My Feelings About Black Friday

Black Friday is a shopping holiday out of the US that is marketed as the best deals of the year. While it is great that stuff is on sale BEFORE Christmas, so people can do their gift shopping and not just head out on Boxing Day, it is built up with a lot of hype. Hype that then encourages people to buy stuff that they don’t necessarily need and/or wouldn’t be buying otherwise.

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It’s now a thing in Aotearoa and the main feeling I have is that it takes away from shopping local and supporting smaller businesses in the community (because they just can’t compete with the discounts big brands offer).

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And you might be saying “rich that you have an opinion on capitalism when you run a product based business” and that’s a fair call - there is a fine line (that I often find difficult to navigate) in selling products, even if they are eco-friendly and made by hand. But, if we don’t have sustainable options available, then there is no competition for other brands, and people either have to buy nothing or buy something that doesn’t necessarily align with their values. Buying nothing is often a perfectly acceptable plan, but many people love giving gifts at Christmas!

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So, in summary, this festive season, think about what you need, what you want and what you plan to gift and if you can get it from a local business, try to do that.

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Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.