Black Friday 2008: How to Find the Best Deals This Year

November 20, 2008

As most people are probably aware, Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving. It is usually considered one of the

biggest retail shopping days of the year and derives its name from the fact that it is on this day that most retailers expect

to sell enough merchandise to show a profit for the year. In other words, be out of “the red” and in “the black.”

For quite a few years, Black Friday sales were a highly coveted secret. Flyers were usually sent in Thanksgiving Day

newspapers while the stores were closed for the holiday and the retail stores opened extremely early the next day for people

to get a jump on the best deals.

Subsequently, new flyers were then distributed the following Sunday with other new deals.

As competition continuously grows for this coveted traffic however, so do the opportunities for shoppers to find their sale

information earlier and save themselves a lot more money.

For example, even though many stores claim the sale starts on Friday, quite often you can find the item for the sale price

advertised right online Thanksgiving Day. So if you know of an upcoming sale for an item you want, be sure to check online

first. You might get lucky and save yourself an early morning trip when you can be sleeping in and nursing your turkey

hangover.

There are also a few websites that can help you find your deals early as well. Black-Friday.net posts the sales as soon as

they get their hands on them, so does Blackfriday.info. Bfads.net not only posts the sales but has a November Holiday

Give-Away contest where you can win gift cards to your favorite retailer.

Bestbuy.com is having a great contest for 2008. They are offering $1,000 gift certificates to 25 lucky winners and VIP

treatment for Black Friday which includes a limo ride to the nearest Bestbuy store which you can take with up to 3 guests,

early entrance into the store before it is open to the public and the opportunity to purchase up to four BestBuy Doorbuster

Specials (last year they had computer notebooks for as little as $229 on Black Friday).

To enter the contest applicants simply need to “share how Black Friday shopping is an important holiday tradition for them

and their family, and what kinds of rituals they have to make the morning after Thanksgiving an enjoyable kick off to the

holiday season.” If you are interested in entering yourself simply go to askablueshirt.com.

Doorbuster Specials are one of retailers biggest draw-ins to their stores. You can find some unbelievable deals that you

would never find the rest of the year – but you must absolutely be there as soon as the store opens because those items

disappear in a flash.

I have a friend who plans her Black Friday morning of “attack” with her family every Thanksgiving Day. They all sit down and

decide who is going to hit what stores first thing the next day and give each other their lists. (Be warned however…these

Doorbuster specials are often limited to one per customer, so if you have two people in your family who want the same item –

be sure you both go.) Last year she saved almost $800! Plus she had the extra benefit of having most of her Christmas

shopping done in one day!

It used to be that these Doorbuster specials only occurred on Black Friday but over the last few years stores like Kohl’s

were having them almost every weekend throughout the holiday season. So keep an eye on the newspapers and television

commercials, you never know what might pop up. Be sure to drop in on their websites as well. Sometimes they will

pre-advertise an upcoming sale before it even hits the papers.

Due to the current economic climate, 2008 will probably be an especially good year to pick up some awesome savings, so get

out your credit card and start mapping out your plan of “attack”.

Source: http://www.gather.com/