Here's my best collection of Black Friday shopping tips.
This list covers everything you should do ahead of time, in the planning and preparation stages. Plus, Black Friday shopping tips that you can't live without -- like what things you should do the morning of Black Friday and what things you should do while you're in the stores taking advantage of Black Friday sales.
Things To Do Before Black Friday
Start shopping early. No, not on that day (Black Friday), but even earlier! Many stores are offering pre-Black Friday sales weeks before the big day. And the night before Black Friday may yield even better deals yet!
Before you even begin to look at the Black Friday advertisements, you want to know the store policy on returns. The question you need answered is if they lower price on an item that you have already purchased, will they refund the difference? If so, what time period (usually a month) is this service in effect? If the store will refund the difference on an item purchased for more on a prior date, then there is no need to wait in line to purchase that item on Black Friday. Simply go to the store the week before Black Friday and purchase the item. When Black Friday comes along, stroll into the store (conveniently bypassing all the lines and crowds of people fighting for what you are carrying — or even waiting until the afternoon when the crowds have thinned out a bit and all the items are already gone from the store) and ask for the difference. Source
Don't miss these other Black Friday strategies to outsmart the competition!
Sign up for email alerts & newsletters. If you really want to score the best deals, you need to whittle down your list to a number that's manageable. Email alerts & newsletters are a great way to be among the first to learn about a new item to go on sale somewhere, and fine-tune your Black Friday shopping list.
TIP: You can keep track of your Black Friday shopping list and the store ads all in one place with the following iPhone Black Friday apps:
Clean your cookies. When shopping for Black Friday deals online, retailers can tell which products you've already looked at and your basic shopping habits online.
Retailers base a lot of their online promotions and price points on shoppers' habits. So, it's not uncommon for shoppers to notice price fluctuations after repeated purchases on the same site. Prices typically drop for these power shoppers as an incentive, but there have been documented occurrences of increases, too. You can check to see if this is happening to you by logging out from the retail site, clearing your browser's cookies, and then revisiting the product page. If you find a lower price, buy it -- re-registering with a new customer account if necessary. Source
Buy a newspaper the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It will be full of Thanksgiving fliers and sales announcements! You will want to take the store ads with you when shopping on Black Friday (see why below). And use a highlighter and/or Sharpie marker to identify key items that you may need to reference while in the store. Use these store ads to create your Black Friday shopping list.
Check out the Black Friday Survival Guide: Planning.
Continue reading: Best Black Friday Shopping Tips
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