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Black Friday is here, and with it a number of terrific deals. While many customers will be going to physical stores, however, there are plenty of advantages to staying home and finding Black Friday sales online. Read on for a rundown of tips if you plan on doing your Black Friday shopping online.
1. Use Amazon Credit Card to Save an Extra 5%
If you’re already an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can benefit from getting the Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Visa Card. Once you get it, you automatically get 5% cashback on everything you buy from Amazon.com (as well as Whole Foods).
To further sweeten the pot, those with an Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Visa Card can get an additional 10-15% back on various electronics purchases, including the Amazon Fire TV Sticks and Samsung Galaxy phones. Click here to register for an Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Visa Card and click here if you don’t have an Amazon Prime account but wish to try a 30-day free trial.
2. Check Item Prices with Other Stores
While its assumed that Black Friday sales are the best possible offer, be wary and check the prices of prized items with other stores. You may find out that the item you’re looking for may actually be cheaper if you go to another store, or simply wait until the prices goes down further.
To make comparison-shopping easier, you can go to PriceBlink or Honey. These browsers allow you to punch in your desired item and check its price with similar items at other stores. Honey, in particular, allows you to see whether an item will be going down in price in the near future.
3. Read Vendor Reviews on Sites Like eBay & Amazon
This is an often overlooked part of the online shopping process. While sites like eBay and Amazon are trustworthy, it’s important to identify who the vendor is, and whether or not they have solid ratings. If not much information is made available about a vendor, it is a potential red flag. The same goes for reviews of other products sold by the vendor.
4. Take Advantage of Coupons & Promo Codes
There may be coupons and additional discounts for your desired items depending on where you look. Browsers like and Shopsavvy the aforementioned PriceBlink not only offer price-comparisons, but coupons on select items when you search them. Additional sites offer promo codes and slash discounts, which can sometimes go ignored.
5. Only Shop for Items on Secure Websites
It’s crucial that you only shop for items on secure and trusted websites. Beware of sites that require personal information beyond payment, and sites that have cheap or dodgy web design. A good tip for spotting an illegitimate site is if the pricelists are in PDF form only, or the item photos are blurry or have stock logos over them.
6. Download the Flipp App on Your Mobile Device
If you’re looking to cut down time on your Black Friday shopping, consider downloading the Flipp app on your phone or mobile device. You can download the app by clicking here. Flipp allows you to catalog every American weekly ad and coupon, so you can browse from your phone and never miss out on a discount.
7. Follow Your Preferred Brands on Social Media
If you don’t already, be sure to follow your preferred brands on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Often times, these brands will provide special sales, as well as friends and family codes. Then there’s “doorbuster codes,” which promise to slash the price of an item if you purchase it between certain shopping hours. Each “doorbuster code” has its own designated hours and discount prices.
8. Use the Black Friday Calculator
This is a fun and useful device. Black Friday Calculator, which you can find here, allows you to punch in the type of promotion you’re using, the original price of the item, and the discount that’s being offered. From there, the calculator will tell you if the deal is worth considering. It will also give you an exact umber on how much money you’re saving.
9. Make a List of Items Ahead of Time
This may seem like a silly exercise prior to shopping, but it’s incredibly beneficial to jot down the items you want and the prices you intend to get them for. In doing so, you will be able to keep track of how much you have spent, and whether or not you are getting items for the cheapest possible price.
10. Continue Shopping After Black Friday Ends
While this may seem counter-intuitive, it may end up saving you money in the long run. You may be able to find better deals on certain items after Black Friday and Cyber Monday end, depending on what you’re looking for. Skirboll recommends that shoppers avoid buying fitness equipment until January, since the top of the year is when they tend to have bigger sales.
Search the items you are specifically looking for to determine whether it would be more beneficial to get them during Black Friday (and Cyber Monday), or to simply wait until things die down.