The strangest Black Friday purchases: from funny to nothing

Fueled by the adrenaline of the moment and the excitement of scoring big discounts, many shoppers have ended up buying unusual items during Black Friday.

The annual Black Friday tradition may seem strange to those who don’t live in the United States. A few years ago, it was common to see people camping outside stores to get the best deals, with some items discounted by as much as 90%.

Nowadays, the tradition has changed slightly, as most shopping is done online. Even so, the hustle and bustle of the sales remain.

Fueled by the adrenaline of the moment and the excitement of scoring big discounts, many shoppers have ended up buying unusual items, justifying the purchase simply because “they were cheap.” A quick web search revealed some of the strangest purchases Americans have made during Black Friday, and here we share a few of them.

The strangest Black Friday purchases

Strange and unexpected items that sell out fast

According to the website Patch, one of the strangest purchases was “potato watches”: functional watches that run on real potatoes. Would you dare to buy one? Apparently, they were a huge hit during Black Friday thanks to the discount.

Other unusual items include dog DNA kits, squirrel feeders shaped like horse heads (making squirrels look like tiny horror-movie horses), and other extravagant “novelty” products, according to Patch.

TIME magazine reported that some shoppers bought odd gadgets and quirky home gifts: unicorn slime, LED unicorn headbands, prank boxes, and other novelty items that almost no one actually needs.

On the more surreal end, there have been offers for items like potty chairs equipped with iPads for toddlers, which many consider more ridiculous than practical, but they still sold, according to data from The Independent.

The offer to buy nothing

Some Black Friday deals are more about satire or publicity than actual shopping. Here are a few stories of people who literally bought nothing:

According to an article by Moneywise, one year the creators of Cards Against Humanity offered a Black Friday deal where people paid $5 to receive nothing. No game, no product, just nothing. Yet the offer sold out.

In a similar spirit of absurdity, TIME shares that there have been crazy deals for items with little practical value, but that serve as novelty gifts or conversation starters, such as alphabet soup toilet paper, sudoku toilet paper, and tic-tac-toe toilet paper.

Why do people make these purchases?

There’s a shopper psychology behind the Black Friday craze. Sometimes people buy simply for novelty or the appeal of the “ridiculous.” A potato watch or a horse-head squirrel feeder is cheap and fun, so who cares if you don’t really need it?

Other times, advertising and the frenzy heavily influence crowd behavior. Limited-time offers and discounts that are unique for the year… that environment can lead people to impulsively buy things they normally wouldn’t consider.

Whatever the reason, it all ends up being a story.