With one week away from the insanity that is Black Friday, I wanted to send out a friendly reminder, courtesy of Admiral Ackbar. “IT’S A TRAP! ”

The reason that stores put out crazy deals like a $2,000 TV for $500 is that they want you to get into the store. Once you’re there and you see that they only had 5 of those TVs for the entire sale day, then you’ll start to browse for other things.

The reason this day is such a big deal is that it was the official start of the “holiday season” and the day that most companies finally went into the Black for the year. Meaning, they start to turn a profit for the year and everything they had earned up to this point was just to cover their operating costs.

This explains why companies will try any deals just to get you in the store. Everything after this point of the year is straight profit for them.

How to Win at Black Friday

My best advice is don’t go out on Black Friday as all of the “Best deals” will be gone unless you want to be part of one of the 3am mobs outside of a Walmart or Best Buy.

However, if you have already planned out the gifts you wish to give this season and find a deal that matches, here is my best advice. Go online and avoid the lines.

There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of deals that can be found online. In addition to the Black Friday deals, you may be able to find an extra coupon for the site you are using via a browser extension, like Honey (not affiliate). These types of extensions are free and look up coupon codes for you as you shop.

Another benefit to shopping online is that you will save time and will be less likely to browse than you would be in a physical store (at least I am). The whole gimmick of Black Friday is to get you in the store to look at everything there and impulse buy gifts.

Wrap It Up!

So, that’s my quick tip list for Black Friday:

  • Make your list ahead of time as discussed in last week’s gift giving post.
  • Save yourself time and money by shopping online as opposed to going to the store, especially not at 3am.
  • Use a coupon code browser extension to help you find coupon codes for the site you’re shopping on.

Do you shop on Black Friday? What advice do you have for those that do shop on Black Friday? Let me know in the comments below!

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