Black Friday Report: Regifting becoming endangered habit

November 20, 1:05 PMConsumer News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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Black Friday, Cyber Monday holiday
shoppers likely aren't shopping for you

There's going to be a lot less to regift this holiday season if Black Friday shopping projections are any indication.

Blame it on a stingy Santa.

By a wide margin, 66 percent of those shopping over the "Black Friday" weekend, won't be shopping for you.

They say they are looking for bargains for themselves, not others, according to the latest Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll.

It's tough out there being a consumer.

Only 25 percent plan on Black Friday shopping this year compared to 30 percent in 2006, according to Consumer Reports, attributing some of the decline to the popularity of online shopping.

The report does say, however, that real walk-in stores will offer discounts as deep as virtual merchants online. Just don't forget to include taxes, shipping costs and driving expenses -- or the lack of them, in your shopping list tally.

"Retailers are doing everything they can to entice shoppers by offering not only Black Friday bargains but deals for the entire weekend," said Tod Marks, Consumer Reports senior editor and resident shopping expert.

(See Holiday Shopping Guide, including information and videos including Black Friday tips, avoiding post-holiday debt, shopping "gotchas," and regifting.)

Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 27 this year, is not an official holiday (though many call in sick to shop), but it is the official start of the traditional Christmas shopping season and in recent years, that has meant prices slashed to the bone.

The Philadelphia Police Department first dubbed the day "Black Friday" in 1966, not as a term of endearment, but as one of contempt because the day dawned with massive traffic jams and consumers mobbing sidewalks and retailers.

More recently, the term refers to retailers' hopes that the big shopping day will help them go from being in the red (posting a loss) to being in the black (showing a profit).

Consumer Reports says the mobs don't just swarm on Friday, but just as many consumers plan to shop on Saturday or Sunday.

It should be quieter the following Monday, so-called "Cyber Monday," when online shoppers really hit the keyboards. Twice as many adults plan to shop stores on Black Friday (28 percent), as those who shop online the following Monday (16 percent), the report said.

The report's Black Friday weekend shopping list for consumers includes clothing (71 percent), electronics (70 percent), toys (56 percent), gift cards (48 percent) and video games and accessories (46 percent) among the most popular purchase items.

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