Expired: Black Friday Shopping Guide (2020)

2020 Black Friday Ad Roundup

Amazon

• Amazon Black Friday page

Amazon is still a solid option, with reliable shipping speed and product quality. Prime Day already used up some of everyone’s excitement, and Black Friday looks fairly similar in terms of what’s on sale. The deepest discounts are usually on Amazon devices, such as Kindle, Echo, and home security products. Popular game consoles like Xbox and PlayStation may also see decent discounts. TV deals are often pretty good too, basically matching Walmart’s in-store pricing.

Walmart

• Walmart Black Friday event page

Due to the pandemic, Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving and on Black Friday this year. Its Black Friday sale will roll out in three waves, with discounts going live at 7PM EST on November 4, November 11, and November 25. Walmart’s Black Friday deals are usually centered on ultra-cheap furniture, deeply discounted TVs, gaming bundles, clearance computers, kids’ toys, and more. Contract phone deals can also be pretty good, often with Walmart gift cards included.

Best Buy

• Best Buy Black Friday event page

Best Buy mainly focuses on electronics discounts, including large appliances like refrigerators and washers, as well as consumer electronics such as computers, headphones, and smart wearables. In general, Best Buy’s higher-tier members can access Black Friday pricing a few days early. Apple product discounts are often pretty good, and phone purchases may also come with solid carrier promotions.

Other Stores

• Sam's Club: Good pricing on household items, and there are usually a few especially hot clearance computer deals. Their IT is notoriously bad; when the rush starts, the site often crashes. It’s best to preload your cart and check out in the app.
• Macy's: The sale starts both online and in stores on November 16. Macy’s is especially known for small appliances. On top of sale prices, they often offer various rebates, which can make the final cost especially attractive. Clearance clothing can also be very cheap. They also hand out some shopping coupons in store, though this year we don’t recommend going in person.
• Home Depot: Good for major appliances like washers and refrigerators, and there are also plenty of discounts on small household tools. It seems the promotion has already started, though the discounts are fairly average.
• Costco: The highlights are usually gaming bundles and contract phones, and Costco offers relatively good after-sales service.
• Dell: The ad is extremely long, so it’s hard to tell which deals are actually good. Based on past experience, the gaming console bundles tend to be popular, and Alienware discounts can be decent too.
• JCPenny: If you go early, they usually hand out shopping coupons, something like $10 off $10. There’s not much worth noting online.
• Kohl's: Small kitchen appliances are a highlight, and when combined with Kohl's Cash, the deals can be extremely good. Some low-priced clothing items are also worth a look.

What Is Black Friday?

Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving (Friday), which falls on November 27 this year. Starting on that day, people begin preparing Christmas gifts. Retailers launch some of their strongest deals of the year, and some of those deals continue through Christmas. Many items are essentially at their lowest prices of the year, and in many cases you won’t find a better price again until the following Black Friday. If you need to buy something, especially big-ticket items like appliances, this is a window you do not want to miss.

In recent years, many retailers have moved Black Friday promotions up by one day to Thanksgiving itself, sometimes called Black Thursday. Generally, online sales start Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, while in-store shopping begins Thursday evening on Thanksgiving. This is important enough to say three times:

• Online: late night on November 26; in store: evening of November 27
• Online: late night on November 26; in store: evening of November 27
• Online: late night on November 26; in store: evening of November 27

This year is unusual, and most retailers have launched good deals early and in multiple waves to bring in spending sooner. So it makes sense to research deals in advance and place orders early. We still do not recommend going to stores just to join the crowd. Saving a little money or chasing the holiday atmosphere is not worth getting COVID. As for items delivered to your home, it’s best to disinfect them before use when possible.

How to Prepare for Black Friday

Know Yourself and Know the Market

“Know yourself” means understanding your own needs and deciding what you want to buy. “Know the market” means understanding which stores are discounting what, and when. Of course, if you don’t know what you need yet, browsing retailer ads may help you discover some “needs.” Every year, major retailers release Black Friday ads in early to mid-November (see links above). These ads contain key information, including which products are discounted, the sale prices, and the exact timing of each deal (in store or online). You should study this information carefully. Every year, I read through these ads several times in advance, compare prices across stores, and map out a shopping strategy. We recommend keeping track of the following:

• Online sale start times: Usually sales begin at 12:00 AM on the 27th, meaning the late night of the 26th. Different stores use different time zones for their midnight launches (Eastern Time: Walmart, Microsoft, Sam's Club; Central Time: Kohl's, Best Buy; Pacific Time: Target, Amazon).
• Store opening times: Physical stores usually begin opening on the afternoon of the 27th, generally starting around 5-6 PM local time.

