Black Friday Shopping Tips

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is known as the day after Thanksgiving when stores do special sales and deals to lure in the customers. Back at a time when sales were hand-written, red was for when sales were in the negative, and black for when there was profit. The sales that happen the day after Thanksgiving are known for taking retailers out of the red and into the black!

If you’re wanting to shop Black Friday sales, here are some tips for you:

1. First and foremost, create a budget. Decide how much you have to spend, and stick to it. It’s easy to get carried away and go broke buying up all the deals.

2. Make a list. Check the sales and decide where you are going to shop, and what you are going to get. This will make getting in and out a lot easier for you. It’s a madhouse on BF, so the better prepared you are, the easier it will be on you.

3. Be aware of the times of promotions. Some doorbusters and early bird specials are only for a certain time period, so be aware of this.

4. Have at least one buddy. This is first and foremost for safety! Two heads are definitely better than one on Black Friday. If you can have more than one buddy, split up into pairs and tackle different stores. Grab items for each other and then divvy up the goodies later.

5. Use Coupons. Some stores have coupons that they put out in the papers, or ones you can print out online. For example, if you register your email at Kohl’s, they will send you a $5 off of a $5 purchase in your email. If you call 1-800 Shop CVS and register your card with an email address (first-timers) they will send you a $4/20 purchase.
Use Manufacturer Coupons as well. You can use the ones that come in the newspaper inserts, or printable ones online.

6. Know your store’s policies on returns and gift cards before you buy.

7. Know your stores’s policies on price-matching, price-guarantees, and/or “return and rebuy.”

Price-Matching – Some stores like Walmart are price-matching all competitor’s Black Friday sales. Be sure to have the ads with you for price-matching, and you must get it at the correct time of the promotion. If the promotion is from 7 am – 11 am, then the store will only price-match the deal during that time. The nice thing about price-matching is that you can get all your shopping done in one place. The bad thing about this is that Walmart will probably be the worst mad-house of all!

Return and Rebuy - Various stores will let you get your item a day or two before Black Friday, and return it to rebuy it for the sale price on Black Friday. This varies by store, so find out their policies on this.

Price-Guarantees - Select stores allow up to 30 days for you to bring in your receipt to receive the difference back if an item goes On Sale or less than what you bought it for. Find out if your stores will allow this for Black Friday sales. I’m pretty sure Target particpates in this, so be sure to check.

8. Get in and out quickly! The faster you are in and out, the more places you can stop at. Lines can take a while, so you don’t want to aimlessly wander around the store. Keep that list with you and get your items quickly.

9. Camp out early. If there is an awesome doorbuster deal that is sure to sell out, you’ll want to camp out early. Some people are waiting in line more than 24 hours before the sales start. I won’t be doing this, but have fun for those of you that will be!

10. Shop Online. A lot of retailers are known for having some of the Black Friday prices available online. If you don’t want to head out, you can give online shopping a shot!

11. Be safe!!! Take at least one buddy, ladies leave your purses at home, wear comfortable clothing, lock your car, park in well-lit areas, hide your packages in your car so that they aren’t visible, be sure no one follows you home, don’t wear expensive jewelry, don’t carry large amounts of cash, and please please please leave your kids at home with a spouse, relative, or baby-sitter. If you HAVE to take your kids, keep them very close. This really is not a good day to take your kids out with you, so please leave them at home if at all possible!