Preparing for Black Friday via BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com
I have to admit, for the past few years I’ve been venturing out on Black Friday to check out the sales. This all started a number of years back when we lived in Tucson. I discovered ACE Hardware’s BF sales one year and was amazed at all the really inexpensive stuff I could get there. I was hooked and I’ve been back to ACE most every year since. I can usually at least pick up some useful tools for basically nothing after the mail-in rebate. I was quite disappointed last year, however, because I think the sales were exactly the same as those from the year before. (I’ve got my eyes on you this year, ACE Hardware!). Since I know there are a lot of people out there who do serious shopping on Black Friday, I thought I’d share a tool I’ve been using to make planning for BF a little less hectic.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday, which has been raised almost to the level of a holiday in the US, is that magical day where we as Americans exhibit rampant consumerism at its height. It got its name as the day of the year that retailers typically become profitable for the year (going from the red to the black in their accounting). There typically are great sales on certain items, but unfortunately some people take it a little too far (see my story a few paragraphs down) either by over-spending or pushing and shoving to grab the latest toy or hot item.
Getting a head start
There are a number of websites that "leak" the ads before their official release during the week of Thanksgiving. I usually check out BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com . Of course, they have the ads up there but they have some other nice features as well. I like that for most of the items they usually have links that take you to the retailer’s site to get more details on them. Another very useful feature is the forums they host on the site. There are usually some discussions going on about different items and techniques and various rumors floating around. I have subscribed to their email list and they usually send an email when they post a new ad – so they’re not flooding me with emails. I’m sure there are other valuable sites as well (for instance, Prime Time Money recently did a post on blackfriday.info ). It’s just that I found GottaDeal’s BF site a few years back and have been using it since.
Getting carried away….
Ahhh, I remember the year I first discovered the black friday site at gottadeal.com. I was living in North Carolina at the time and, for whatever reason, I became obsessed with Black Friday that year. Frankly, it was quite unhealthy. I ended up spending hours pouring over the ads and making lists of exactly what I’d go looking for. Of course, I ended up spending quite a bit of money. Sure, the stuff was on sale but let’s get real: buying things is still spending money, not saving it.
We had friends visiting for Thanksgiving and I ended up dragging the husband out very early Friday AM for an entire morning of shopping. We hit Best Buy, Circuit City, Panera (needed a little break and some munchies), Radio Shack, Sears, Costco, and ACE (of course). This is the list of stuff that I bought that day:
- TV (ok, bought that a few days before but it still counts)
- Surround Sound system
- DVD Recorder (at Radio Shack which I later returned)
- Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner)
- Computer Software (free after rebate)
- DVD Recorder (liked this one better)
- Blank DVDs and CDs
- Miscellaneous tools (of course)
Proceed carefully!
I have reformed my ways since that year. I still usually go out on Black Friday…still usually by myself…but not usually until a little later in the morning. Now, however, I am more cautious about my spending. Last year, for instance, I bought some Christmas presents that were on my list and was able to get better quality items as a result. I feel that is really the best way to approach BF.
If you are going to venture out, don’t just buy items for the sake of "saving money." Be prepared, have a list of what you need to get as Christmas presents or whatever, find those things on sale, and stick to your list! Since there are so many sales going on during BF and the crowds are quite large, I definitely feel it is helpful to plan ahead via the ads or a "pre-release" site like gottadeal.com. But take caution – it is very easy to get carried away as I did a few years back and start the Christmas season a lot poorer than you ended Thanksgiving!
So what about you?
Does anyone else out there shop on Black Friday? Or do you stay away from all the stores and blatant consumerism that day? If you do shop it, have you ever camped out the night before to snatch one of the big deals? (I have never done that). Do you have any interesting BF stories?
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14 Responses to “Preparing for Black Friday via BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com”
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Hummmmm, quite interesting experience over the net. And believe me this is voice of millions of us… That’s what happens to most of us once or more during surfing…
Thanks for the mention! Great write-up!
Yes, I have been sucked into the craziness of BF. My word of caution to those who are going to participate is that you know what you are looking to buy BEFORE you go into the store. It is much too easy to get pulled into the moment and buy things that you didn’t want with money you don’t have.
Other than that, divide and conquer. Pick the stores you really want to hit and either assign people to each store or take people with you into each store and get the various things you are shopping for.
Oh… and bring your hockey gear… it gets ugly out there!
College students make plans for those refund checks months in advance, but who ever makes plans to save that money for student loans or credit cards that have to be paid off.
So beware of the black friday, be very careful in spendings. otherwise credit card will be over loaded.
Black friday deals are so catching that no one can get away from them. Till my next Black friday I will spend with my Black Barry…
I’ve only done the BF thing once, and I was just the tag-along guy. My Brother-in-law was looking for a computer deal, so we got up super early and hit some stores.
Best Buy’s line was crazy long, so we skipped that one.
We ended up at Staples of all places, and my job was to get in in the checkout line right away so we didn’t waste all morning waiting.
I rather enjoyed my front row seat to what was a very strange spectacle.
Living in Canada but close to the border, I’ve never gone over to the States for the Black Friday deals but I’ve always been tempted.
I just got off the phone with my mom and she’s planning on going very early, like 4am, apparently that is when the shops are the least busy if you’re up for that.
I’m certainly not up for that so this year I’ll probably just stay in the comfort of my home and shop online using sites like fatwallet, slickdeals and of course Wishabi, who I work for, and let the community find and deliver deals to me.
Good advice of not getting carried away too, it’s pretty easy when the deals are so good. It’s fun when people say ‘look how much money i saved!’ when in reality they’re spending! All in all a fun time of year to find bargains though.
Black Friday…
George Washington had a vision for this country. Was it three days of uninterrupted shopping? -John Melvoin
) Happy Holidays!…
My first BF shopping trip was last year. We got our Christmas bonus early, and I decided to do my shopping when the deals were the best.
I didn’t buy a single thing for myself – everything on my list was a Christmas gift for someone else. As a result, I saved more than 50% total on all of my Christmas shopping.
BF is awesome, but you do have to be careful not to get sucked in to the deals that you don’t need.
The key to black friday is to only buy something if you really need or want it – and have saved up the cash in advance.
We went last year because we needed (wanted) a new audio receiver. We found one that was normally $150 for $75 that day. I got to the store at 5am, and got one in a mad rush of people.
That day it was definitely worth it to get in line – to save $75! Just don’t get caught up in the craziness and the rush and buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need!
The tempting Black friday deals are difficult to avoid. But it takes great efforts to get the best deal. But it’s the day when most of Americans wait very long.
The key to Black Friday is staying home and shopping online. For 2008, most of the best deals to be had were available online Thanksgiving Day. The lines are too long and the weather is too cold.
Good advice of not getting carried away too, it’s pretty easy when the deals are so good.
Nice Article! Black Friday is around the corner. I usually do go out but just like you said, I always buy something if I need it. I think people should use this holiday for christmas shopping.