Woman reveals how retailers are now giving disappointing discounts in the name of sales

Black Friday and Clearance sales are not just normal days for shoppers because they are literal festivals for them. During these days, they hope to get valuable items at an affordable price. However, recent testimonies prove that this is not the case anymore. Black Fridays have become a lot quieter with online shopping and economic issues plaguing customers, per Reuters. Moreover, many are not even satisfied with the deals companies provide them disguised as "discounts." A woman—who goes by @kt_hd on TikTok—shares how a clearance sale's reduced prices were much below her expectations. She hoped the prices would be slashed so much that she could afford a particular pair of shoes. However, even with the price drop, it remained out of reach for her.

The woman begins the video by focusing on one of the biggest disappointments brewing among shoppers in the last few years. She said, "Everyone's talking about how Black Friday deals are just not hitting this year." This claim is not unfounded, as many retailers have not put out huge discounts during Black Fridays because, in their opinion, October and November sales have removed the excitement and urgency of Black Friday. "People have already got what they want," said David Klink, senior analyst at Huntington Private Bank, which owns shares of Walmart and Target. "There are only so many big-screen TVs and Alexa [Amazon voice assistants] you can buy."

The woman provided further detail about her disappointing experience at a clearance sale. She showed the sale tag of a shoe pair she had her eyes on, in which the original price was written to be $169 and then slashed to a reduced price of $119. It makes the discount stand at 30%. The shopper then informs her viewers that the shoes are on display for a "clearance sale." She explained, "This store is going out of business. This was their clearance. This was their 'everything must go' sale." Therefore, when she walked in, she hoped to find a more affordable deal than what was presented. She just felt that in these situations, discounts should be larger.

She adds, "I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like going-out-of-business sales are supposed to be like the biggest sales you can find." In her opinion, 30% just does not cut that. She ends the video with, "I feel like coupons and sales and any way to save money has just been dying lately." The woman understands that she might sound like an overbearing customer as the price was slashed by $50, which is not low by any means, but she still felt that it was not enough. Therefore, she came on social media to ask others if they felt the same way or if was she just overreacting.

The comment section shared her disappointment. @midnight.snxcc commented about how the discounts today are nothing compared to what they were in the past, "Black Friday used to be 70-80% off." @i_am_a_fryingpan wrote how these sales are nothing now, but just a big scam, "Black Friday half the time now us just the original price and they raised the 'normal price' right before."