You should also record the product name, SKU, and price for the items you want, so you can add them to your cart right on time and check out immediately once the price updates.

Credit Cards

For things you plan to use at home, we recommend paying with a credit card. Benefits can include price protection, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, and easier dispute resolution if you run into problems with the retailer.

• [Black Friday Special] Introduction to Credit Card Price Protection
• [Black Friday Special] Introduction to Credit Card Extended Warranty

Some credit cards (such as AMEX) also include Purchase Protection, which may let you file a claim if an item is lost or damaged within 90 days.

Next is deciding which card to use. Make a note of the cards that earn the highest cash back at specific merchants, and use the best card for each store. For example:

• Discover it: Amazon.com, Target, and Walmart.com, which covers many major online and in-store spending categories during the shopping season.
• Chase Freedom (Flex): Walmart and PayPal. For online shopping, PayPal Key can turn purchases at places like Amazon and Google Shopping, which do not normally accept PayPal, into PayPal transactions. See this article.
• Citi Dividend: Best Buy & Warehouse Online (Sam's Club, Costco, etc.)
• ABOC Platinum Rewards credit card: Department store purchases, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Costco, and department stores; this category is quite broad.
• BofA Cash Rewards: 3% cash back on online shopping; remember to set your category to online shopping.
• All Citi cards: Check your email inbox. Citi has recently sent out many limited-time offers for 5% back on online purchases, valid only for spending before November, with a maximum of $500 per card.

Also keep an eye on the extra cashback offered through AMEX Offer, Chase Offer, BofA Offer, and similar card-linked deals. Besides using cards you already have, opening a new card for a welcome bonus or a large-spending bonus can also be a great option. There have been some all-time-high offers recently, so it may be a good time to apply and try to get the card before the holidays:

• Chase Ink Preferred 100,000 UR
• Chase Ink Cash 75,000 UR 
• Chase Ink Unlimited 75,000 UR
• AMEX Platinum 75,000+$300 statement credit
• AMEX Gold 60,000+$250 statement credit

Card-linked offers

Besides saving with credit cards themselves, there are also many card-linked offers available. This cashback can stack perfectly with your credit card rewards and cashback portals. So before shopping, remember to link the credit card you plan to use, and you may save even more without realizing it.

• Drop APP (an extra 1%-2% cashback at participating merchants after linking your card)
• Dosh App (2% cashback at merchants such as Sam's Club after linking your card)
• Rakuten In Store cashback (extra cashback after linking your card at many popular retailers such as Sephora, major department stores, baby-product stores, and more)

Cashback portals

If you are placing orders online, definitely do not forget cashback portals. During Black Friday, major portals will often increase cashback rates for many merchants. Saving an extra 5%-20% with a portal can be substantial, and it may even end up cheaper than waiting in line outside a store.

• Overview of cashback and rewards portals — introduces the basics and shows you step by step how to use them
• How cashback portals work and make money — ultimately, the cost is built into the system

Comparison and Reviews of U.S. Cashback Sites

Stock up on gift cards

Buying discounted gift cards in advance for stores you plan to shop at is a great idea, since secondhand gift cards often come with decent discounts. However, gift card prices tend to surge during the holiday shopping days themselves. Recommended places to stock up:

• Introduction to the gift card marketplace Raise
• Mileage Plus X (MPX) guide

Practical strategies

Online orders

Late at night on November 26 is when most merchants begin their online sales. Open the websites of the stores you want in advance, and save your payment information and address beforehand. Open several cashback portals, compare cashback rates, and choose the best one. Then follow the sale timeline you prepared earlier and place your orders right when each deal goes live.

In-store shopping

Online shopping will usually cover most of your needs, but going to the store and experiencing the festive atmosphere can also be fun.

On the afternoon of the 28th, eat a good meal ahead of time, then head out around 4-5 p.m. to line up at the stores you want to visit. While you are waiting, store employees may hand out store maps. Use the map to head straight to the items you want once you get inside. For hot items such as certain game consoles or toys, employees may give out tickets with numbers on them, which means you have already reserved that item. If you get a ticket while waiting in line, you can go line up at another store and come back to pay before the first store closes that night. Be sure to ask an employee about the exact checkout cutoff time, since some stores may still require you to go inside and check out right away.

As for returns, most merchants extend the return deadline for items bought between Black Friday and Christmas until January 31 of the following year. If you are not satisfied with something, or if you later see the price drop and the store will not do a price match, you can choose to return it.