If you’re like me, then you might have waited for Black Friday to get your hands on a new smartphone, a good pair of shoes, or perhaps even a brand new laptop.
Although it’s easy to get tempted and purchase impulsively, it's way better to plan ahead, do a bit of research, use proper tools and purchase at just the right time to get the best deals and discounts.
Here are my top 21 tips to help you snag the best deals on electronics, appliances, and apparel this Black Friday.
More often than not, alluring deals that seem too good to true, aren’t actually worth it at all. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to keep track of prices prior to the days leading up to the Black Friday to identify if you’re actually getting a good deal.
Another pro Black Friday shopping tip is to use price comparison tools like Price Grabber and Google Shopping. These apps can compare prices over the web within seconds and tell you exactly how much of a discount you’re getting.
To prevent online retailers from tracking your activities and get better deals, you should disable cookies and browse in incognito or private mode.
The prime reason why impulsive buyers often get scammed on Black Friday is because they purchase too good to be true products from sketchy websites. As a rule of thumb, you should pay attention to the following things:
Only shop on websites with SSL certificates to ensure secure online payments.
Avoid websites with sketchy user interface boasting unrealistic discounts and deals.
Avoid providing personal information like SSN and clicking on malicious links.
Believe it or not, online discounts can actually vary from in-store discounts. To ensure you’re getting the same discounts online and in-store, make sure you bring screenshots or printed ads with you.
Although most people start Black Friday shopping on the day it arrives, you can get a first-mover advantage if you start shopping in the afternoon or evening hours of Thanksgiving.
Discounts apps are a great way to manage your wish lists, monitoring deals and your budget. Here are some of the best apps I personally use for Black Friday shopping:
Shopular – Provides new deals and coupons directly on your smartphone.
Price Cruncher – Helps shoppers calculate discounts for bulk and single items.
The Coupons App – provides deals, coupons and promo codes for over 100,000 retailers.
To get better deals from one specific store, it always better to see if it follows a price matching policy during Black Friday. This way, if one store is charging you $20 and the other one is charging $10, you can ask for a discount.
Some stores don’t accept returns on items being sold during Black Friday. To avoid the hassle, check the retailers return policy before making a purchase and ask for gift receipts in case you’ll be returning or exchanging a product.
Another awesome trick you can try is by adding products to your cart online and leaving them in without checking out. Believe it not, this tactic will trick retailers into giving you a better deal.
Although you might see online retailers offering upwards of 60% discounts, it’s not actually true. In reality, most retailers just bump up the actual cost and stick a big fat discount afterward. This is why you should always keep track of prices before Black Friday arrives.
If you’re nit-picky like me and only want discounts on a few selective products, you should definitely sign up for email promotions to be notified about upcoming deals, discounts, and sales.
Doorbuster sales might seem tempting, they’re not worth it. These sales begin at 4 am or 5 am in the morning and only offer discounts on 30-100 items. Unless you’re the first person in line, It’s way better to shop online instead.
Before you purchase anything on Black Friday, make sure you read product reviews to know if the item you’re getting is actually worth it.
When shopping for anything online, you should avoid providing any personal information like Social Security Numbers or even Credit Card numbers on dubious websites.
Another tool that you’ll find really helpful for secure online shopping is a VPN. A VPN can help you encrypt your Network traffic preventing hackers from stealing your confidential data. Since Black Friday is almost here, it’s quite easy to find deals on VPNs online.
You can also use a VPN to beat price discrimination this Black Friday. By spoofing your geo-location to another region, you can get products for a slightly cheaper price.
Even though it’s convenient to use Credit cards, it’s way better to use PayPal or Cash instead. With PayPal, you can avoid scams, and by paying with cash, you won’t go over budget.
Although online retailers might offer you great deals, they charge quite a bit for shipping. One way you save on shipping costs is by opting for the ship to store option.
Believe it or not, you shouldn’t purchase some products on Black Friday as they’re cheaper afterward. For instance, you should avoid purchasing Christmas ornaments during Black Friday as you can get these items for a 90% discounted price two weeks before Christmas.
Lastly, you should only purchase products online using a single account. This not only helps you gain loyalty points, but it is also a more secure option from a security standpoint.
Black Friday is quite literally the best time of the year to avail limited time deals, discounts, and coupons on all consumer products.
To avoid all the hassles shopping this Black Friday, make sure you follow my top tips and save some major cash this holiday season.
So, what’s your favorite tip? Do you have something to share, I’d love to hear from you.
