The Daily Stat: Despite Myth, Many Retail Items Are No Cheaper on Black Friday

Are you having trouble viewing this email? If so, click here to see it in a web browser. HOME   |   BLOGS   |   THE MAGAZINE   |   BOOKS   |   AUTHORS   |   STORE RSS   |   Mobile OCTOBER 11, 2012 Despite Myth, Many Retail Items Are No Cheaper on Black Friday On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., the average prices of a Sesame Street Elmo plush toy and a Samsung 46-inch TV were 31% and 17% higher, respectively, than the items' October prices, according to an analysis performed for the Wall Street Journal. Despite a widespread belief that super-deals are abundant on Black Friday in November, many retail items are much cheaper at other times of year, the newspaper says. Source: The Myth of the Black Friday Deal Share Today's Stat: FEATURED PRODUCT Information Wants to Be Shared Ebook Now Available Does information want to be free? Information is much more complicated than that. What information really wants—what makes it more valuable, useful, and immediate, Joshua Gans argues—is to be shared. In this latest HBR single, Gans shows how sharing enhances most information's value. He also shows how the business models of traditional media companies, gatekeepers who have relied on scarcity and control, have collapsed in the face of new technologies. ADVERTISEMENT Follow the Stat: BEST SELLERS HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials HBR's Must Reads Library Set Guide to Persuasive Presentations Guide to Better Business Writing Guide to Getting the Right Work Done PREVIOUS STATS College Admissions Officers Do Look at Facebook The Unemployed Exercise More But Get Less Exercise Men with Shaved Heads Are Perceived as Bigger and Stronger Climate Change Will Make Fish Littler To Boost Workers' Productivity, Tell Them How They Rank Among Blacks, Parental Layoffs Are More Likely to Keep Kids Out of College The Effect of College Drinking Is Like Having a Lousy Teacher A Psychopathic Trait Helps Presidents Lead Better to Take a Temp Job After You're Laid Off For a Relaxing Commute, Hitch Your Car to a Wireless "Road Train" Introducing Mobile ManageMentor Powered by the proven content of Harvard ManageMentor™ iTunes >> Android >> UNSUBSCRIBE   |   UPDATE YOUR PROFILE   |   MORE EMAIL NEWSLETTERS   |   PRIVACY POLICY Was this email forwarded to you? If so, sign up to start receiving your own copy. ABOUT THIS MAILING LIST You have received this message because you subscribed to the "The Daily Stat" email newsletter from Harvard Business Review. If at any point you wish to remove yourself from this list, change your email address, or sign up for other email newsletters and alerts, please visit the Harvard Business Review Email Newsletter Preference Center. OPT OUT If you do not wish to receive any email messages from Harvard Business Review, click here. ADVERTISE WITH HBR This enewsletter is read by thousands of decision makers every day. Learn more about connecting your brand with this audience. Copyright © 2012 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing | 60 Harvard Way | Boston, MA 02163 Customer Service: 800-545-7685 (+1-617-783-7600 outside the U.S. and Canada)