Black Friday sales — or should we just rename the whole late November shopping extraganza? — have begun. I’ve mentioned the sneaky Black Friday Web sites before, but those are now moot since the ads have been published. I expect to see a lot of deals online, especially after Buy.com’s Jeff Wisot told me that it is getting especially good deals this year:
“What we’re seeing is that many of the big brick and mortar and discounts stores have canceled their purchase orders because they’re not anticipating the sales anymore. So manufacuters are coming to us and giving us better deals to choose from,” he said. “Last year, e-tail and retail didn’t have to discount as much as they are now. They didn’t have to fight as much as they have before.”
Still, from the poll I offered to readers on who’s planning to shop before Black Friday, the huge majority of votes said “I have no money.”
But I’m sure some people will be shopping over the next several days. I thought about compiling a tip sheet to online shopping and then I heard from reader “SingingBingoLady,” who stumbled upon a handy guide from, of all sources, Dirt Devil (yes, the vacuum cleaner)!
In between ads for vacuum cleaners, it mentions not only the Black Friday Web sites, but the Cyber Monday sites (bestcybermondaysales.com, cybermonday.com, cybermonday.fm).
It also offers tips on getting a better deal (if an expired coupon code has a number like “11″ in it, try replacing it with “12″ if you’re shopping in December). Of course, it lists about a dozen sites to hunt for coupon code discounts, like FatWallet.com, RetailMeNot.com and DealCatcher.com.
But perhaps most useful are niche sites to help consumers find exactly what they want. Sites are broken down into categories, including cigars, sporting goods, pets, automotive memorialbilia, vinyl albums, etc.
With all that effort, I figured, why should I bother? Check out the Dirt Devil guide to online shopping HERE. (Thanks SingingBingoLady!)
A few more notable Black Friday sites, stories:
- Bfads.net’s shopping guides by category
- BlackFriday.info deals by category
- Best Black Friday HDTV deals from Swanni’s TVPredictions.com
- Black Friday, holiday food deals and specials (Fast Food Maven)
From the Register’s OC Retail blog:
- Fashion Island deals for day after Thanksgiving
- O.C. mall hours for day, weekend after Thanksgiving
- Irvine Spectrum deals for day after Thanksgiving
- Holiday parking tips at O.C. malls
- Worst O.C. mall parking during the holidays?
Past Gadgetress deals stories:
Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
You also may want to check out this overview of how to get free shipping at roughly 75 stores, along with the must-order-by dates and times.
http://www.letterbar.com/free-shipping/