Black Friday 2025

A lot of people are boycotting Black Friday (except for small businesses) this year and I’m joining them. The goal is to send a message to corporate systems that profit from injustice, fuel authoritarianism, and crush worker power

I can’t think of a better reason not to spend my money

Oh nice! There's a utility I didn't need for $20, but for $5, sure.

@Manx Spend your money on indie developers.

@Manx Sure, don’t buy anything that you don’t need. But there are some things we all are going to buy from bigcos during the year, so to me it makes sense to schedule those purchases during Black Friday if possible. Then you can save some money or redirect some of it to another organization that you’re more aligned with.

"But there are some things we all are going to buy from bigcos during the year"

I think I've got my FAANG & friends spending to actual 0 now.

I only have a Mac because work gave me one. I don't use any of their services or any of their products anymore. I have an Android phone, but it's Chinese. My main computer (other than my work Mac) runs Linux. I have a gaming PC running Windows using an old Windows 8 license that somehow still works. I've stopped using Netflix and Disney+. I've stopped my Audible subscription. I'm not buying anything from any "official" app store (or from Amazon) anymore.

I'm in a Google family group from a friend who lives in a third-world country and pays 8 bucks a month out of his own pocket.

I can't think of anything I'm still giving to these shitty corporations.

Interesting.... while @Manx says the goal "...is to send a message to corporate systems that profit from injustice, fuel authoritarianism...", worthy as it is (and doomed to failure in countless ways), the replies to his comment are more about *how* to spend money.

What I find interesting is something else... Since when does Black Friday begin on the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving? (That be Amazon.) Or begin today (Kohl's)? Or how about JC Penny's (also started yesterday)? How about two days ago? (Best Buy.) Or November 6 (Home Depot)?

My favorite.... Target.... "Pay attention to the Target Black Friday 2025 hours if you plan to visit a store to shop. Target will keep its doors closed on Thanksgiving Day; Target will open bright and early on Black Friday at 6 a.m.". While at least traditional - except for pointing out that their stores will not be open on Thanksgiving - It hides the fact that it begins on the 23rd and ends on the 29th.

What's this new term in the dictionary? Enshittification? Well,, in case if you're wondering, Black Friday, while it's actual date changes year by year, it defined as the day after Thanksgiving. (Closely followed by Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and (I think) Donate Charity Tuesday.

Sure, plan your purchases (including software) for sales. Just not for Black Friday - be it week, month, or whatever.

@Plume, you made me look up FAANG (maybe I'm too old?) and my snarky reply? Android is still Google, whoever made your phone. Who pays for your work computer upkeep? Apple Care? I'll take your word about buying anything "official" from Amazon. But when did this start? If a year ago, what is the alternatives you are using? Walmart (I'm thinking paper goods)? How about that food chain (for food)? Where is this food chain based out of? And since we are talking next Friday - you know, the *actual* Black Friday - and by definition Thanksgiving is the day before... have you checked out those $40 full Thanksgiving dinners at Walmart and Aldi yet? I know, those two store chains are not part of FAANG, but they should be (and yeah, Google and Apple you are *not* 100% spending "actual 9"). Peace.

@Plume you’re doing amazing! I need to get some tips from you. I have so many questions on how you got the FAANG out of your life as much as you have

@MJTsai buying from small businesses is good, but cash is preferable since payment processors are as much a part of the problem as anyone. I’m working hard to divest from these companies as much as possible and it feels great but it takes time

@David it’s not doomed to fail at all. Capitalism requires not steady growth but endless growth every quarter. All we have to do is cause them to lose money for one quarter and it already has an effect. The longer we do it, the more of an effect it has

@Dave: I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what exactly you're asking me. I can tell you that I've never shopped at Walmart my whole life, though, if that helps. If your point is that one can't do everything, so one should do nothing, then I disagree.

@Manx: Proton for mail, cloud storage, and passwords. Ente for photo backup. Obtanium, F-Droid and APKPure instead of Play Store. Audiobookshelf + libro.fm for audiobooks. Notesnook for note-taking. I've basically just stopped watching TV, so no replacements for Netflix and Disney+.

There are some downsides (e.g. search in the Proton Mail app basically doesn't work because the mail body is encrypted at rest and can't be searched by Proton), but overall, I think I'm better off. Audiobookshelf's app is much better than Audible, for example. It takes effort to make the move, but it's worth it in the end.

Lots of things to improve sure, but better than boycotting the remaining small developers who develop nice apps for the Mac, is to boycott the entire country you don't like by finding a better one and moving there as soon as possible.

I never go shopping on Black Friday, but that's the day that I make my annual donations to charities.

Black Friday is mostly fake at this point. Major retailers simply modify the prices higher, maybe to their actual list price in the weeks leading up, then do "price cuts" whenever they start their "Black Friday sales" to what the price has been all year. It's mostly not worth it.

Aside from that, the consumer is already tapped out. Fast food chains are reporting shocking drops in traffic/spending (Chipotle, McDonalds...). Unemployment is rising, layoffs continue. Repo rates spiking/liquidity issues. Stock market indexes being propped up by fake valuations related to AI. Economic data so bad the gov refuses to release whatever they do know about October.

If there's any good headlines about spending over these last few months, it's because retailers gouged fewer customers who had the ability to put purchases on credit.

That said, I'm all for supporting other indie developers where I can. I'll check these links out, thanks for compiling Michael!

@Dave It does seem to begin earlier each year, which I don’t really like, but as someone putting together these lists and also participating as a vendor, I can totally see why it happens. I used to wait until the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but by that time most of the lists have been made, and my own deals didn’t get much circulation. Lots of developers don’t contact me to get added to the list until after I post it, and I don’t want to deal with that flurry when I should be spending time with family. This year, I was traveling to visit the other side of the family the previous Sunday and Monday, so I tried putting the list out on Friday. Maybe ideally everyone would post their deals on Back Friday itself in a big bang, and we’d all find out about them at that morning, but I don’t see a way to coordinate that happening.

@Plume Thanks for sharing the specifics.

@Ben I’ve tried to vet the specific deals posted here, and I didn’t find any cheaters, but I’ve seen that happen at some big retail stores and the resulting loss of trust. It’s a shame because the small businesses I’ve seen are sincere, and the event really does matter for them.