting a deal. Which we all know is usually a falicy on black Friday with company’s bumping the price up on September/October to bring it back down to the price it was at for the rest of the year on black Friday.
If companies want custom they are going to have to start really slashing prices to fit people’s wallets.
Well, is it any surprise? It’s a retail scam when the play book is …
October, raise price on thing from £349 to £499
Black Friday „deal“ £399 – £100 off!!! Woooo!
Just look at Amazons price trackers, you’ll see this repeated, over and over.
10 years ago you could score some real bargains on black Friday. These days it’s much more common to see 15% off the crap that was already on clearance that nobody really wanted.
I didn’t avoid Black Friday because I fear for the economy. I’ve got a list of items I want to get for Christmas, and I avoided Black Friday because it’s horrendously busy and I hate the crowds.
I just bought everything online instead.
Nothing to do with the fact that the majority of BF offers are scams then.
I don’t need a TV or a videogame console I need cheaper electricity bills. Does black Friday do those? No? Then why would I care?
What the pointless non-deal day where you rarely get any true bargains and it’s pretty aimed at getting retailers in the black?? People are seeing through that?
Black Friday has shit deals anyway. Get better deals elsewhere. I feel it’s more that the gimmick is falling
# UK refrains from hitting high street on Imported Stupid American Consumerist Event Day as fears grow over Rich People’s Yacht Money.
Fixed it for you.
It doesnt help that Black Friday last for about 3 weeks these days……
That’s because companies have used Black Friday to manipulate us with fake bargains and deals. I think we all know now that BF is a load of shit.
food and rent price gouging really doesn’t leave much room for luxuries or anything else. They’re eating all the other markets‘ lunch.
The sales are generally really poor now, there is definitely a downturn, and it’s just spending money you would not otherwise have spent so you are spending, not saving. It’s at the wrong time of year too unless you happen to find something that could be a present for somebody. YMMV
They’ll say the same thing about the January sales, in a few weeks.
Or maybe people are not falling for this American „Sale“.
a) Nobody has any spare money. Incredible that this fact still has not sunk into the heads of people who write these articles.
b) Black Friday deals are not particularly good.
c) Christmas is coming people are saving money for that.
Well, my landlord just raised my rent „to adjust for market pricing“ on a house he fully owns, having inherited it from his dead parent.
So less consumer spending for me, but I guess he can afford a few more rounds of drinks on his third cruise each year.
Went to Manchester on Saturday for unrelated reasons. City was a bit busier than usual but nothing crazy.
Yeah because everyone knows that the deals aren’t worth it. I’ve picked up better toward the end of the Boxing Day sales. People aren’t falling for this Black Friday stuff anymore. Do they really think that 20% off is gonna have been running to the high street?
I disagree with this.
It is more: companies stop offering great deals and instead offer their usual promotions on a black sign, and started at the beginning of November.
Public decide that the offers are crap.
I uses to upgrade my phone on Black Friday with some very good deals.
Not this year though. I dont think i found anything that was cheaper than a week earlier (despite being listed as a bf deal).
People have bf sussed.
I wish someone had told the thousands of people in Westfield London on Saturday. It was heaving with shoppers.
Whats now weirdly is black friday „prices“ now start 2 weeks before black friday actually is… its not a 1 day thing its like 2 weeks
This is because corporations are greedy and people have cottoned on.
When it was first imported into the UK retailers would use it to clear down stock they couldn’t shift. Now it’s become it’s own thing. Retailers raise prices for 30 days so they can lower it claiming sales when the reality is it’s the same price. Manufacturers now produce goods just for black Friday. TVs for instance will have a slightly different model number and have cheaper components.
Oh my God four months of budget „news“ which was all about how terrible everything was going to be.
Then it’s immediately „news“ that actually the public finances were alright the whole time and therefore Rachel Reeves has misled everybody who was saying everything was going to be so terrible.
Followed by „news“ that black Friday deals were a bit shit, further adding to fears that the economy might actually be terrible after all.
These were the same people who accused others of „talking Britain down“ during the Brexit campaign mind.