Black Friday is November 29, 2019, and with less shopping days until Christmas, I’m sure many shoppers will be out and about this year looking for the best deals.
Black Friday shopping is my Super Bowl – the event I
look forward to all year long. Like any sporting event, it’s what leads up to it
that makes it the event so magical. The game itself is important too, but you’ve
got to plan your plays and do it early. I used to buy a lot of junk on Black
Friday, and I don’t want new shoppers to do what I did.
Let’s Jump Right into the Deals
Black Friday ads aren’t leaked until late October, but
there are many ways to figure what is on sale and where it will be on sale
through historical data. As an example, video game consoles and video games
rarely go on sale, so this would be the time to snag some games or even grab
the gift card deals that coincide with the sale. Nintendo products are rarely
on sale throughout the year, but during Black Friday there are gift card deals
paired with sales, meaning you will get possible a $50-$100 gift card to return
to that store to buy more products. This is a great strategy for gift buying if
a console or any other electronic is on your list because you can use the gift
card on your next purchase. You should buy the gift card deals first, then use
the gift card to help pay for the next round of purchases. I keep focused on
sale items using deal sites like SlickDeals. I find their articles on Black
Friday rich with information without the fluff like historical data, store
opening times, and when ads are released.
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| Portion of Target's Black Friday ad from November 2018 |
One for You, Two for Me!
I shop for everyone on Black Friday, but I give myself
some treats, too. It’s the only time of year I go shopping for myself. I think
it’s because I can shop in the middle of the night. I have been a Black Friday
shopper since I was a kid. My mom and I would get up very early Friday morning,
and be at the stores by 4:00 AM. The doorbusters back in the day really were at
the door, so once you busted through you could stand to get $15 VCRs and $30
DVD players (big ticket items back in the day!). We would hit up Toys R Us,
Macy’s, and then when the Shopping Gods brought Target to our neighborhood, we
would be there, too. When I started working, I learned what the meaning of
Black Friday was to retailers, and to them, it’s actually called “Green
Friday.” This is the one sale period where everyone wins - the customers and
retailers.
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| Blurry photo of my mom and her Black Friday deals! Everyone is smiling! |
There
is a world of information to get you started for Black Friday. One of my tools
to help me plan for Black Friday are through deal websites, one of which is
SlickDeals. All year long they have a team of people who monitor ads and sales
providing historical data of previous sale items.
Go with a game plan.
Would
you go food shopping without a shopping list? I hope not. Make a list, and
stick to it. I would also choose a backup product just in case your first
choice sells out, and do this backup for multiple stores. Also, according to
SlickDeals staff writer Johan Mengesha, take note of the exact model number of
a product, which I find to be excellent advice. Often times store displays of
heavily slashed merchandise are mixed in with other sale items that are
slightly higher in price. Last year, I made the mistake of purchasing the wrong
printer for my mother—it was a Canon Pixma for $19 that I was planning to
purchase, but I bought a similar Canon Pixma, a different model, for $34. Do your
homework a bit before to save big. A $15 mistake isn’t huge, but when you’re
looking for the best deal like I am, it was a big mistake.
Go Solo
Keep the kids at home, if you can. I have kids, I know how
hard it is especially with little ones. I have missed a lot of sales at the store opening
for this reason, but unless you have to have that big screen 4K television, you
won’t have to visit the store at opening anyway. Plus, a majority of things
that parents shop for are top toys (stay tuned to my must-have toys list for
2019). That being said, if you can’t head to the stores without the kids, then
I would suggest taking advantage of Black Friday deals online. Cyber Monday,
which is December 2, 2019, has proven to be another great sale day, and you don’t
have to leave the house to do it. If you’re at work that morning, take a coffee
break if you can to peruse the deals. Often times you can check the site of your
choice the night before for some pre-sale items. SlickDeals has some great
information about Cyber Monday and you should stay tuned to that space to learn more.
Get the Good Stuff
The
deals are aplenty during Black Friday sales. Why not take advantage of all of
the great sales, right? A lot of these deals aren’t really a deal, though, and
often times can be purchased during regular sales. Slickdeals has great
historical data on electronics and small appliances as voted by the SlickDeals community. From Nintendo’s Switch to an Instant Pot, be sure to find
considerable savings to help build your strategy.
Do I have to Go to the Store?
Yes,
you should definitely go to the store! That’s the best part of Black Friday
shopping. I love finding deals that are not even advertised, which are
usually products like towels. The absolute best savings I have found are on
bath towels, and this is a deal only in-store. Large bath towels for as little
as $4 are huge cost savings. Crafters usually gobble these deals up faster than
their Thanksgiving meal. They are great for embroidery and gift baskets. I also like to grab board games as they as a little as $5 each, and are great ways to round out a gift. Bigger items like electronics usually only have the
best deals in-store too, and as I said before going in with the model number to
ensure that you’re getting the correct model and the correct price.
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| Some goodies from a past Black Friday shopping trip. |
There
are also shoppers that line up for hours for a $50 television. Honestly, that’s
not worth it to me, but if you have your hopes set on getting a PS4 or Nintendo
Switch at a great deal, then going early may be worth it in the long run. Keep
an eye out for the ads and compare the prices for in-store deals vs online
deals. Sometimes online deals and in-store deals differ slightly. You have to
know your worth. Is your time more valuable than saving $20-$50 and getting the
item that day?
Also
keep in mind that some stores have a give-aways at the opening of the store. If
you’re in line early, you’ll get a ticket to enter to win a door prize, and
sometimes they are handheld electronics like Gameboy Advance. Clothing stores use
this strategy to get you in the door, so they don’t lose out on the green of
Black Friday.
What
are your plans for Black Friday? Let me know in the comments. Keep in SlickDeals mind when making your shopping plan -- for Black Friday and every day. SlickDeals takes the guesswork out of what
to buy when to buy, where to buy for Black Friday. They have done all of the
legwork for smart buyers like you who want to walk away with the best Black
Friday deals.
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