November 22, 2025 • 9 mins
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have replaced the Boxing Day sales as the year's biggest retail event. So how do three non-shoppers make the most of the deals on offer?
Fear & Greed Q+A: Join Sean Aylmer, Michael Thompson and Adam Lang as they answer questions on business, investing, economics, politics and more. If you have your own question, get in touch via our website, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Fear and Greed Q and A where we
ask and answer questions about business, investing, economics, politics and more.
I'm Michael Thompson and good morning Sean Ayleman.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, Michael, and good morning to you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Adam Lange.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Something a little bit different today. It's a very Sunday
kind of topic. But we are talking retail and obviously
we are heading into Black Friday week which then leads
into kind of a gray weekend then for ahead of
the Cyber Monday. And what this means is that there
are some tremendous opportunities out there to save some money
on any kind of purchases. It is also a really
(00:43):
important date in the retail calendar. It has become the
biggest retail event across the entire years, replaced Boxing Day
as the biggest retail sales event. So if you're going
to buy anything, you do it now, right you think, so, yes,
Well that's there we go. I've started us off with
one tip delay do it today. Well, okay, Sean, have
(01:03):
you got any ideas tips on the ways to make
the most of the Black Friday sales?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well sort of. So the Australian Retailers Association reckons that
about Roy Morgan data about six point eight billion dollars
we spent over the Black Friday, Sunday, Ciber Monday weekend.
Now if you include from now forward, so over the
next ten days or so, it's certainly going to be
a couple of billion more than that. What I like
(01:30):
about these sales is that there are brands that you
don't really see on sale very often. Now I'm not
pushing any of these, so you know, do your own
research and all that sort of stuff. But for example, Dyson,
Dyson's a really expensive product, vacuum cleaner's air conditions, all
sorts of things. You can save up to six hundred
(01:51):
and fifty bucks on selected Dyson technology. I think that's
pretty cool. Brevell my favorite love Revel. Sometimes it's actually
hard to find Revel stuff on sale. Well, suddenly there
were big sales. There. Lots of other names, you know, Sheridan, Pillow,
Talk IKEA, JB High Five, They've all got ads out
(02:13):
at the moment talking about how to save money. But
what I mean, the thing for me about this period
is there are just some products and brands that don't
go on sale very much that you can get on
sale now. So my tip that's a long way, you know,
wandering around trying to answer your question here. My tip
(02:33):
is to actually do your research. So if you know
what you want. So I think at this point I
have got a lot of kids in my house, I
give them one good president at the end of the year.
My daughter Rose, I know what I want to get
her for Christmas, so I've just got to sit down
work out how to get it. And I mean to
(02:55):
do it all. Do it online is what I do it.
But actually do your research and you can find some
fantastic bargains, but you've got to make the effort. You
can't just flip through.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Look, I completely agree with that, and I have a
slight advantage in this one because our sister podcasts How
Do They Afford That, which comes out every week. We
just released an episode last week that included ten ways
to make the most of your Black Friday sales. It
started out as six, but we've had so many good
(03:26):
ideas that it ended up as ten, and that make
a list. Do your planning is absolutely key to this.
That you if you walk into or rather kind of
click onto a site without an idea of what you're
actually looking for. You are going to end up buying
things that you don't actually need because who can resist
seeing something that is kind of thirty percent off of
forty But I do need it, But I do need it.
(03:47):
It's alarmingly easy to convince yourself that you actually do
and you focus instead on what you're saving rather than
what you're actually spending.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, and this idea that use this as your Christmas
shopping absolutely, so if you haven't already set up like
a secret sander or something with extended family, you do
that now and so that people can make the most
of it well in advance. And a really interesting one
point that Canna Campbell, who does how do they afford that?
