Freebies
Many retailers will be offering incentives for you to haul yourself out of bed including free gift cards, Christmas decor, and food. I will be compiling a list of all the freebies I could find along with my deal post later today.
Manage that foot traffic!
Retailers will be trying a variety of tactics this year to control foot traffic. Some stores will be offering Thanksgiving Day sales (such as Old Navy and Walgreens). JC Penney will be offering 4am doorbusters and then 1pm doorbusters. Toys R' Us will be opening its doors midnight Friday. Best Buy will be offering tickets to customers up to two hours before the store opens for its 5am doorbuster deals.
The tricky thing about comparing Black Friday deals is that you're often comparing apples to oranges. While I find several Nintendo DSi deals, for instance, each had slightly different game bundles and components. So the bundle with 5 games might not be a good deal for you if you don't want those games. Rarely did I find the same model of camera or TV on sale in two ads. This is where you'll have to do your research on brands and models to determine if the deal is right for you.
This is my first year spending this amount of time and attention on the Black Friday ads. I noticed several items appeared over and over this year. (But again, note that these items might also normally appear over and over for Black Friday.) Here are a few that stood out to me:
Blu-Ray movies & DVDs. Target and Best Buy top my list as great places to find movies on sale. Blu-Ray movies, in particular, will be a good deal with many titles $9.99 or less.
Snuggies. Good gravy, are these really that popular? What is the deal! A couple stores will have them for $9.99 on Black Friday (including Fred Meyer), but tomorrow only, you can buy one for $7.99 at Walgreens after receiving a $2 Register Reward.
GPS. These units have definitely come down in price, making them more affordable than before. Brands I saw repeatedly included Tom Tom and Garmin, with the deepest discounts for Tom Tom units. I will be sharing a few of my favorite GPS deals later today.
Fleece. Rite Aid will be offering fleece throws for $1.99, and stores including Target, JC Penney, and Old Navy will be offering sales on fleece jackets and pullovers for the family. Puffer jackets seem to be a popular choice this year with many of the styles 50% off at $15 or less.
Pre-lit Christmas decorations. In addition to trees, I found a couple stores offering discounts on potted porch pre-lit tree sets. As is to be expected, Christmas lights, ornaments, and other decor will be on sale at virtually every store from Macys to Home Depot.
Affordable Digital Cameras. While I found LOTS of digital cameras on sale, I was delighted to find many varieties for $99 or less – and some as low as $49.
Online Deals may yet be had!
I know many of my readers want a good deal, but are unsure about braving the crowds to save some money. Good news! Once Black Friday is over, I'll be focusing my time on Cyber Monday. I believe we'll be seeing many wonderful online deals. On Cyber Monday, many online merchants will be offering free shipping too. When you go through Ebates, you'll be able to enjoy cash back rebates as well. My conclusion? If you want to stay at home, stay at home. There will be deals for you too.
Watch later for my Black Friday deals post!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I would like to buy 2 snuggies. I should make 2 diff purchases right? If i do, will i still get the register rewards for the 2nd one if i use my 1st register reward to get it?
Nope. you would need to either do two transactions of $9.99 each, or sandwich another transaction in the middle. For instance, you could buy the INfusium 23 shampoo, get a $4 rr and then use that to buy the 2nd Snuggie. In this case, you’d get the 2nd $2 rr. does that make sense?