Navigating the Jungle – Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The holiday shopping season seems to get earlier and
earlier. This year, the Halloween candy wasn’t even in the hands of
trick-or-treaters when retailers started posting their Black Friday ads online.
For those of you not familiar with the jargon, Black Friday is what retailers
call the day after Thanksgiving – the official start of the holiday shopping
season. In recent years, retailers have added Cyber Monday to the mix. That is
the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend, when people return to work and often
spend considerable time shopping online.
Both of these days can be huge money savers for shoppers.
They also can be filled with stress and a lot of wasted time if you don’t know
how to navigate the crowds or the conditions often applied to your purchases.
Here are some tips to help you navigate the jungle.
Read the fine print before you shop. It may sound strange, but
extreme sales usually come with extreme stipulations. If you have your eye on a
deeply discounted laptop, tablet or other electronic device, getting in line 10
hours early does not guarantee you will get it. Some stores only have a handful
– literally four of five of the one item you want. Know this information before
you go, even if you have to call the store to ask. Pay attention to anything
you may have to buy with it, as well. And, be sure you know which deals are
available only in the store and which may be available online, as well. In many
cases, these deals are in-store only.
Shop with a plan. My friend calls this divide and conquer. She and
another friend of hers make a list of everything they want, then they go their
separate ways, calling or texting each other periodically to check in. You have
a better chance to get the deal when you have a team of people working on your
behalf.
Use the Internet and social media to your advantage. In this day
and age of social media, there is nothing you shouldn’t know before you shop
Black Friday or Cyber Monday:
BlackFriday.com
Some of these sites also have
Facebook pages to complement their websites, and, of course, you can visit the
websites of any store for their Friday and Monday deals. My personal favorite
deal site is the Live
Fabulous Facebook page. Jodi Furman is the owner of this page and will
spend all day online Friday and Monday posting hot deals that will go fast, but
you won’t know about them without her advice.
Don’t forget daily deal sites. Groupon,
Amazon Local Deals, Living Social, Crowd Savings, Moolala.com and many others will be
offering some great buys on Friday, Monday and throughout the holiday season.
One final thing to remember is to
know the regular retail price before you start shopping. You can’t possibly
know if you are getting a great deal when you don’t how much you would normally
pay for something.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy
Shopping!
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