With me? The point that she made is remember that
(04:19):
think back to your shopping in the past, and to
think back about the impulse purchases and things that you
have made in the past and how they made you
feel and whether you actually got the value out of it,
and don't don't spend like it's it's kind of like
I know, it's embracing the minimalist approach to to shopping,
(04:41):
right that do you actually need it? Is it going
to make a difference to your life. Is it something
that you would have bought anyway and you're just actually
going to save money by doing it now, then go
for it. Go for it. But if you're just buying
it because it's on special and it's going to sit
around the house and it's going to cost you money
and it's going to drain your budget, then maybe think again. Adam,
you're a mad shopper.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I recommend a spreadsheet. You would he would do you? Yeah,
he would have Lara, you'd have the.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Boys, Lucas, Maggie. Does Maggie have a tab on the
on the Christmas shopping spreadsheet?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Look, I'm going to confess Christmas shopping is one of
my weaknesses.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I Am, you don't have weaknesses, Adam, don't be like that.
Dad's say one of weakness.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I saw him get gout once. That was a weakness.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It was it is.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And that felt that felt cruel to point that out because.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Him trying I've seen him try and ride a bike
five bike, right, that was a weakness.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So now this has just become a shopping list of
Adam's weaknesses going.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I do love a list. I do love a spreadsheet,
and it just helps me manage the anxieties during the year.
I got to remember that, God remember that. Well, I
never do right. So I create these lists. And one
of the things with shopping for me, it's a bit
like a competition. So my adrenaline goes up and I
get very sort of competitive and excited, and so I
(06:16):
want to buy more things. So one of my limits
is I've just got to take breaks away from the
Black Friday machinery, not to buy too much, only one hit.
So I load up the cart right and usually I'll
often load up the Amazon cart or whatever, and I'll
watch for price changes.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So would you use websites let's say Amazon.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
No, I've taken Amazon. I use a lot, but I've
taken to using more because there are sometimes price benefits
outside it. And so creating like watch lists of things
that I know I want to get and when they
do come on sue because sometimes, like any side, there
is retailer as an expert, there's retailers who have stock
(07:00):
made purely for these buying frenzies, right, and they might
list them for a short time at a full price,
and then they just go into heavy discount mode. And
so you've got to watch for buying things that look
like they're normally really high price but perhaps aren't often
high price. So yeah, I do like using it. It
is so convenient. But on counters tip about remember the mistakes. Yeah,
(07:23):
I've made a few along the way.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Can I toss in a couple of quick ones? Number
one is is I mean everyone's short on time. So
you pick the highest priced things that you are going
to need into the future, and look towards twenty twenty
six as well, the things that you are going to
need potentially if the kids need a laptop, going back
to school, and focus your attention on the things that
(07:47):
are actually going to have the biggest potential saving. And
don't just think Christmas. Think Birthday is for next year,
I think return to school, Think what you might need
for the office and stuff in the nesence. Yeah yeah, yeah,
present random self care and focus on those big things
because if you've got limited time, you're going to see
the biggest savings and the biggest return on the investment
of your time. The other thing, and this is a
(08:10):
great one and Shan my wife uses this all the
time as well. There are cash back. There's a thing
called shop back. There's a bunch of different different options
out there, but what you actually do is you essentially
you buy through another platform. Shotback is the one that
we've used, not affiliated with. If you can just use
it and you might buy be buying something through Harvy
(08:32):
Norman or something like that, but you buy it through
this shop back website, and you actually get a percentage
of the purchase price back as cash paid directly to you,
and it builds up in your account you just transferred
as cash.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And that doesn't the discount at all.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It doesn't. It doesn't. And so you can actually stack
you can stack your discounts. You can get one from
the retailer, and then you get essentially an additional cash
back through this provider, and so it's worth investigating anyway.
I sat back, Yeah, yeah, anyway, Look, how about that
three of us who know very little about kind of
(09:06):
anything about shopping, but we've managed to cobble together a
pretty solid list of things to take into account this
Black Friday. What do you reckon?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah? Well done.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I learned so well done.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I'm bizarrely I learned something from both of you which
really rarely happens on topics like this. Thank you very much, Sean.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Thanks Michael, Thanks Adam, Thank.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
You, Adam, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you've got something that you would like us to
dig into, it can be anything, then send it on
through via LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or at Fearangreed dot com
dot au. I'm Michael Thompson and this is Fear and
Greed Q and a
Welcome to Fear and Greed Q and A where we
ask and answer questions about business, investing, economics, politics and more.
