Black Friday can get a little hectic in-store… ok, straight out madness! But, I wanted to quickly touch on something that A TON of you have emailed me about. The question I keep getting asked is:
“The Ads do not say whether the deal will only be available in-store or if I can get it online. And, the ads don’t even say what time their online deals start for Black Friday. Should I go to the store or hope that the online deals will be the same? I don’t want to miss out!”
Does This Sound Like You? Or Do You Have a Similar Concern??
Most of the Black Friday Ads WILL NOT say what time their online sales start for Black Friday. And, when they have in the past, they usually don’t start on time. So, you could be up all night waiting for the online sales to start. With that said, I want to remind you all one thing: LET THE STORES FIGHT OVER YOUR BUSINESS!! 🙂
Stores aren’t out to limit the amount of items they sell- or to only give the hot items to a select few. They are out to make money- and lots of it. They also try to create a situation where you feel like if you don’t purchase it then, you won’t ever get it. So, try to keep that in mind when you are panicking about Black Friday Deals. (The only obvious exception to this are the brand new gaming systems that come out each year- like the Nintendo Wii U. Those will sell out everywhere.) Every store is going to do whatever they can to get your business!!
I have already seen a bunch of deals online and in-store that match or even beat the Black Friday Advertised Prices!! So that should tell you something right there. On top of that, you have Cyber Monday. All of the stores will be trying to make even more money on that day.
Keep in mind that stores don’t make a profit if they don’t sell their products. So, they are going to keep trying to get you to purchase more and more items for Christmas the closer we get to the Holiday. Case in point- Target’s Biggest Sales of the entire year were actually the week before Christmas last year. So, big stores are going to do whatever they can to have you purchase all of their stock so they don’t lose money after the Holiday.
So, What Should You Do?
That is obviously up to you. However, this is what I do. I don’t go to any stores early in the morning. I get online around 5am and check all of the sites to see what deals they have online. If there are certain deals that aren’t online that I really wanted, I usually head to the store later in the morning around 10am. Most people have gone home after being up all night and the stores are pretty empty. A lot of product is still there, so if I find something- great. If not, I am ok- because remember, I still have Cyber Monday!
Then, I start watching Amazon. Amazon changes their prices all day, every day and will do so to match or BEAT other stores. So, that is why I get most of my Christmas shopping done there!
Even if you don’t find what you are looking for on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, keep watching online. I have seen Amazon, Best Buy and even Walmart have prices online that were cheaper than their Black Friday Ads a week or so after the event!!
So what I am trying to say is that every year I get what I want, for the price I want, and I don’t have to deal with in-store Madness. If you guys are willing to give it a try, you just have to be watching online for those prices. As long as you have made your “Cheat Sheet”, that I have posted about here, you can know when to grab your item when you do see a price drop online!
A couple days before Black Friday, I will have a BEST of the BEST Black Friday Deals Posted. It will tell you which store to go to for the best price on all of the hot items. Plus, if the stores have advertised online times, I will post them there so you guys know what time to get online. Sometimes, they even give me a personal heads up and I can share that with you!
I will be online posting all of the Black Friday deals around 5am. So, if you want to check the site throughout the morning, I will help you guys get all of the hottest deals that I am seeing!! Take a deep breath! We can do this!!
amy b.
Hopefully a helpful hint…check the store’s price adjustment policy. I have gone shopping at Target on the Wednesday night before Black Friday. Towards the end of the night, last hour or so that the store is open, they will start putting out the Black Friday deals. I purchase what I want at this time, then on Black Friday, I go back to Target whenever I get around to it in the afternoon and ask for a price adjustment. This way I get the Black Friday price but don’t have to deal with the crazyness. Only downfall is that they won’t typically put out the big ticket items but great if you are looking for the smaller things.
Kathryn
What I have done in the past with other family members is Thanksgiving day check all the ads for the free stuff. Then make a route map for the stores in order of preference, usually the higher priced item first. One year I waited inline at the mall for a free $50 gift card at Macys and as soon as we had that we quickly raced over to JC Pennys for their free Snow Globe, we went to Sears for their free Christmas ornament, then we were off to a Sportsmans store where they were giving out gift cards from $5 savings to $25 and they have a special on equipment we wanted to buy right then. We figure with gift cards in hand we can always spend them at anytime when it is less hetic.
Sheena
I got everything I wanted last year online. In fact, I think I was able to get most of it in the evening on Thanksgiving. Plus, I went through ebates on everything and ended up getting about $50 back. It was much more enjoyable than waiting in line with hundreds of other people 🙂
Rebecca
Isn’t it crazy how CRAZY we all get over this??? Myself included. But I can say I truly enjoy it. It’s all part of the fun of getting that Special Gift…and at a GREAT DEAL!!! 🙂 Thanks for all you do Freebies2Deals!
Christina
Thankyou so much Melea! I so needed this. I really want to get everything on my list at a good price, but I really didnt want to go to the stores on Thanksgiving. So I think I will be trying your way this year!
julie
Thanks…I usually just stay away. Too crazy for me. But, I will try it your way this year. I am excited about that!!!
Lisa B
You are awesome! Thanks for all you do! ;o)
Paola
If a deal isn’t posted on the ad, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be for sale on Black Friday, how do I go about finding out what the Black Friday price will be? I’m looking to purchase an X-Box 360 250gb bundle, and most of the stores only have a 4gb advertised (with exception of Best Buy’s online deal for Black Friday). I really want to buy the 250gb bundle from Target (so I could use my REDcard and get an additional 5% back), but only if it beats Best Buy’s online price of $199.99
Would the store employees know? Or do I just have to show up on Black Friday to find out?
Ruth D
This is the best advice I’ve seen ANYWHERE!