Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Since the 1980s, Black Friday has signified the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Stores offered almost-impossible “doorbuster” deals on TVs and hand blenders, shoppers rose before dawn to wait in line to get them, violence ensued, and the tinsel-covered period when retailers finally operated “in the black” began in earnest.

It’s probably for the best, then, that Black Friday is not what it was even 20 years ago. A movement to recognize its toll on retail workers eventually convinced several stores to close on Thanksgiving so workers could be with their families, instead of stocking for the busy day ahead. Holiday shopping has continued to move online. And the thrill of a deep, one-day discount has morphed into a numbing, month-long thrum of flash sales, Cyber Monday specials, and member appreciation events.

Future Perfect deputy editor Izzie Ramirez has reported extensively on the state of American consumerism, from our habit of buying, using, and throwing away literal tons of stuff each year, to how the quality of the things we’re purchasing — from appliances to undergarments — is progressively getting worse.

I caught up with her to talk about why Americans’ shopping habits have transformed, what the threat of high tariffs might mean for big-ticket goods, and how sales bonanzas like Black Friday are part of a larger effort by retailers to keep us shopping, to our own detriment, and the planet’s. (This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.)

And one last note: We're keeping today's newsletter light for the holiday.  Expect us back in full form beginning Monday! 

Lavanya Ramanathan: So, the quality of our stuff is worse now. Tell me a bit about that, as we stare down a period when Americans will be buying a ton.

Izzie Ramirez: I would like to preface this by saying everyone thinks that I’m anti-shopping, and it’s not that I’m anti-shopping; I actually love shopping. Materials are fun, materialism is fun, except for when it’s not.

I started writing about it because I came across a problem, and the problem was that my brand-new bra absolutely sucked. Shouldn’t new things be better? Isn’t this, like, the whole promise of capitalism, in a way?

I really wanted to get a mass-production understanding of what’s going on, and talk a little bit about the decline of repairability, and what we can do about it. Because I do think that people want to buy things that make them happy, that last, and fit into their lives. And it sucks when you invest your money and you don’t get your money’s investment.

It’s less that companies want to be making worse-quality goods. In the case of my bra, it’s more that for the cost of producing something like my bra, you can’t do the same thing for the same amount of money. Something has to give, and it’s going to either be labor or the quality of the material, and it’s usually a little bit of both.

Knowing all of that, what is a good way to approach something like Black Friday? There are all sorts of deals, like TVs for $50. With some of these, is it just throwing good money after bad? Is there actually a way for the consumer to be a winner?

I’m going to be a hypocrite with this. I usually think Black Friday is bad, but if Trump does enact tariffs, then maybe Black Friday might be good for larger purchases, such as washing machines, dishwashers, and other major appliances, because tariffs would create conditions for those globalized objects, where you need parts from a billion different places, to become way, way, way more expensive. And if they don’t become more expensive, those are going to be the very objects that become way worse, very, very rapidly.

That’s bad advice for most circumstances. There is a lot of science and psychology behind buying things. On Black Friday, you feel like you don’t have time. It is entirely a lie, because they run the same sales regularly. If you know anything about Black Friday, they do the same sales every year. It’s not like that sale is never going to happen again. Or the Sephora sale. It really grinds my gears when I see people posting Sephora hauls, like they’re never gonna do the members sale again. They do, two or three times a year. It’s the scarcity mindset.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

You have also written about hauls. We are shopping differently now. We shop online. It’s become that much easier to get things from all over the world. If I had to guess, I’d say there are a lot more brands, too — direct-to-consumer sellers of things like jewelry. What is happening to shopping itself?

Hauls are when people buy 10 or 15 or 20 different items in one go, and usually parade them around on social media. They’re buying things from places like Amazon, Temu, Shein, Abercrombie & Fitch. The thing about haul culture is that it also creates that mindset around scarcity, like, “Oh, you need this.” It normalizes mass consumption, and buying a lot all at once and regularly, and that it is a regular practice to spend that much money.

And if you’re not spending that much money, then you’re going to be spending at places like Shein that have $1 T-shirts, and that normalizes a dangerously low price for workers and the planet.

A lot of the things that you’re describing feel like new behaviors. There’s also a thing happening in our shopping ecosystem, and in our consumer culture, around demand for the new — for newness at all times.

Yeah, and I think so much of that is driven by that normalization of excitement around buying — dopamine shopping, wanting to feel something. So much of it is social media, and the scale of globalization and all of these new players that are in the market. It’s just a whole other level of consumer deception, too — this false sense of urgency from companies.

Yes, there is the demand, but it is also companies knowing that they could take advantage of us like this. It’s like ouroboros, the snake that’s eating itself. It’s never going to end if we don’t make a conscious choice of saying no.

Are you enjoying the Today, Explained newsletter? Forward it to a friend; they can sign up for it right here. 

And as always, we want to know what you think. Specifically: If there is a topic you want us to explain or a story you’re curious to learn more about, let us know by filling out this form or just replying to this email. 

Today’s edition was produced and edited by senior editor Lavanya Ramanathan.  We'll see you Monday!

Become a member to support fearless, independent journalism.

This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.

View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.

Vox Media, 1701 Rhode Island. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.