On our annual Guide to Geek gifting, we talk about the lessening impact of Black Friday in recent years, and ideas for gifting.
The folks at EarlyBlackFriday.com do a great job organizing the ads for you, and also passed along some tips we talked about on the show as well:
1) While a lot of retailers are trying to move "Black Friday" to earlier in the week, Best Buy is trying to extend Black Friday even further this year by releasing new doorbuster deals on Black Friday and the Saturday after Black Friday. This is something that they haven't done in the past and I think will work well for them as they seem to be the only retailer releasing new deals each of those days.
2) If you are looking to score one of the in-store Black Friday doorbuster deals, be prepared to line up early! We suggest shoppers arrive to Target, Best Buy, or Walmart at least 9 hours before doors open to make sure you're one of the first in line. For all other retailers, we suggest you line up 3 hours before doors open to ensure that you're first in line.
3) Almost all of the Black Friday deals are available online and knowing when to shop it key. Most stores will launch their Black Friday deals on Wednesday night (11/21) before Thanksgiving. Be the time Thanksgiving evening / Black Friday roll around, all of the top deals will have sold out.
4) While everyone is scrambling for the HDTV and electronics deals, keep an eye out for other products. The most overlooked product categories that are great deals on Black Friday include luggage and bed & bath products.
5) If you could only go to one store this year, Target is the place to go. Across the board, they seem to have the best deals in a wide range of product categories. However, if you're looking for a TV, Best Buy is the place to shop and the HDTVs they have featured on the front page of their ad are all excellent deals.
Also, here are some of the top tech deals this Black Friday that are under $100:
* Roku Ultra 4k Media Player for $48 (50% off) at Walmart.
* JLab JBuds Air Executive True Wireless In-Ear Headphones for $34 (50%
off) at Walmart.
* Google Nest Hub Smart Display + $15 in Kohl's Cash for $79 ($50 off) at Kohls.
* Over 100 different PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One games for $15 each at Target.
* Samsung 11.6" Chromebook 3 w/4GB Memory for $99 ($60 off) at Walmart.
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