Black Friday has become the most exciting Thanksgiving tradition in the country. With every year comes another news story detailing the outrageous antics of shoppers trying to fight the crowds in order to get the best deals. Florida especially seems to be plagued with people who feel the need to bring weapons with them to shop in order to defend their place in line.

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The Real Problem With Black Friday

At first glance, Cyber Monday seems like the perfect alternative to avoid the madness of Black Friday. Rather than fighting crowds, waiting in line and spending excessive time simply trying to find a parking space, online shopping allows us to snag the deals from the comfort of our own home. However, Cyber Monday comes with its own set of problems.

Though most people use Cyber Monday to avoid the hectic crowds, most websites will be getting the same level of traffic. Many websites, including Target’s, were not able to handle the load of online shoppers last year. As a result, many frustrated customers were kicked out of the site and were unable to shop altogether. Though elbowing your way through mobs of other Black Friday shoppers isn’t anyone’s ideal way to spend the night of Thanksgiving, at least you aren’t going to get kicked out of the store when too many people show up.

The only thing more annoying than not being able to buy that gift for your mom? Having it taken out of your cart before you even check out. If you’re a frequent online shopper, you understand the struggle of finding everything you love only to be told an item is no longer available before you’ve even checked out. Even worse, when you get the dreaded out of stock email about an item you thought would be on its way to you already. While brick-and-mortar stores are not immune to these inventory issues, they do allow the comfort of knowing that once it is in your hand, no one will take it (unless they really wanted that television)

Black Friday also allows you to go home with all your items. That means no tracking your packages or paying for shipping. Even better, you don’t need to worry getting to your packages before your nosy roommates find out what you’re giving them for the Holidays.

Luckily, we can all participate in both of these famous shopping days! If you’re looking for some very specific gifts for your family, you have two chances to beat the hordes of shoppers to the deals. While Black Friday may be overcrowded and packed with the craziness that accompanies so many people, it’s all part of the excitement. Besides, if you didn’t see a fight break out in line was it really Black Friday?