The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Black Friday

Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, is a global phenomenon that originated in the United States. It is held the day after Thanksgiving and it has become an unofficial kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, with retailers offering deals to draw in large crowds. Thanks to online shopping, anyone, anywhere, can join in the frenzy. Just ensure you have a card that works to save you the stress and ensure you do not miss out on a good deal.

On Black Friday, electronics and phone stores get the most traffic. Though you’ll find big retailers, like Amazon, offering discounts on items like homewares, gadgets, beauty products, fitness items, kitchen essentials, toys and games. And even personalised gifts. 

But, like most things, Black Friday can be unpredictable. It could be your lucky day where you get to replace your headphones with better ones, or grab a course that’s been on your wishlist for more than half the price. It could just as easily end in frustration or a few unexpected bumps where the best deals sell out before you know it, or it becomes a case of what I ordered vs what I got. 

This year, as part of the #GeegpayBlackFriday campaign, we’re making sure you can take full advantage of Black Friday deals. This is a quick reminder that our virtual dollar card is your best bet for grabbing all the best deals on international websites this Black Friday. You can get it instantly on the Geegpay app.

I’m also sharing real stories from the Geegpay team on their Black Friday shopping experience—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

When Black Friday works in your favour, it’s a win because one person’s score is another’s miss.

Take Elsie, our Quality Assurance Engineer, for example. She went into Black Friday with a wish list. And, as luck would have it, her shopping experience was smooth. Elsie said, “What I ordered was exactly what I got.” For anyone who's done some online shopping, you know that’s not always a guarantee. Many times there are mix-ups, wrong sizes, and some strange colours. But her order arrived just as she pictured it.

Cynthia, our Content Marketing Manager, says she makes a game plan for Black Friday. She scouts deals in advance and sets reminders for when the items she wants go on sale. Last year, Cynthia had her sights set on a pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones. She’d been eyeing them for months but wanted to wait for the perfect deal to justify the splurge. As the clock struck midnight on Black Friday, Cynthia was ready. When she saw the headphones marked down by 40%, she didn’t waste a second. She said, “I clicked ‘buy,’ and within minutes, I was a new headphones owner.” A few days later, the headphones arrived, exactly as she’d hoped. 

For Chesvic, one of our Software Engineers, Black Friday delivered exactly what he was hoping for.“I placed an order, the price was just a bit less than the normal price. My item got delivered, and I’ve enjoyed using it,” he shared.

It may not have been a massive discount, but getting a great item for less feels like a win. 

The Bad

For every successful Black Friday haul, there are tales of shopping that didn’t go quite as planned. From website crashes to last-minute out-of-stocks, sometimes the excitement of getting a deal turns into a series of mini-disasters. But hey, it’s all part of what makes Black Friday unique, right?

Ochuko, a member of our tech team, had one such experience back in 2014. Here’s how his attempt to grab some shirts at a discount turned into a game of “fastest fingers”. “It was Black Friday at a popular ecommerce store. They were selling shirts for around N1,000 to N1,500. I saved my money preparing for the day. When Black Friday finally arrived, the website crashed because there was too much traffic. After about an hour, I was able to get in. I quickly added some shirts to my cart. Unknown to me, no be only me like fine things. When I got to checkout, about half of what I selected was out of stock. I decided to replace them with other shirts. I went back to look for more shirts. At this point, the fine shirts were running out. Most of the ones in stock were not my size. I think I was able to add about two more. I went to checkout and some of the previous ones in my cart were no longer available. That's when I realised that it was a game of fastest fingers. I quickly removed the ones that were out of stock, and checked out. I bought about 5 shirts in total. Out of those 5, only 3 shirts got delivered. And I had to give one away to a friend because it did not fit.”

Beverly, our Community & Partnerships Manager, has had her own ups and downs with Black Friday shopping. Here’s what happened when she also tried to order some shirts. “My Black Friday experience has not been totally bad. There was a time when I wanted to order a matching shirt for a friend and I, during the 2018 Black Friday season. The price was attractive and we had to take advantage of it. Usually, delivery from the store takes 1-2 business days, but because it was Black Friday, the estimated delivery timeline was 4-5 business days. We went ahead and placed our orders. The delivery date passed, and we reached out to the vendor asking for our order. After 48 hours there was no response from her. She finally responded saying that the items we ordered were not yet in the country and we needed to wait for an extra week. The week came, and still no shirts. We reached out to her again to check what was wrong. She then told us that she mixed up our order and she just got it back. Long story short, we got our order the next day, and well, the quality was one to die for. Despite the delivery issues, the clothes were really giving, so we had to forgive her.”

Sometimes, the only thing worse than a long wait is realising that what you waited for wasn’t worth it. Samuel, our Customer Service Representative, learned this the hard way when he received a Black Friday order that didn’t quite meet his expectations. “I ordered a pair of shoes which appeared to be of great quality on Black Friday. Upon receiving the shoe, it was a total mess. The quality was terrible.”

Black Friday deals are usually low. But deals that seem too good to be true can sometimes turn out exactly that way. Assurance, one of our Software Engineers, realised this when he spotted an incredible Black Friday offer on an Android phone. “Once, I saw an offer to buy an android phone for 20k and I made the purchase. Turns out that this particular purchase would go on to frustrate my life”.

The Ugly

Then, there are those Black Friday moments you’ll never forget, for all the wrong reasons. 

For Sodruldeen, our Co-Founder and CTO, Black Friday is more of a “psychological game” he said. He shared his discovery with us: “Many times, there are no actual discounts. Prices get altered the night before, and the ‘discount’ is just the original price.” After this realisation, Sod takes Black Friday deals with a grain of salt. 

Peter, an iOS developer, learned that even when the price is right, availability isn’t always guaranteed. He jumped at a deal on a standing fan offered at a ridiculously low price. “After two days, I received an email saying it was out of stock, and it took another four weeks to get my refund.” 

Victoria, who’s in Quality Assurance, had her Black Friday dreams go south over a seemingly harmless skincare buy. In 2021, she was excited to find a cheap CeraVe face wash from a vendor on Instagram. “After using it for about a week, my face started reacting,” she said. It turns out the product was a fake. Her lesson? “Don’t be too frugal when it comes to skincare.” 

Eugene, our Fraud and AML investigator, experienced his Black Friday letdown after spotting an incredible 60% off deal on a phone from a popular e-commerce store. In his excitement, he bought it immediately, only to notice when it arrived that something was off. “The brand name said ‘Samsong’ instead of ‘Samsung’ which I missed in my rush to grab the deal,” he shared. His takeaway? “If a deal seems too good to be true, it’s worth taking a moment to double-check.”

These stories from our team remind us that while Black Friday can be thrilling, sometimes it pays to look twice before you click ‘buy’. So shop smart, keep an eye out for quality, and enjoy the excitement of the season. 

Also, remember to get a Geegpay virtual dollar card instantly for just $3 and be ready for this year’s deals. Our virtual dollar card is 3D Secure, with no maintenance fees or monthly fees, and works on your favourite international sites and streaming platforms. You can also fund it with any currency in your Geegpay wallet and shop easily online on any store that accepts a USD card.