Published November 28, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD
At Collectors MD, we often talk about seasonal triggers, and today—Black Friday—is the prime example—the trigger of all triggers.
Black Friday used to feel like a once-a-year opportunity—a chance to finally grab something meaningful at a price you could justify. But over time, it’s quietly evolved into something far more manipulative, far more psychological, and far more harmful for people who struggle with spending and compulsion. Today isn’t really about savings anymore. It’s about pressure.
Let’s be honest: Black Friday has become the single biggest “anti-intention” day of the year. It’s engineered to push us toward urgency, FOMO, and impulse—not clarity, patience, or alignment. Retailers (not all, but many in this modern, fast-paced, urgency-driven ecosystem) spend months preparing psychological triggers designed to make you feel like today is the day you must act, even if the purchase doesn’t align with your needs, values, budget, or well-being.
The messaging is loud, aggressive, and strategic: “Limited time.” “Only today.” “Last chance.” “Act fast.” It’s the exact emotional architecture we talk about at Collectors MD—the same engineering that fuels overspending in cards, memorabilia, sneakers, fashion, art, literally any vertical where compulsion can take root.
This is why Collectors MD was never just about sports cards. It was always about the behavior underneath the behavior. The part of us that gets swept up in hype, the part that chases the “rush” more than the item, the part that confuses urgency with opportunity.
Every year, we watch familiar scenes play out: People lining up for hours in the cold. People sprinting into stores. People fighting over TVs, consoles, kitchen appliances, sneakers—not because they need them, but because they’re told the moment is special, rare, fleeting. People losing their sense of reality and integrity because the environment is engineered to override intention. Different products, same underlying impulse.
Black Friday doesn’t reward intention. Black Friday rewards reactivity. And that’s the trap. When you’re conditioned into believing “the deal is the purpose”, you stop asking whether the purchase has any purpose at all.
For those of us wired for compulsion, today can be especially dangerous. It’s easy to convince ourselves, “It’s on sale, so it doesn’t count”, or “I’ll regret missing this”, or “Everyone’s buying something—why shouldn’t I?” Before we know it, the receipts pile up, the adrenaline fades, and we’re left with a familiar, heavy feeling: I didn’t need this, so why did I buy it?
If you’re feeling any of that today, take a breath. You’re not weak. You’re not broken. You’re responding exactly how the system is designed.
But here’s the good news: You can opt out of the noise and re-enter on your own terms. You can choose intention over impulse. You can pause, question, and reclaim the part of you that wants to be in control of your spending—not swept away by manufactured urgency.
Black Friday will keep coming every year. But so will your ability to slow down, choose differently, and rewrite the script. You don’t need a “deal” to validate your worth, your identity, or your place in the world. You only need clarity—and that’s something no retailer on earth can sell.
#CollectorsMD
Even on the loudest, most chaotic spending day of the year, you still have permission to choose intention over urgency.
—
Follow us on Instagram: @collectorsmd
Subscribe to our Newsletter & Support Group
Join The Conversation On Mantel
Read More Daily Reflections
