What is Black Friday
Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving in the USA and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, with many people having both Thanksgiving (which is always on a Thursday) and the next day off.
Retailers will often open much earlier on the day and it’s been this way since the 1950s, although the phrase “Black Friday” wasn’t used until a decade later.
But why “Black”? This day was actually called Black Friday from its very beginnings but with a different meaning – many workers would call in sick as they wanted a four-day weekend, so it became known as Black Friday, indicating a calamitous day for businesses. Eventually, the modern meaning was adopted, again for a calamitous reason – the massive build-up of traffic and footfall created by shoppers.
So, what is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday, as the name would suggest, is a lot more modern in origin. It was noticed that many people were too busy to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend, or didn’t find what they were looking for, and shopped online for a bargain on the Monday.
Now, in the US, Cyber Monday is actually busier than Black Friday, in terms of sales. And, although primarily intended for online retailers, it has spread to traditional “bricks and mortar” stores as well.
When is Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the US. Thanksgiving is always on the the 4th Thursday of November. Cyber Monday is on the Monday following this.
The dates are as follows:
| Year | Black Friday | Cyber Monday |
| 2021 | November 26rd | November 29th |
| 2022 | November 25th | December 28th |
| 2023 | November 24th | November 27th |
Black Friday and Amazon
Amazon is probably the retailer most associated with these sales and will usually have discounts running just before and even between these events.
Although anybody can buy most of the sale items, some are limited to Prime members. Additionally, sale products are often made available to Prime members first, with limited availability. Next-day delivery sweetens the deal.
If you’re not a Prime member, don’t panic, as you can get a free trial during this period and then cancel afterwards, with nothing extra to pay.
Oh, and if your brief foray with Prime is of interest, it’s not unusual for Amazon to discount a year’s subscription during this time.
Now read this: What is the Amazon Treasure Truck?
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