Do consumers really benefit from ‘Black Friday’ in Jamaica?

I had eagerly awaited the much advertised, ‘Black Friday’ sales.  Even though we are really copying our American counterparts, I was still excited to see what would be on the table this year.

Since I was in the middle of a home renovation, my first stop was the home improvement stores.

Some of the stores that advertised special ‘Black Friday’ deals were Active Traders, True Value and Dunn’s Electrical and Lightning.

Active Traders advertised discounts of up to 75% off selected items while True Value offered customers 50% on selected items and 15% storewide.

Dunn’s Electrical and Lighting boasted 50% discount on selected items while there was a 15%-20% discount on everything in the store.

Good Deals!

So were the discounts worth it?

Well that depends on what you were buying, I found that you had to be very careful when purchasing discounted items. Some items, especially the door busters (items displayed at a reduced cost on a table at the entrance of the store) were being sold at the reduced cost because the packaging had been damaged or were shop worn.

I think though that the overall quality of the items on sale was good.

The prices though, at times could be a little daunting as in some cases, the discounted price seemed as if that was the price of the item should have been in the first place.

At True Value, I discovered that they had a variety of items that could fit any budget and this really made shopping a pleasure.

Dunn’s Lighting had flexible payment options and the discounts were very attractively packaged.

Customer Service

It would be remiss of me not to make a comment on the excellent customer service in all three stores that I visited.

Since they were very busy, I would have understood if the sales clerks were slightly harried.

However, that was not the case, as everyone was helpful and facilitated questions while remaining pleasant. Their attitude did not change even when I had to leave in some cases without purchasing anything at the store.

So did the Black Friday sales benefit you? I certainly got what I wanted!

Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner Online Writer

Tags: household items