Black Friday, the name given to the day after Thanksgiving, is known as the traditional kick-off for the Christmas shopping madness that often grips many of us. Black Friday earns its name from an accounting reference that denotes “being in the black” as showing a positive profit.
This day is one of the days that helps retailers to hit their annual targets - with this in mind, the majority of retailers will offer shoppers incredible incentives in an effort to bring them into their stores!
Not an official holiday like Thanksgiving is, many employers give their employees the day off as a part of a 4-day weekend which in turn leads to a larger number of people taking advantage of the sales offered by retailers. Taking advantage of the sales that are offered can help you to get a great start on your Christmas shopping – and perhaps help you to simply score great deals on items that you need like winter clothing, shoes and even pet supplies!
1Keep an Eye Out for Thanksgiving Sales Advertisements
In the days and weeks leading up to Black Friday, you are likely to be inundated with information related to the huge Thanksgiving sales that your favorite retailers will be offering. To help you to fully take advantage of potential coupons and sales, sign up to receive mail and email from your favorite retailers – you can either do this in their stores or sign up on their websites. While you may feel apprehensive about handing over your personal information, it can truly save you a bundle not just for Black Friday shopping, but throughout the rest of the year!
For example, Bath & Body Works will often send out coupons that are just for people on their mailing lists to take advantage of. Buy one-get one offers, or even great deals on free items are an excellent way to get your Christmas shopping started on the right foot!
Once you have your coupons firmly in hand, you can start to keep an eye out for the Black Friday sales ads that your favorite retailers will be offering. Not just your newspaper and your email inbox, retailers will often run ads on TV, send out flyers in the regular mail, and offer information related to the sales in their stores. Figure out which stores are offering deals on items that most interest you and find out if any of them are offering any additional savings – for example, several stores will offer the first 100 people through the doors on Friday extra savings. Even if the savings is a coupon for 10% off of your purchase, that is still a great offering to take advantage of!
2Make a List – Check It Twice
Before you merrily head on out to the mall at 4 o’clock in the morning, consider making a list of everything that you are intending to purchase when doing your Black Friday shopping. This is where your knowledge about which retailer has the best deals and offered sales will come in handy. Why spend your time running around the mall and fighting with the crowds when you can target the exact stores that you need – get what you want – and get out with a minimum of frustration!
As a part of making your lists, do a bit of comparison shopping. Is the offered deal on a new laptop at Best Buy that much better than the regular pricing at an online retailer that specializes in low-cost laptops? Try not to be lured into purchasing items that are not really good deals and remember that a cheaply or poorly made item is not much of a bargain if it is not going to be reliable. There are many retailers who will offer items that appear to be dramatically marked down, but with a bit of online research, you will be able to determine that you can purchase the same product – every day – for the same or lower price!
3Black Friday Online Deals
With the surge in popularity for online holiday shopping, there are many retailers who will offer web-only offers to their customers who opt for staying home on Black Friday. Wal-Mart and online retail giant Amazon.com are well known for offering web-only offers that can allow people to score incredible discounts off of items that they would have had to stand in line for hours upon hours for if they went into a store!
Keep an eye out for online-only sales that can help you to snag great deals on many of the most popular items this year!
4Getting Out There Early
There are several retailers, Kohls for example, who offer early-bird discounts in an effort to encourage their customers to hit the stores early. These types of deals generally run from 5 in the morning until just before noon and can help you to score items that would otherwise cost you full price. By keeping an eye out on the advertisements and making your list of which items take shopping priority, you will be able to take full advantage of these types of early-shopper specials!
5Store Credit Cards
Although personal finance experts will warn you against opening copious numbers of store credit cards, if you are a smart and careful consumer you can actually make it work for you. Consider that the majority of retailers will offer anywhere from a 10% savings to a 25% savings on the purchase if you open up a store credit card right then and there. This should not be used as a method of floating your Christmas shopping but should, instead, be a way of helping you to snag an extra discount off of your already discounted items.
When you receive your first statement in the mail or before that if you are able to, it is important to pay off as much of the balance on the charge card as you can. Otherwise, you will be stuck with paying high interest rates on the card’s balance – which will negate the savings that opening the account scored you!
6A few tips before you hit the malls!
-Find out what specials will be offered at your nearest outlet malls.
-Take copies of printed ads with you – just in case the store’s registers aren’t pulling up your discounts.
-Get gift receipts on items that can be readily returned.
-Look for online bargains that offer free shipping (paying a fortune in shipping can strip away your savings!).
-Wear comfortable shoes! If you are going to be shopping in a well-organized manner, you are bound to be doing a fair amount of walking! Wear sensible shoes and, above all, have fun!