I'm Michael Thompson and good morning Sean Ayleman.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, Michael, and good morning to you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Adam Lange.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Something a little bit different today. It's a very Sunday
kind of topic. But we are talking retail and obviously
we are heading into Black Friday week which then leads
into kind of a gray weekend then for ahead of
the Cyber Monday. And what this means is that there
are some tremendous opportunities out there to save some money
on any kind of purchases. It is also a really
(00:43):
important date in the retail calendar. It has become the
biggest retail event across the entire years, replaced Boxing Day
as the biggest retail sales event. So if you're going
to buy anything, you do it now, right you think, so, yes,
Well that's there we go. I've started us off with
one tip delay do it today. Well, okay, Sean, have
(01:03):
you got any ideas tips on the ways to make
the most of the Black Friday sales?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well sort of. So the Australian Retailers Association reckons that
about Roy Morgan data about six point eight billion dollars
we spent over the Black Friday, Sunday, Ciber Monday weekend.
Now if you include from now forward, so over the
next ten days or so, it's certainly going to be
a couple of billion more than that. What I like
(01:30):
about these sales is that there are brands that you
don't really see on sale very often. Now I'm not
pushing any of these, so you know, do your own
research and all that sort of stuff. But for example, Dyson,
Dyson's a really expensive product, vacuum cleaner's air conditions, all
sorts of things. You can save up to six hundred
(01:51):
and fifty bucks on selected Dyson technology. I think that's
pretty cool. Brevell my favorite love Revel. Sometimes it's actually
hard to find Revel stuff on sale. Well, suddenly there
were big sales. There. Lots of other names, you know, Sheridan, Pillow,
Talk IKEA, JB High Five, They've all got ads out
(02:13):
at the moment talking about how to save money. But
what I mean, the thing for me about this period
is there are just some products and brands that don't
go on sale very much that you can get on
sale now. So my tip that's a long way, you know,
wandering around trying to answer your question here. My tip
(02:33):
is to actually do your research. So if you know
what you want. So I think at this point I
have got a lot of kids in my house, I
give them one good president at the end of the year.
My daughter Rose, I know what I want to get
her for Christmas, so I've just got to sit down
work out how to get it. And I mean to
(02:55):
do it all. Do it online is what I do it.
But actually do your research and you can find some
fantastic bargains, but you've got to make the effort. You
can't just flip through.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Look, I completely agree with that, and I have a
slight advantage in this one because our sister podcasts How
Do They Afford That, which comes out every week. We
just released an episode last week that included ten ways
to make the most of your Black Friday sales. It
started out as six, but we've had so many good
(03:26):
ideas that it ended up as ten, and that make
a list. Do your planning is absolutely key to this.
That you if you walk into or rather kind of
click onto a site without an idea of what you're
actually looking for. You are going to end up buying
things that you don't actually need because who can resist
seeing something that is kind of thirty percent off of
forty But I do need it, But I do need it.
(03:47):
It's alarmingly easy to convince yourself that you actually do
and you focus instead on what you're saving rather than
what you're actually spending.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, and this idea that use this as your Christmas
shopping absolutely, so if you haven't already set up like
a secret sander or something with extended family, you do
that now and so that people can make the most
of it well in advance. And a really interesting one
point that Canna Campbell, who does how do they afford that?
