The holiday season is upon us. I don't know when the "official" start to the pre-Christmas craze begins, but judging from my short shopping experience this past Wednesday, it's here already. This season marks the arrival of three of my favorite holidays - Christmas, Thanksgiving and Black Friday!
Yes, Black Friday is a holiday. It's as much a part of our family's Thanksgiving tradition as turkey and football. My mom and I, along with a sister or two head out around 3am, with little or no sleep, to conquer the sales.
With Black Friday less than a month away, ads are beginning to leak, and it's time for a Christmas gameplan, for making a list and checking it twice. Planning and organization are key if I am going to make the day profitable and not get caught up in the furor and end up buying things I hadn't planned to and spending more than I wanted to.
I will be posting links to Black Friday websites, ads as they arrive (warning - they are often pulled very quickly ... I never will understand why some stores don't want people to make plans to go to their sales), and general tips for surviving the day in one piece (without the use of any weapons).
Please chime in with your words of advice, crazy BF experiences, questions, etc!
The websites.
These guys do all the work for us - tracking down ads, posting them when they leak, removing them when stores complain (grrr), highlighting the best deals, even letting you make wishlists from the ads. Thanks Crazy BF-ers - I'm glad to know someone is nuttier than I am about this day!
These are the two big Black Friday websites. Both have a newsletter, contests, ads and pre-BF deals posted, as well as a search engine and a Wish List feature (my favorite!).
If you are planning on BF-ing, I highly recommend signing up for one or both of these websites.
Bfads. net: http://bfads.net/ (on FB: http://www.facebook.com/BFAds )
Black-Friday.net: http://www.black-friday.net/
(FB: http://www.facebook.com/blackfridaydeals )
Most of the "Biggies" have released their BF ads at this point. Either of these websites will have scans of the ads as well as lists.
ReplyDeleteBfads. net: http://bfads.net/ (on FB: http://www.facebook.com/BFAds )
Black-Friday.net: http://www.black-friday.net/
(FB: http://www.facebook.com/blackfridaydeals )
My favorite must-hit stores are: Kohl's (opens at 3am), Target & Walmart. Toys 'R Us usually has good sales but it is CRAZY there so I only go if Ireally need something there. JoAnn's and K-mart also usually have pretty good deals.
If you are looking for electronics, Best Buy is the place to go - but shop around online too .... most stores sell out of the big ticket items ("limited quantities" often means 5 per store) on Black Friday, and you can usually find comparable deals online, especially if you use coupons. Watch for "Ship-to-store" or free-shipping deals on big ticket items.
Top 3 tips for successful Black Friday shopping:
ReplyDelete1) Be prepared.
Plan ahead - the ads are online now, go ahead and make a list for each store. Use a Black Friday website to make and print Wish-Lists. Bring the actual ad with you into the store. Have a backup-plan in case the store is out (next to the item write the store with the next-best deal). Come with a list of the items you are looking for, the stores/sale prices, and stick to it! Don't waste vauable BF time browsing, or finding you've overspent. It's only a good deal if you really need it.
Have a gameplan: Make sure to watch for "Early Bird" deals - This is when you will find the biggest bargains. Each store has different hours. As soon as you get into the store, head for the item you think is most likely to be in demand and to run out.
2) Don't Shop Solo!
We ALWAYS go in a group of at least 2 or 3 people. We tag-tem shop- as soon as we enter a store that has a long line, one person gets in line and the others shop. If a single item is desired by more than one shopper, one of us gets it in the # needed. Communication is key! We all carry cell phones and this year we are planning on bringing along a set of walkie talkies too, since two of our stores are infamous Verizon cell phone dead-zones (Can you hear me now? Nope.)
3) Shop light. Bring only the necessities: your wallet/small purse with only the cards or cash you're using, the store's ad, your list, any coupons you're using, and your cell phone. Bring a light jacket or if there isn't a line outside, leave it in the car. You won't need it inside - thousands of bodies crammed in a tight space create an amazing amount of heat.