Black Friday Gifts

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is a colloquial term for the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States, with many stores offering highly promoted sales at discounted prices and often opening early, sometimes as early as midnightor even on Thanksgiving itself!

In the UK, the term was actually coined by the Police and NHS to refer to the Friday before Christmas. It is the day when emergency services activate contingency plans to cope with the increase in workload due to many people going out drinking on the last Friday before Christmas.

Since 2014 however, with the huge increase in online shopping (where UK customers could purchase from US retailers), UK retailers began to recognise the day and run extravagant promotions in order to keep up with their US-based competition who were offering huge discounts and running events.

Year on year, Black Friday grew to now being an almost internationally recognised event across many sectors (not just retail) with merchants looking to capitalise on the last payday before Christmas. It is a brilliant opportunity to box off many of the Christmas gifts you need to purchase, especially the larger items that will see one-time only, huge discounts.

Are you planning to get a group gift? Download Collctiv now to make it easy to collect money from a group (more details on this later). 

When is Black Friday?

In 2022 Black Friday is 25th November (do I need to state that it’s a Friday?) Most physical retailers will communicate their offers in advance of the day itself (owing to the fact that they need you to plan to visit them in order to purchase one of their spectacular deals!) so the key to success is to know your budget, have a number of potential items in mind and be ready to snap up a deal when you see one!

Download our free app to easily collect all of the money together for a group gift in advance of Black Friday. You’d surely hate to see the perfect gift at a daft price and then have to either buy it yourself and chase everyone for the money back, or run round like a headless chicken scraping the funds together before the deal ends?! 

What is Cyber Monday?

Ah….there’s a Cyber Monday I hear you say?! Yes, there is. A marketing term for e-commerce transactions on the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States, it was created by retailers to encourage people to shop online. The term was coined by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation and Scott Silverman, and made its debut on November 28, 2005, in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year" 

Cyber Monday has become the online equivalent to Black Friday and offers a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains. Since its inception, it has become an international marketing term used by online retailers around the world.

When is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday takes place the Monday after Black Friday. In 2022 it is Monday 28th November.

Is Black Friday really worth it in the UK?

The question of whether it is ‘worth it’ is highly subjective. It is probably helped though by the current economic situation where the cost of energy and fuel in general is soaring, making the cost of living sky-rocket. Any money you can save anywhere has to help, and so in short, yes, Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) is worth your effort looking. 

Granted, there are some poor examples of ‘amazing deals’. A fiver off a Nintendo Switch or 10% off if I buy 8 pairs of Jordan’s isn’t going to rock my world - but there are some incredible deals to be found.

The most important thing in modern times is cash liquidity. You are not a bank, and you can ill-afford to be paying out to get back from your friends….basically giving them credit. It is your card that will take the beating and you who will hear ‘I’ll sort it tonight, I’ve just got all the kids hanging off me at the moment’ or ‘next night out the beers are on me’.

'No, can you just give me the £20 that I’ve paid out please, and can you give it to me now'? 

The thing that makes this trickier is how to maintain your dignity whilst also trying to stress how much you need the money you’ve paid out. Your credit card statement may be about to land, your mortgage payment is about to go out. But most relevant is the fact that this is Black Friday - as in the last time you’ll be paid before Christmas, so every pound is going on presents, babycham and twiglets!! 

Instead of facing this dilemma and running the ‘will my friends pay me back gauntlet’, simply download the app now and get the money you need up front.

Posh wines for the management team at work? A hamper for your support staff? A family Christmas gift that everyone is chipping into? You’ll be able to find a deal and with Collctiv, you’ll have the buying power of the money up front.

Simply create a pot, share the link and watch the money roll in. People paying in don’t need to download the app, create an account, activate an email address or do any banking. They simply tap to pay with ApplePay, GooglePay or by inputting their card details and in ten seconds they have paid!

Great Black Friday Gifts for Him

No Black Friday/Cyber Monday blog worth its salt would be complete without some great ideas for you on what you might look for in the Black Friday deals, so here's a list of the top 5 suggestions for Black Friday gifts for him;

Eau de Parfum

I’m talking about the good stuff….where one or two sprays last all day and a little into the morning before shower time! It’s not cheap, so it’s unlikely he will splash out and buy it himself so it makes a perfect group gift that everyone can chip in to.

A draft beer tap

Is there a finer gift for anyone who enjoys a tipple? Pub quality draft beer in the comfort of your own home. A really good one will set you back about £150 - perfect for a group gift and commonly on offer during Black Friday sales

A Gaming chair/driving sim rig 

Whether it’s a dad’s guilty pleasure or a youngster’s sparetime vice, gaming has reached new levels of popularity. Help them be at their very best with an awesome gaming chair or driving sim rig!

A Smart Watch

The must have item for pretty much anyone - whether it be for tracking heart rates, diary reminders or dare I suggest - telling the time - a smart watch is the gift that will keep on giving!

A coffee maker

I don’t mean the ones that create 8,000 tonnes of plastic waste that gets dumped in the sea (allegedly) - I mean an all-singing all-dancing one with milk frother and bean grinder. The best thing about this gift is that it’s brilliant to give, but also something you can use too!

If you are getting a gift between a number of you - friends, family, work colleagues….why not pool your funds in advance so that you know who is in, and how much you have?

Download Collctiv today to begin your money pool!

Great Black Friday Gifts for Her

And now for the top 5 Black Friday gifts for her

A weekend city break 

Add another edition to her Lonely Planet guide book collection and get her a weekend break (for one, two or even ten!) to a captivating foreign city.

Nintendo Switch 

Whether it be the neon fun of Just Dance, the cerebral challenge of Zelda or the reliving of mispent youths with Mariokart, this gift is basically every console, handheld and kinetic system rolled into one. She’ll love it! 

A Lego set

Lego is truly captivating. From musical instruments, sports cars, Star Wars or Harry Potter, there are 42 different themes to choose from and sets with up to 12,000 pieces!! An experience to build, she’ll then have something wonderful to display on the mantelpiece or on a bedroom display shelf.

An experience day

Treat her to something magical - from a spa break, a supercar experience, a hot air balloon ride or whale watching, there really is something for everyone and with a voucher she will get to pick the experience she wants most….it may be one you would not have thought of!

Diamonds

They are, after all, a girl’s best friend. Make her feel like a million dollars, whilst saving a few of those million dollars through awesome deals! 

You’re now hopefully armed with a list of targets for this coming Black Friday, where you can benefit from the many deals to be had and tick off a large amount of your Christmas gifts to get!

Remember, if you are buying the gifts with a number of other people, the very best way of collecting the money in advance is by using Collctiv, the number one choice for creating a money pool.

Start collecting now and begin your money pool today!

Organisers bring people together. 

Since 2019 Collctiv has helped over 350,000 people from 88 countries come together by making it simple for Organisers to collect money from groups. Whether it's gifts for colleagues, group holidays or grassroots sports teams - download the app today and start bringing people together!

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