Ready, Steady, Shop!

Black Friday is looming large – and retailers are after your cash. Here’s how to stop yourself from overspending

- Lindsay De Freitas

IT’S almost that time again – that delirious day when bargain hunters roll up their sleeves and prepare to go into battle. Cue queues snaking out of packed malls and gridlocked traffic in car parks as shoppers jostle for the best discounts.

Yes, Black Friday is almost upon us.

Judging by the mass hysteria caused by this day of deals, it’s hard to believe the phenomenon didn’t exist in South Africa until a few years ago.

But we’ve now embraced it lock, stock and smoking wallet, poised with quivering credit card to snap up to-die-for deals.

Held on the fourth Friday in November – the day after the US holiday of Thanksgiving – Black Friday is regarded as the unofficial opening of the festive shopping season.

In South Africa the number of transactions on this heady day of spending has doubled every year for the past three years and is expected to grow by 30% this year.

TOP OF THE SHOPPING POPS