Happy Boxing Day everyone! In Canada, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day. I’m not sure exactly why it’s call that but the main event during Boxing Day is shopping, and lots of it.
While Black Friday maybe known as the biggest shopping day in the US, Boxing Day is Canada’s biggest shopping day as all the retailers try to sell off the stuff they didn’t sell before Christmas.
Like Black Friday, most of the sales are purely hype. Retailers will put up a few door crashers to get people in the door. The rest of the items are priced no lower than any other day. However, there are some good deals if you wake up early enough to get in line for the door crashers.
As a general rule, I don’t shop on Boxing Day. The idea of lining up for an hour or more just to save a few bucks on a depreciating item isn’t my idea of smart money management. I’m all for saving money but you also need to consider the opportunity cost. How smart is it to line up for an hour or more to save $150 when you can make $250 in that same time period. Chances are, by the time you finally get inside the store, the item will be gone and you’ll end up being baited and switched to something else because you don’t want to leave the store empty handed.
I do take some comfort in knowing that unlike Black Friday, there have been no shopping deaths associated with Boxing Day.