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It’s that shop-til-you-drop time of year again, and retailers have already spent most of November running promotions and announcements for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here’s how to get the best deals and avoid getting scammed.
Make a list (and do your research) before you start
We feel it is necessary to point this out right away. Most retailers mark things down at the beginning of the year so they can mark them down on Black Friday and convince you to buy them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting a great deal; it just means they marked the products the rest of the year.
There’s also a pool of lesser-quality devices and other products to get rid of — high-end or high-quality items rarely go on sale. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but it’s important to keep these things in mind when looking for deals. In some cases, there may even be specific models that are released just for Black Friday at bargain prices (with bargain quality). Remember, a $300 HDTV that has a horrible picture and two HDMI ports isn’t a deal if $500 would have gotten you a sharp picture and all the HDMI ports you needed.
Because that big sale might not be such a great deal after all, and you’ll always save the most money if you don’t spend your money in the first place. To that end, we recommend making a list before you dive in. What would you buy, right now, if it wasn’t on sale? Would you pay full price for an Xbox One? Would you buy that external hard drive you were thinking of buying and finally make a backup of your family photos? If you would buy it now, at full price, then of course you should look for it on sale.
Also, remember that Black Friday, while it has some good sales, doesn’t always have the best deals of the year. Some TVs may be cheaper in December, January and February, for example. (Read on for tips on how to figure out how this applies to other elements.)
RELATED: The best way to save money on technology: buy used
Plus, the best prices aren’t really found during any sales, but on the used car market. Black Friday is great for shopping for gifts, but if you’re shopping for yourself, you can save a lot more by searching for used items on Craigslist, LetGo, and OfferUp.
It sounds elementary, but by making a list of things you’d like to buy on Black Friday, you guard against wanting to buy a discounted (but still very expensive) IPS monitor just because it’s suddenly on sale.
Not only that, but if you make your wish list early, especially when it comes to things like electronics, you’ll know exactly what you want and won’t end up buying your second or third tier option just because. some retailers claim it’s 50% off. Remember, you don’t want a HDTV, do you want the HDTV that has all the features you love. Do your research on any product you buy, you know, just like you would if you were they were not Black Friday.
Amazon (and many others) have monthly sales
Once upon a time, Black Friday was just one day: the Friday after Thanksgiving. Then came Cyber Monday, which was like Black Friday for online retailers. Then the whole weekend began to blur like a mega event. And now it has gone even further.
Starting in 2014, Amazon decided that it would have Black Friday for the entire week. For a while, it bumped this up to a full month, but starting in 2018 (and continuing into 2019), it went back to a week-long sale. During the week leading up to Black Friday, lightning deals happen every 10 minutes or so. There are some great deals to be found, though if you’re looking for a specific item, you may or may not find it. You can visit Amazon’s Black Friday 2019 page to see the current list.
You’ll find the same phenomenon at many other big box retailers, too (although Amazon certainly has things down to a fine art with its barrage of expedited deals). Best Buy, Newegg, and dozens of other stores (online or otherwise) are generating so many early Black Friday sales that it’s wise to check them every once in a while so you can spend your vacation just relaxing. You might only end up saving 45% on what you wanted instead of the 50% you’d save if you waited in line for an amazing price, but then again, I’d buy it without the lines or missing out on vacation with your family.
We’ve even rounded up some of the best Black Friday deals on our sister site, Review Geek.
Avoid the shops
One of the best ways to avoid getting ripped off, spending too much, or both, is to stay away from physical stores. Retail stores offer extremely tempting “door breaker” type sales, but such door breaker items are few and far between. If you’re not camping out in the Best Buy parking lot during your family’s Thanksgiving dinner, you won’t get a ticket to buy any of those hits. Showing up after the Black Friday morning stampede has passed is not only a terrible way to save on nothing, but it also encourages you to look at (and potentially buy) the stuff that isn’t marked down.
Avoiding the stores is not only a great way to avoid injuring yourself with hordes of over-eager shoppers, but there’s little reason to head to the stores these days. Outside of those rare Doorbusters (which require camping to capture), retailers have chosen to put deals online to avoid losing customers who prefer to shop online. By shopping from the comfort of your couch or desk, you’ll be in a better position to stick to the rest of our advice, since you’ll be away from the glitz of all the other stuff on the shelves and free from subconscious pressure. to buy and not leave empty-handed.
Compare current (and historical) prices
There’s never been a good reason to take a retailer seriously when it tells you it’s offering you the best price; As we mentioned earlier, Black Friday doesn’t always offer the best prices of the year. Thanks to technology, there’s no reason to be left in the dark. Today’s shoppers have the world at their fingertips when it comes to finding the best deals. Use the following sites and mobile apps to compare prices from home and on the go.
Historically, we recommend something more than CamelCamelCamel in the price comparison category. Still, many sites have become blatantly unethical when it comes to promoting retailers that have the best price (when in fact they only have the best kickbacks for the deals site), so we’ve been forced to cut our list short. .
Sign up to receive emails
We don’t like spam as much as anyone, but email coupons can lead to ridiculous savings. Our “promotions” tab in Gmail has been overflowing with sales coupons and pre-launch deals links this month, where we can buy products before the sales go public on the main site.
If you’re looking for hardware deals this holiday season, for example, you’d be foolish not to sign up for promotional emails from Newegg, Fry’s Electronics, TigerDirect, and other computer retailers you frequent. Competition for every shopping dollar has gotten so fierce that Black Friday deal emails start arriving before Halloween these days.
Feel free to set up a spam trap email address specifically for this purpose; That way, you don’t have to worry about unsubscribing from all of them when the holiday season ends.
Hunt the Deal Forums to become a Deal Hawk
Price comparisons are great. Getting a coupon by email is cool too, but the real magic happens on the deal forums. Whether it’s Black Friday or the middle of summer, you can save a ton by keeping an eye on the forums for serious deals. Internet bargain hunters are Lasted. Over the years, we’ve saved thousands of dollars by keeping an eye on the forums they frequent, where they trade tips that lead you to buy things in ways you may never have bought before, like visiting the vendor’s website from the engine from Bing search, collect two coupons, and sign up for one email newsletter coupon for a total of 73% off a product listed as 20% off.
Where do you find crazy tips like that? Dive into these sites:
- SlickDeals: SlickDeals has a Hot Deals forum that is full of great deals due to competition between advertisers. Tune in and get a constantly updated list of the best deals on the web. You can find the dedicated Black Friday forum here. You can also set alerts for the items you want and save yourself the hassle of browsing the forums.
- GoutDeal: GottaDeal doesn’t get as much coverage as Fat Wallet and SlickDeals, but the forums have been around for almost ten years and there is a fairly large base of posters that roam the web and post deals on their forums. You’ll even see a set of featured forums on the home page dedicated to Black Friday deals.
As we mentioned before, the people who make these forums their virtual grounds are I laughed deal hunters. They will not register for Black Friday; They are looking for deals on the Internet every day of the year. If someone posts a Black Friday ad or link selling an inflated price item at a fake Black Friday discount, they’ll be the first to tell you it’s a scam.
Armed with these tips and tricks, you can avoid the stores, compare prices effectively, and get back to spending time with friends and family over the holiday weekend.
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