Black Friday 2023: Unsold stock and trivial discounts

€3 discounts and unsold stock: The reality of Black Friday

Once again, the best deal on Black Friday is to buy nothing. The 2023 campaign left a trail of symbolic discounts—often just €3 on many items—reference prices no one remembers ever paying, and a conclusion repeated by veteran shoppers: if 2022 was disastrous, this year was no better. Specialized promotion tracking sites also failed to save the day. Those expecting genuine bargains encountered accumulated stock, inflated displays, and the uncomfortable feeling that the consumption festival has run out of arguments.

How much did prices actually drop this Black Friday?

Little, and unevenly. Concrete examples from the day are scarce but help gauge the situation: an activity tracker sold for €169 in physical stores appeared at €69; a mid-range electric shaver closed at €62; two corduroy trousers for €60; a luxury cream already discounted went from €62 to €51, and another from €104 to €83. Some also got sneakers for €27.

On the other hand, most who trinc the event bought nothing. Several cases ended in pure disappointment: products tracked for weeks that didn't drop even a euro, or purchases left incomplete due to banking issues affecting cards during checkout. The bargain exists, but you have to search hard and settle for leftover colors. They are fewer than ever and sell out quickly.

The reference price that never existed

Retail's oldest trick still works. The typical case described is seeing a €100 item with a struck-through previous price of €500 next to it, making resistance impossible: it feels like buying something expensive cheaply, even though the product never cost €500. The mechanics are well-known: the reference price is raised weeks before, struck through, and a "huge discount" is announced on a figure no one ever paid.

There are specific antidotes to this, mentioned in discussions: price history trackers like Keepa or CamelCamelCamel, which show the actual evolution of each product listing. The conclusion is uncomfortable for the official sales narrative: if you need an external tool to verify the price, the discount wasn't so obvious.

Why stores can't lower prices further

Because margins were exhausted years ago. This is the most repeated argument: prices have been lowered throughout the year sacrificing profit, leaving nowhere else to cut. The only thing genuinely discounted is stock that couldn't be moved in twelve months; the rest holds its ground.

The scene reinforces this reading. Large retailers see queues and foot traffic, but neighborhood shops present empty premises and people walking without bags. Meanwhile, recycling bins fill with e-commerce packages, which maintain their pace any day of the year. The campaign was born to clear warehouses before Christmas; today it acts as a thermometer for consumption that has quietly faded away.

Buying only what is needed: The strategy that endures

There is a current that doesn't fall for it and says it plainly: zero euros spent, like every year. Their reasoning is simple and hard to refute: you save by buying what you need when you need it, not accumulating things you won't use just because they are cheap. Early Christmas shopping, whether from a promotion or not, doesn't fix household budgets.

Another matter is those waiting for a specific markdown and finding none. One user shares that they had shoes and a coat for their child tracked: prices didn't drop, and they bought them anyway because they needed them. That is the point that confuses defenders of discounts as a savings tool.

And then there is the detail almost no one looks at: everyday products also rise in price. A luxury cosmetics brand, for example, changed the formula for the worse and raised the price by €20 to €30 per container, according to daily users. Friday's discount was eaten up by Monday's price hike.

An economic thermometer, not a party

The macro reading is the most repeated: Black Friday indicates a country's direction, and this year the indicator points down. The joke tag "Recession Indicator: Black Friday Edition" circulated to summarize the day. Warehouse leftovers may have good discounts; everything else, very little.

With this outlook, the question isn't whether tomorrow will bring better offers. It is whether a Black Friday without real sales is just an anomaly of a strange year or the new floor of a consumption model that no longer believes its own campaign.