Is This Columbia Sportswear Black Friday Sale A ‘Deal’?

‘Stores are trying hard.’

A savvy shopper perusing the Black Friday deals at Columbia Sportswear made a revealing discovery when she moved a display price tag to reveal what was underneath.

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The video originates from TikTok user Kayla Salamon (@kaylasalamon), who has received more than 474,000 views as of Thursday morning for a video that dropped on Monday. In it, she shows a rack of clothes in the store with “Black Friday Deals: Now $99.99.”

But she lifts the signage to reveal the signage it replaced: “Special Value: Now $99.99.”

She chuckles audibly at the revelation, then says, “That’s funny.”

On its websitethe store is touting Black Friday deals of up to 40% off select items and 50% off what it calls “doorbusters.” According to the fine print, the Black Friday sale has been going on since November 20th and will continue through December 3rd.

What to look for on Black Friday

ONE CNBC article released Tuesday warns: “This year, the number of people shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber ​​Monday could break a record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. But this does not mean that consumers get the lowest prices of the season.”

The article went on to note that according to a WalletHub report, “41% of items at major retailers offer no savings compared to their pre-Black Friday prices.”

The article quoted consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch, who said: “Some Black Friday deals are deceptive as retailers may inflate the original prices to make a deal look like a better value.” It went on to note that other potentially misleading practices, such as creating a sense of urgency around the availability of products, are not limited to Black Friday.

Reactions from the people

Commenters made observations about the seven-second video.

“Why don’t I shop on Black Friday,” one cynically opined.

“And they wonder why people aren’t buying as much as they used to shop on Black Friday,” said another commenter.

Another noted, “I was literally looking through Walmart’s app yesterday at the deals that are about to start and saw a video game that was $30, says $30 on November 25th.”

Some argue that it is nothing new. They said, “This has been happening and people are just starting to notice in the last few years.”

Finally, one commenter noted, “Stores are trying hard.”

@kaylasalamon Advertising at its best #blackfriday #shopping #offers ♬ original sound – Kayla Salamon

The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via the TikTok comment and to Columbia Sportswear via email.

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