With me? The point that she made is remember that
(04:19):
think back to your shopping in the past, and to
think back about the impulse purchases and things that you
have made in the past and how they made you
feel and whether you actually got the value out of it,
and don't don't spend like it's it's kind of like
I know, it's embracing the minimalist approach to to shopping,
(04:41):
right that do you actually need it? Is it going
to make a difference to your life. Is it something
that you would have bought anyway and you're just actually
going to save money by doing it now, then go
for it. Go for it. But if you're just buying
it because it's on special and it's going to sit
around the house and it's going to cost you money
and it's going to drain your budget, then maybe think again. Adam,
you're a mad shopper.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I recommend a spreadsheet. You would he would do you? Yeah,
he would have Lara, you'd have the.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Boys, Lucas, Maggie. Does Maggie have a tab on the
on the Christmas shopping spreadsheet?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Look, I'm going to confess Christmas shopping is one of
my weaknesses.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I Am, you don't have weaknesses, Adam, don't be like that.
Dad's say one of weakness.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I saw him get gout once. That was a weakness.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It was it is.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And that felt that felt cruel to point that out because.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Him trying I've seen him try and ride a bike
five bike, right, that was a weakness.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So now this has just become a shopping list of
Adam's weaknesses going.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I do love a list. I do love a spreadsheet,
and it just helps me manage the anxieties during the year.
I got to remember that, God remember that. Well, I
never do right. So I create these lists. And one
of the things with shopping for me, it's a bit
like a competition. So my adrenaline goes up and I
get very sort of competitive and excited, and so I
(06:16):
want to buy more things. So one of my limits
is I've just got to take breaks away from the
Black Friday machinery, not to buy too much, only one hit.
So I load up the cart right and usually I'll
often load up the Amazon cart or whatever, and I'll
watch for price changes.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So would you use websites let's say Amazon.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
No, I've taken Amazon. I use a lot, but I've
taken to using more because there are sometimes price benefits
outside it. And so creating like watch lists of things
that I know I want to get and when they
do come on sue because sometimes, like any side, there
is retailer as an expert, there's retailers who have stock
(07:00):
made purely for these buying frenzies, right, and they might
list them for a short time at a full price,
and then they just go into heavy discount mode. And
so you've got to watch for buying things that look
like they're normally really high price but perhaps aren't often
high price. So yeah, I do like using it. It
is so convenient. But on counters tip about remember the mistakes. Yeah,
(07:23):
I've made a few along the way.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Can I toss in a couple of quick ones? Number
one is is I mean everyone's short on time. So
you pick the highest priced things that you are going
to need into the future, and look towards twenty twenty
six as well, the things that you are going to
need potentially if the kids need a laptop, going back
to school, and focus your attention on the things that
(07:47):
are actually going to have the biggest potential saving. And
don't just think Christmas. Think Birthday is for next year,
I think return to school, Think what you might need
for the office and stuff in the nesence. Yeah yeah, yeah,
present random self care and focus on those big things
because if you've got limited time, you're going to see
the biggest savings and the biggest return on the investment
of your time. The other thing, and this is a
(08:10):
great one and Shan my wife uses this all the
time as well. There are cash back. There's a thing
called shop back. There's a bunch of different different options
out there, but what you actually do is you essentially
you buy through another platform. Shotback is the one that
we've used, not affiliated with. If you can just use
it and you might buy be buying something through Harvy
(08:32):
Norman or something like that, but you buy it through
this shop back website, and you actually get a percentage
of the purchase price back as cash paid directly to you,
and it builds up in your account you just transferred
as cash.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And that doesn't the discount at all.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It doesn't. It doesn't. And so you can actually stack
you can stack your discounts. You can get one from
the retailer, and then you get essentially an additional cash
back through this provider, and so it's worth investigating anyway.
I sat back, Yeah, yeah, anyway, Look, how about that
three of us who know very little about kind of
(09:06):
anything about shopping, but we've managed to cobble together a
pretty solid list of things to take into account this
Black Friday. What do you reckon?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah? Well done.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I learned so well done.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I'm bizarrely I learned something from both of you which
really rarely happens on topics like this. Thank you very much, Sean.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Thanks Michael, Thanks Adam, Thank.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
You, Adam, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you've got something that you would like us to
dig into, it can be anything, then send it on
through via LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or at Fearangreed dot com
dot au. I'm Michael Thompson and this is Fear and
Greed Q and a
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