Black Friday Tips for Next Year

It's strange to me that retailers are claiming an increase in Black Friday spending this year. Strange because the deals, for the most part, really sucked this year. So much so that this was the first year in more than a decade that I wasn't standing in someone's line in the middle of the night.

The only possible explanation for this year's sales being so successful is that they were pounced on by amateurs. Now, if you are one of those that rushed out this Friday, please don't get offended. All I'm saying is that those of us who are frugal all year looked at those pitiful offerings and scoffed. In fact, if you were paying attention (and I am always paying attention even when I pretend that I'm not) you could have gotten many of those same deals, better deals, or within a few dollars, in the few weeks prior to Black Friday. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Sears advertised a Sharp 46" 1080p LCD television as a door buster on Black Friday for $899. Best Buy advertised the exact same television (same model number) for the exact same price the week before Thanksgiving. Now, Sears has a price match policy. So, had you gone to Sears a week before Black Friday and shown them the Best Buy ad, you could have purchased that television for $899 minus 10% of the price difference (it was its regular price of $1300 at Sears that week). So, you would have actually paid less than the Black Friday price, and you wouldn't have to stand in those lines.

Don't get me wrong; there were a few good deals to be had, but none were worth standing on line for hours in the cold. In fact, Radio Shack was offering a Uniden DECT 6.0 4-phone system. It was one of the few items in this year's ads that I considered making a serious effort to get. However, did I really want to get out in the wee hours of morning just to squeeze into that tiny box that is characteristic of a Radio Shack store, get pushed and shoved by the other sardines, and hope that I was able to grab the item for which I came? Nope.

I'm going to share one of my secrets with you, so keep it between us, okay? Okay. You know those 2-day sales that happen after Thanksgiving? Well, they magically turn into 3-day sales online. Most items (not the door busters, though) are offered online on Thanksgiving Day or sooner. So, I ordered the phones from radioshack.com for the same price on Thanksgiving. I even got free shipping, so they're sending them right to my door. No standing on line, no being shoved, no tiny cell of a store, no dashed hopes.

The only ad that I thought was pretty decent this year was Wal-Mart's. But I avoid them on Black Friday like the plague. Yeah, the deals were good, but not good enough to have to deal with Wal-Mart's Black Friday clientele. I spoke about this Thursday over Thanksgiving dinner. Then, as if to illustrate my point, this happened on Friday:



Now, I'm not trying to lessen the responsibility of the shoppers who trampled that poor guy to death. But Wal-Mart could have prevented it.

Consider this: Best Buy has people lined up sometimes for days to get into their store of Black Friday. But you hardly ever hear of horror stories about mobs at Best Buy. Why is that? Because Best Buy knows how to control the crowd. They know exactly how many of each of their door busters are available, and they pass out tickets starting at the front of the line for those items a couple hours prior to opening the doors. This does two things: 1. it keeps people from rushing the door for those items since they won't sell them to you if you don't have a ticket anyway, and 2. it keeps people from rushing the door to get inside because those people who have been camped out for these items can now go sit in a warm car until the store opens.

But not Wal-Mart. They create this feeding frenzy atmosphere. It doesn't matter that you were first in line. What matters is how fast you can find your item once you're inside. So you might have been first in line, you might have been there for 12 hours, but you still might not get that item you wanted because the people behind you run faster. I won't even go into the pushing and shoving and the taking things out of other people's carts (though, admittedly, those aren't unique to Wal-Mart shoppers). It's crazy. And it keeps me out of Wal-Mart on Black Fridays. It's simply not worth the aggravation.

In conclusion, I offer the following tips for next year:

1. Your Black Friday shopping should begin several weeks before the actual day. Check sale prices of your desired items in advance to get the best deals.

2. Just because an item is a door buster doesn't mean it's a great deal. Do your research, and watch the sales ads.

3. Get deals online early. Shop the big retailers on Thanksgiving. If you can't get everything, you'll feel less pressured if you can take even a few items off your list. Plus, you'll be able to concentrate on door busters.

4. Get networked. You'll have a better chance of getting what you want. Usually, we have people at Best Buy, someone else will go to Toys R Us, someone will go to Target, etc. (None of us went this year because the deals sucked, though.)

5. If you really want something, get there early. Know what you're getting into. Don't show up at Best Buy an hour before they open and expect to get that uber-cheap laptop you saw in the ad. For that matter, don't show up at Best Buy at 2am and expect to get it either.

6. Don't waste your time on minuscule savings. In other words, don't camp out at Best Buy for 18 hours to get a web cam for half price. The doctor's bill for treating your pneumonia will more than negate the $15 you save.

7. Keep your cart with you, and don't turn your back on it. Guard your door busters like you guard your life. Like I said, I've seen people take things out of someone Else's cart. Heck, I've seen people take the whole cart!

8. Get in and get out. Black Friday is not the time for browsing. Know what you want before you get to the store. Grab your items, pay, and go on to the next store. Unless you're in Best Buy. You'll be there for hours...which is why you should seriously consider tip #4.

9. Stay the hell away from Wal-Mart until they get their act together. Just trust me on this one. But, if you insist on going there anyway, make sure you heed tip #10.

10. Leave the kids at home. This is especially true for Wal-Mart (if you must go). Kids can easily get trampled. I've even seen baskets with babies in them nearly toppled by eager deal-seekers. And you might have to stand in long lines, which requires an amount of patience that most children don't possess.

11. Take advantage of price matching policies. This is a good way to save money and time. There's no sense in going to 3 more stores to get deals if you can get them all at the same store.

12. Keep your receipts. Yeah, that game was a great deal when you got it for $25. But you'll be ill next week when you see it on clearance for $8. No biggie. Just grab the $8 one and return the higher priced one.

-e