Editor’s Note: The following in an opinion piece.

Every year, numerous websites crash as Americans rush to make the most out of the most anticipated online shopping day of the year. Many wait online for hours to ensure that they’re the first ones to have access to the bargains. Others even prioritize these sales to such an extent that they skip out on other tasks.

Is Cyber Monday worth this hype? Certainly not.

Many Americans believe that they get the best deals on Cyber Monday and that they could purchase higher quantities for lower prices. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, the times to get the best deals occur at various points throughout the year depending on different factors such as the type of product.  

A female junior said, “All they do is raise their prices ahead of time and then say that there’s a good sale.”      

It is all about marketing, and it is evident that retailers plot pricing strategies in a certain way in order to increase their profits as much as possible. According to Decide Inc., a consumer-price research firm, prices are gradually raised weeks prior to Cyber Monday. Consequently, when these prices are lowered on Cyber Monday, consumers believe they are getting amazing deals.

Furthermore, Cyber Monday detracts from the meaning and purpose of Thanksgiving.  

Junior Izabella Zalewski stated, “I don’t understand how people spend a day giving thanks for all that they have, and then fight with each other over sales that aren’t even worth it.”

Junior Shannon Stemper questioned, “It defeats the purpose of family time and the purpose of thanksgiving. Is it really better or are we just throwing materialistic values at our children?”

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks for all that we have; it is all about appreciating the people in our lives who matter. Cyber Monday undoubtedly takes away from this significance as it contradicts what is celebrated on the holiday. This is because after spending Thanksgiving being grateful for how blessed we are, we get detached from this sentiment and put all our energy into figuring out which deal is better than the other.

Rather than falling into the trap of retailers’ pricing strategies, Americans should become more informed about when the best deals are available. They should purchase products at the lowest possible prices at different times during the year. This would essentially give the American consumer a better deal and simultaneously lessen the importance of this overrated shopping day.