As the sun began to set on Thanksgiving evening, shoppers rushed to stores to take advantage of the high discounts and low costs that were broadcast on television and online the previous week for Black Friday. Some spirits, like mine, were high in hopes of savings, while others refused to support the festivities because of a potential for scams.

The idea behind Black Friday is to sell off overstocked products for really good prices. If businesses are making a profit, they are said to be in the black–if not, they are in the red.

The economic magazine The Balance wrote in 2014 that approximately $50.9 million was spent in stores on Black Friday weekend, bringing in an enormous amount of money into the market. Additionally, Black Friday creates jobs: According to the National Retail Federation, between 640,000 and 690,000 seasonal workers will be hired for the holiday season. From these figures, it is obvious that the holiday encourages spending and promotes the economy. Without the extravagant savings, consumers wouldn’t be as encouraged to spend. Furthermore, if Black Friday were to be taken away, these major profits would be obliterated and, in turn, hurt businesses that would have profited. In other words, it serves as a stimulant for our capitalist society–and I don’t see a major change in our economic system coming any time soon.

On the other hand, I can see why people object to this high-spending event. According to the Wall Street Journal, big retailers cleverly work in collaboration with their suppliers “to set starting prices that, after all the markdowns, will yield the profit margins they want.” In other words, buyers technically aren’t getting the deals they think they’re getting. Nevertheless, the consumer feels more comfortable spending money and the business still makes money, which sounds like a win-win situation.

I won’t deny that sometimes companies maliciously take advantage of the spendthrift attitude that is quite common during the holiday season. USA Today reported that some retailers market “lower-quality versions of popular products” so consumers believe the same highly priced products are being sold for better prices. Even still, a few spoiled cookies in a store full of them shouldn’t deter people from participating in spending for the greater good. Just because a few retailers are sneaky in their tactics, doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t participate in Black Friday.

In an increasingly technological society, Black Friday has also spread to the world wide web. After in-store sales came to a close after Black Friday weekend, shoppers have another opportunity to get their share of deals online during Cyber Monday.

I do believe Cyber Monday has a greater potential for scamming than its weekend counterpart. The Internet serves as a seemingly impenetrable wall between suppliers and buyers that can lead naive web users to share their personal information with identity thieves. It can also make products appear much more luxurious than they are in person. I would advise any online shopper, new and experienced alike, to only purchase items at big name stores that you would also shop at in person (i.e., Best Buy, Walmart, Forever 21, etc.).

All in all, these post-Thanksgiving shopping holidays serve as a way to stimulate the economy during a high-spending season. Regardless of the ethical dilemmas behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I believe they are so deeply embedded into our capitalist society that they would be nearly impossible to get rid of, so why not take advantage of some savings?