I have never done Black Friday.  There is a reason for that.  I learned my lesson in Savanna, Georgia 1962.  Way back before the Black Friday concept had been invented.

 I had gone to a highly advertised sale at a furniture store at eight in the morning.  It was just a sale, nothing spectacular.  They were clearing out the store at reduced prices, and we needed a sofa.  

I was there early to get in and get a good selection, as soon as the doors opened--which opened out, not in.  When the doors opened, the crowd behind me surged forward and pinned me against the edge of the opening door and I couldn't breath.  

Eventually the pressure behind me finally rolled me off the edge of the door and into the store. But there were a couple of minutes I thought I was done for.  I was trapped.  I thought they were going to break my ribs.

Needless to say, I was done shopping.  I would look for a sofa some other day when there was no hysteria.  Saving a little money isn't worth risking your life.
I had never been in a crowd like that.  Being from the nineteen-fifties in Oklahoma, I didn't expect rude people behind me to surge.  I thought everyone would wait their turn.  I learned something about human behavior that day.  You can't predict what people are going to do.  Especially when money is involved.

I don't shop much any more.  For one thing, I can't walk any distance for very long, and for another, I have found that when I need something, I save money in the long run if I just go buy it.  I never make an impulse purchase because I'm not out looking for stuff.  It took me ten minutes to buy a washer and dryer last week.  On Monday--not Friday.  They gave me their Black Friday price--because I asked for it.  No crowd.