In my continued search to save you time and money, the key to saving a lot of cash this Black Friday is knowing what retailers have planned for Cyber Monday.
1. Don't ruin your Thanksgiving to line up. Stores have already listed their Black Friday deals with many of the best ones already online. Black Friday - as a single day shopping event is no longer a thing.
2. Don't forget about Cyber Monday! Select deals will be better than Black Friday on Cyber Monday. I've been hunting deals for more than a decade and while we saw the start of this trend two years ago, stores like Amazon reserve many top offers for Cyber Monday.
3. Don't fall for every ad-scan detail. Many stores advertise items they'll barely have in stock. Stores want you inside their establishments and will do anything to get you inside - even false advertising in some cases.
4. Most Store-wide sales are better on Cyber Monday. Last year stronger, better, store-wide clothing sales appeared on Cyber Monday, for one of the first times beating out the Black Friday offerings. Stores that were offering 40% off site-wide Black Friday had 50% off Cyber Monday. Many other shopping categories will see similar discounts.
5. Don't assume the prices in-store Black Friday are the same online. Also, aimless browsing and Google does not get you the most deals. If you want access to the most deals in the country before anyone else, you need a strategy and for that, check out the next point.
6. Cyber Monday does not have the same Black Friday stock issues. Since stores are not tied to ad-scans, they can shift merchandise and offer great reductions throughout the day.
7. Appliances, gaming bundles and television deals are all better Black Friday. While we will see deals from all of these categories, Black Friday in-store or online is your better way to go.
8. Watch for strategic product placement in-store Black Friday. Stores do strange things with items of questionable quality and huge discounts, placed beside or near items you actually want.
9. Most stores don't expect you to price check. Cashiers are trained to move you along and get you out quickly with that next customer behind you. The best way to price check or make sure you have the lowest price is to shop online.
10. Big box retailers are not the be all and end all. Remember to also shop local (and yes local stores also have websites). We found many big deals that were better priced at small, local and family run retailers.
Need help finding a deal? Want to skip the Black Friday line? I'm listing every big deal in real time as it drops right here.
