I’ve been in the market for a new tent recently. I’d been doing a lot of research an makes, models and prices, and had narrowed my choice down to the MSR Elixir 1, a one man tent which is widely available – except in green. The grey version is ubiquitous, but I was looking for something a bit less noticeable, so I have decided to wait on the green one becoming available, even though it’s a few pounds more.That’s not to say I couldn’t be tempted by a Black Friday Deal…
The grey one has been on sale in Blacks and their sister outlet Go Outdoors for some considerable time, for the price of £189.99, down apparently from £215. I could get a blue light discount on that and knock off another 10-15%, so not a bad deal. They don’t sell the green one though, so I’ve been waiting on that coming back into stock with another retailer, however my Facebook has been plastered with Black Friday adverts claiming “up to 50% off”, and with those kind of savings it might be hard to resist. I followed the links and you can imagine my surprise to see that in this fantastic deal the price has come down by…99p.
It’s even there on the website. Was £189.99. Now £189.00. Not exactly the 12% they claim; in fact it’s a saving of around 0.5% on last weeks price (and probably next weeks price when it goes back to normal. This tent hasn’t been sold at the “in store price” for a while now, but I’m sure it’s all above board and legal – just misleading. They have other tents which also appear to be on Black Friday deals which are by and large their usual price. Sure, there may be some in store deals somewhere, but these certainly aren’t. To me, Black Friday is just one big con, another way for retailers to offload last years tat which is clogging up store-rooms, or to blitz you with ads to grab your attention, but not too much attention. Otherwise you start to notice that your bargain buy might not be as much of a bargain as it appears to be. Happy shopping…
The Airdrie Rambler 
the saving of 12% is off the original price of £215 so it is right. Not much of a Black Friday deal reducing it by 99p though!
Yes, it is 12% off the “original” price of £215, but given that it’s been £189.99 for months now, should they really be advertising this in such a manner as a “Black Friday Deal”?
In reality they’ve chopped off less than a £1 from their “normal” selling price.
Incidentally, Blacks have been selling this at the same price to any customer. Go Outdoors (their sister company) have been selling it at the same price as Blacks, but you need a membership card to get that price.
I suppose the moral is, shop around, and don’t assume that it is a bargain just because the seller tells you it is.
I didn’t realise tents had gone so expensive nowadays anyway, I’ve got a one person tent but have never used it despite owning it for a few years now. I’m not sure I ever will now I’ve done the Munros and Tops – I originally bought it for them. In the end, I found a pedal bike or bothying much better alternatives to camping for me as I’m not keen on camping really.