Black Friday is almost here!

How many of you go shopping on Black Friday? I had not ever gone shopping on this day until last year, so I can officially say I have. I'm betting there is a possibility that some of you have no idea what Black Friday is, and others may just have never experienced it.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving. It is a time when retailers have outrageous sales on various merchandise. Many of these sales are "early bird" sales, which means they start at five or six in the morning the sales become less as the day progresses.

Retailers use Black Friday as a way to bring people to their businesses. Obviously by providing such large discounts, they do not make much profit, but they make profit from the individuals who buy non-sale items, or come back later to get something that they saw and liked.

With the declining economy, retailers are becoming more and more desperate, and so the sales are anticipated to be even better this year. Now those of you who have never shopped on this day may be thinking, well this sounds like a win-win thing. Well there are some huge downsides.

To get the best deals, I would recommend beginning your shopping at 5 am, which is early for most. Many get caught buying way more than they need due to the low prices, which defeats the purpose of going to sales if you still end up spending the same amount of money. The biggest downside for me personally was the crowds. There are people who are very serious about this shopping day, and they mean business. I felt claustrophobic. There were people everywhere, and my mom and I spent most of the day standing in line waiting to pay for the things we picked out. We ended up getting tired very fast, and made it more of a day to just spend together and go out to eat rather than be serious about the shopping.

I have also heard stories from friends about people getting run over and hurt, products running out instantly, and other much wilder stories.

So, is it worth it? To me it is not, but to others they look forward to this day each and every year. What about you?