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Buy Nothing Day

buynothingday.co.uk

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31–40 of 88 posts

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#31

Post by jrajav »

layer8 wrote: post #26
Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #9

I actually found Black Friday to help me be less focused on consumerism during the rest of the year. When I want to buy something, I typically jot it down on my "thoughts for BF" list. Then, when everyone is having sales, I can dedicate time and through the yearly purchases. Also helps prevent impulse purchases as well.

A better trick is to do the same but not actually jot it down on the list. Then you’re more likely to completely do without it.

It is possible to have discipline, and _also_ still spend your hard earned money on hobby purchases that bring you joy and fulfillment.

Complete abstinence has a philosophical purity but humans weren't meant to live like monks.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#32

Post by ratmeadow »

Related to consumerism; I would recommend reading the book "The Perfection Trap", which has an interesting take on the intersection between our economy and mental health. It really explained a lot for me, kind of an "aha" moment. Regardless of whether you strictly agree with every point made in the book, it does make you cast a critical eye to where we are headed on our current path of consumerism.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#33

Post by kaonwarb »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #9

I actually found Black Friday to help me be less focused on consumerism during the rest of the year. When I want to buy something, I typically jot it down on my "thoughts for BF" list. Then, when everyone is having sales, I can dedicate time and through the yearly purchases. Also helps prevent impulse purchases as well.

I aim for the same approach. Yes, you have to make sure they are real sales. An easy if imperfect way is to jot down the current price when you first want to buy the thing, then compare what you see on “sale.” (As someone else suggested, camelcamelcamel.com is great for Amazon price history.)

Used prices also tend to go down during sale periods proportionally.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#34

Post by ozim »

Kkoala wrote: post #29
xor42 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, although if you're in the EU, there should be a 30 days reference period. "In all EU countries traders are obliged, when offering a discount, to indicate the lowest price applied to the item at least 30 days before the announcement of the price reduction." Of course, enforcement of such rules is the problem here. But if you notice such discrepancies, you are more than encouraged to file a complaint to the shop…

Yeah, some just increase the price 30 days before black Friday though, and then offer a huge "discount"

I heard some even go as far as increasing price slowly in period of 6 months before BF. To drop it on that day as discount.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#35

Post by lukan »

jrajav wrote: post #31
layer8 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better trick is to do the same but not actually jot it down on the list. Then you’re more likely to completely do without it.

It is possible to have discipline, and _also_ still spend your hard earned money on hobby purchases that bring you joy and fulfillment. Complete abstinence has a philosophical purity but humans weren't meant to live like monks.

"Complete abstinence has a philosophical purity but humans weren't meant to live like monks."

They were rather meant to hunt for black friday deals and dive into consumerism?

I'd say, I don't know and suspect no one knows how we are meant to live. We can just find out and decide ourself.

(I've met monks who were way more content, than your average consumer, but it is not my way of living either)

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#36

Post by keybored »

Hundreds of years of developing a global market economy where every participant is ever-more interconnected and unable to sustain themselves just based on their own group, families and wider community, culminating in the ultimate ideological reverse: blaming the leaf node participants for the economy that they are subject to. Not a contradiction but a demonstration of the fact that the leaf nodes are not the powerful entities in the system; the true powers that be are capable of the bizarre feat of blaming Joe Average for ruining the world.

Any Call To Action that can be circumvented by buying all you need for the week on Tuesday so that you can By Nothing On Friday is just part of that ideological problem.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#38

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

xor42 wrote: post #24
Kwpolska wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That assumes that Black Friday deals are actual deals and there was no sneaky price increase two days earlier.

True, although if you're in the EU, there should be a 30 days reference period. "In all EU countries traders are obliged, when offering a discount, to indicate the lowest price applied to the item at least 30 days before the announcement of the price reduction." Of course, enforcement of such rules is the problem here. But if you notice such discrepancies, you are more than encouraged to file a complaint to the shop…

[flagged]

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#39

Post by fy20 »

xor42 wrote: post #24
Kwpolska wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That assumes that Black Friday deals are actual deals and there was no sneaky price increase two days earlier.

True, although if you're in the EU, there should be a 30 days reference period. "In all EU countries traders are obliged, when offering a discount, to indicate the lowest price applied to the item at least 30 days before the announcement of the price reduction." Of course, enforcement of such rules is the problem here. But if you notice such discrepancies, you are more than encouraged to file a complaint to the shop…

How does Amazon get around this?

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#40

Post by Freak_NL »

Black Friday is one of those imported things we could do without. Did you know shops in the Netherlands are now massively participating in Black Friday? We didn't even have this 'event' ten years ago.

Because of our Sinterklaas gift giving event on 5 December people would have been out shopping for presents in any case (like Xmas presents, just earlier and with the OG Santa instead of the Coca Cola dude), so in terms of footfall it doesn't change much, but it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up I guess.

Refreshingly, one national household items chain (Dille & Kamille) closed its store in my town today, with a notice stating the staff was out picking up litter around the city centre instead of submitting to the consumerist Black Friday phenomenon. Interesting, but on-profile for their brand. Good deeds are a marketing opportunity too of course.

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