Tips for Getting the Most Out of Black Friday

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Let’s face it, you will be one shopper in a sea of sales and deals. How do you keep it all straight? Let’s go over these Top Tips for Shopping Black Friday. Includes which stores will be price matching on Black Friday as well. Get the best deals & sales.

Shopping Black Friday Tips and Tricks

It is no secret that shopping on Black Friday can save you money, but have you made your shopping plan yet? Let’s face it, you will be one shopper in a big sea of sales and deals. How do you keep it all straight?

Whether you’re shopping for holiday gifts or you’re buying for yourself, scoring the best Black Friday deals means starting early. Keep in mind, many stores will be starting their Black Friday specials early. Leaving you plenty of room and time to get that special gift.

Today, I will go over some of my favorite Top Tips for shopping on Black Friday.

Remember, these great days to save money too.

• Cyber Monday: The Monday following Black Friday that is focused on online deals.
• Small Business Saturday: The Saturday following Thanksgiving focused on supporting smaller, local retailers.
• Green Monday: The second Monday in December. Shopping aimed to help shift the public towards sustainable living. 

Research, Research, Research.

Getting the most out of your Black Friday Savings does require some extra time from you. Be Prepared: The most important step. Research, research, research. Go through those ads. See which store is offering the very best possible deal on the items you want. Find out this season’s hottest items so you’ll know which items will be harder to get. That way, you can prioritize them.

Make notes of when those particular stores are opening. Jot down the times and make a schedule or plan of events. Read your ads carefully (including the fine print).

Insider Tip: Many retailers start circulating their Black Friday ads weeks before the actual shopping day, which gives you plenty of time to start shopping for the best deals.

Compare Prices

This next tip co-insides with doing your research. Just because you are looking through the Black Friday Ads doesn’t mean that you are making it a point to see who has the best prices on the items you are looking for. Make sure you price compare especially on larger ticket items. This can save you some big bucks.

Insider Tip: Save time by using price comparison apps such as RedLaser (on iPhone), TheFind (on iPhone and Android) and Google (on iPhone), and Google Shopper (on Android), will be indispensable. On the iPhone, TheFind, which is new, was slightly better than its competitors, while on Android, Google Shopper was best. They’re all worth downloading, and since they’re all free.

Create a Budget

Know your limits. This is why creating a Black Friday or Christmas budget is a must! It is so easy, if not prepared, to impulse buy on Black Friday. Stores will be offering doorbuster sales that are typically limited in quality. These sales can look very enticing and would likely lead you to impulse buy. Just like grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it.

Be aware that the season’s significant markdowns will be your biggest temptation. So, create an internal mantra: “spending money I didn’t plan to spend isn’t saving.”

Get it All in One Store

Save yourself some time and hassle by trying out price matching. Often, stores say they’re suspending price-match guarantees during the Black Friday weekend, but you should ask for one, anyway. After all, these are supposed to be “the lowest prices of the year!”

You may have heard that a few big-name retailers will be offering price matching on Black Friday 2019.

Shop Prepared for Black Friday

Many stores may offer price match guarantees. Price matching gives you a chance to get an item for the lowest price at your favorite retailer or get an item that has sold out at a retailer with a lower-priced advertisement. Keep in mind, most will not price match clearance items, doorbusters, or early bird specials. It would be worth your while to look up their store policy of price matching. (Again, another item to research).

It is important to have in hand (or on your phone) a copy of the Black Friday Sales Ad for the store you are visiting. This will serve as a quick reference guide to the items on your list. Plus, you will have a store, product, and quantities, if applicable, all in your hands.

Know Your Stores Return & Exchange Policy

“Oops, I bought the wrong size! Can I take this back after the first of the year?” Each store has its own return/exchange policy and they can vary greatly. Some have a specified number of days in which to return items. Others will give the recipient credit for their after-holiday clearance price without a gift receipt, and some won’t let you return an item bought online to a physical store. So be careful.

Returns are never fun after the Holidays. Waiting in line with everyone else. So try your best to make it less of an inconvenience. Some years, we get the gift ideas right, and other years, not so much.

Insider tip: Always ask for a printed receipt for yourself and a gift recipe for the recipient of the gift. This will help you both in the event of having to return an item, making it less likely to become a hassle.

Other Helpful Black Friday Tips & Tricks

• Bring water with you. Black Friday can be a blast, and often you forget about you. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate.
• The day before, make sure you have enough fuel in your car to get from store to store.
• Map out your shopping adventure. Having a purposeful plan makes driving around easier.
• Try not to bring your kids. Nothing beats a cranky kid, who wants nothing more than every toy in the store. Hint: you may want to leave the hubby home too 🙂
• Be nice. Not only are you bringing in the savings, but why not be nice to everyone who is doing that same? SMILE.
• Pick a time frame when you will stop and grab breakfast. Remember to add this to your map.

Most importantly, have a great time.

Where will you be shopping this Black Friday?

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