Boxing Day Sales and What is the Price?!?

Wasn’t it Just Black Friday?

In October, I received many e-mails about online Black Friday sales, then Christmas sales in November, and now there are Boxing Day sales that have already started, and it isn’t even Christmas yet? What is the rush, folks?

The sales push has gone to a Ridiculous level, and yesterday I went to a local grocery store. They have pretty much taken down all of their Christmas decorations in preparation for the next big thing (Valentine’s Day, I think is next). This is a smaller store, which relies on a higher turnover of products, and more likely than not will not have a Boxing Day Blowout Sale because they don’t stock many non-grocery articles, but still one lousy display for Christmas?

I suppose if the Retailers had a sign-up that said, Generic Blow Out Sale, we might catch on to their need to entice us in to buy things constantly. However, I am curious to see what the sale types will be in January? Post-Christmas blowout sales? Pre-Spring?

The other question that keeps arising is, if there is always a sale, what is the regular price of anything? It ends up being like shopping at the Bay, where the price you see on any product is not what you will pay at the cash register. Every time I buy a pair of trousers at the Bay (now usually this is scratch ‘n save weekend), the price on the trousers (which is already a sales price) drops because of the scratch card, and then some unknown discount is thrown on as well. I thought I was getting an excellent price for a while, but now I wonder how I can compare prices if the price I see is never valid (or the final price)?

Airline Profits Soar

Another exciting piece of news yesterday was that Airline profits are at ten-year highs, another industry where you never really know the price of anything is. It certainly has nothing to do with advertised prices. I have written about the tricks of Airline pricing before, but now it has gone off the charts in terms of hidden charges and costs. Hearing that the industry is now profitable, even though fuel prices continue to rise, I have to wonder if all those landing surcharges and such are what they claim they are (let alone the baggage charges). Wonder if the folks stranded at Heathrow are happy to hear about these profits?

How can you figure out the best price for anything anymore?

Previous Boxing Days?

I have written on the topic of Boxing Day a few times.

• Boxing Day? Big Bloody Deal! was my first rant about the day. In 2006 there were sales, but were they that exciting?
• Let the Boxing Quarter Begin does sum up the entire concept of Boxing “day”, it just keeps going on.
• Just because it’s on sale, another classic rant about impulse buying the day after Christmas, 2008.
• Holiday Cheer Volume 4 got lazy in 2009 and just put out a list of posts from that year.
• Carnival of Money Stories: Happy Pseudo Boxing Day! Back in the day when Blogging Carnivals were all the rage (2009).
• Sales and What is the Price?!? started to figure out the connection between Black Friday and Boxing Day sales. Neither really saved you much, did they? Not really in 2010.
• Happy Pseudo Boxing Day was just really a best of kind of post, no real commentary on Boxing Day itself.
• Mayhem and Sunday’s Best (on Monday) it seems that Boxing Day was an excuse for me to post a best of posts list? This article seems to prove the point?
• Advice for the day in 2012? Don’t buy crap, which is good advice any time. If something you need is on sale, buy it, if not, don’t!
• One Thing You Can Buy on the day is to buy something you need.
• Mayhem is always present on Boxing Day, but remember just because it is on sale, doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
• The 12 Days of Christmas Debt is something to think about on Boxing Day? Maybe think about that at Thanksgiving?
• Weirdest Boxing Day Ever? What do you expect during a Pandemic, I suppose?
• Happy Boxing Day 2023! Will we return to the mayhem we are used to?