Rates Just Hit 4.6%. Black Friday Is Going to Be Huge

<p>Episode 155 is Wednesday 30 September, the last day of Q3. Adelaide can&#39;t decide if it&#39;s summer, and Mal is recording in shorts. The warm snap is pulling summer buying forward. A couple of Mal&#39;s clients are selling picnic gear at full price, without discounting. That&#39;s a nice counterpoint to last week&#39;s &quot;nobody pays full price&quot; story.</p><p>The big one this week is the Reserve Bank lifting the cash rate to 4.6%. That&#39;s the highest in 15 years, and it lands eight weeks before Black Friday. Mal makes the contrarian call: squeezed shoppers will save up and spend big in the sales, so November could be huge, with a hangover in January and February. Alex covers gift edits and event wear. They both talk about a two-speed Christmas, where people with a mortgage cut back and outright owners keep spending.</p><ul><li>QBD says manga is its fastest-growing book category. The licensing lesson is to look for the fandoms nobody&#39;s tapped yet (Alex had to Google what manga is).</li><li>Vinnies has started selling on eBay Live, beginning with a signed Roosters jersey from $1. Apparently 40% of Australians want to shop by livestream. Mal is not one of them.</li><li>New research says shoppers barely notice when packs get smaller but do react when prices go up. Would you rather pay the same for less?</li><li>The RBA takes rates to 4.6% just before Black Friday. Deloitte has retail growth slowing from 2.8% to 1.5%, and it&#39;s a two-speed Christmas.</li><li>Glassons posts a 50% profit jump on the back of Australia, while Cue sits in receivership with Myer, Brand Collective and Oroton circling.</li><li>Eye-Patch Gate: Fenty, Glow Recipe, Huda Beauty and Vitamasques all launched the same &quot;innovative&quot; eye-patch dispenser within days of each other. Your manufacturer might already be your competitor.</li></ul>