If you’re a Black Friday shopper, you know that getting the best deals means planning ahead. But did you know that the Black Friday ads for many stores are already available online? Here’s a roundup of some of the best Black Friday websites and a quick review of what’s to love about each one.
If you’re a first-time Black Friday shopper or an experienced shopper looking for ways to make the day go more smoothly, this article has some great Black Friday strategies and advice.
Your turn: What is on your must-have list for Black Friday? Where are you shopping first?
BFAds.net
BFAds.net is the granddaddy of all Black Friday sites. Here, you can find PDF ad scans, buying guides for specific products like laptops and HDTVs, message boards, a list of store hours and locations, and even the opportunity to win daily prizes. The most helpful feature is the ability to create your own personal shopping list that you can email to yourself or print. You can also subscribe to an email list for updates to the site.
This website is well organized and easy to navigate. The only thing that seems a little distracting is that they have a list of current hot deals on their homepage as well as updates to Black Friday deals, but some people may find that feature useful, too.
BlackFriday.info
BlackFriday.info has many of the same features as BFAds.net, including personal shopping lists and email updates. In addition, you can subscribe to an RSS feed for specific stores if you just want to watch a few of them. You can also compare some of the item’s prices to their listings on eBay to determine if the store is really offering a rock-bottom deal. Current online coupon codes and discount offers are also available.
Black-Friday.net
If online deals are more your style, then Black-Friday.net is for you. Online deals are their sweet spot, although they have many of the other store ads too. You can create a personal shopping list and subscribe to email updates here, as well.
BlackFridayAds
I really like the “Most Wanted” list on BlackFridayAds.com. It’s quick and updated as people add items to their personal shopping lists. If you like to see what other people are looking to grab (either to get some yourself or avoid the crowds), you’ll like BlackFridayAds.com On the downside, the list of ads isn’t as extensive, but most major retailers are represented.
Laura, a Pocket Your Dollars reader, helped me put this together for you. Thank you!
I am curious how these sites get this information? I work at one of the retailers listed, and they won’t even tell the employees about the doorbusters yet because they don’t want competitors to get the information. It makes me wonder about the accuracy of the info.
Many of these are preliminary adds and have been, in my experience pretty accurate. If the chain has issues they usually send a ceace and desist letter to the sites that have them leaked. Sometimes the note they are not final adds.
I am looking for a wooden kitchen and a scooter.
My sister and I always shop at the Outlets at Albertville first. Most stores open at midnight; some even open at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving night. The Gymboree outlet store opens at 10 p.m., and they are advertising 25% off the entire store & $5.99 pajamas. That will be our first stop!
Home Depot has a 16 gallon wet/dry vac for $19.97. That is a huge deal and a great present for the tool type person.
You’ll notice that a lot of retailers have many of their Black Friday deals already listed on their official store web sites. Many are even honoring those prices today. Check startribune.com on Tuesday for a story about this trend.
http://www.Pricetrace.com/blackfriday has the detailed shopping guide on each popular item such as TV, camera, GPS, laptop, etc.
What is also cool is that shoppers can also use the price history chart on PriceTrace to see if the deal is really worth the long line. (Sometimes I found the “deal” is even more expensive than the current price)
To Kelly- my husband also works at a big box store and he tells me that often times the BF deals are leaked by the printers…. They go to print and someone at the printers leaks it. However, many company are getting the deals out early this year themselves!
I used to go to Albertville for ‘midnight madness’ on Thursday night, but 2 years ago it was soo crazy that I didn’t go last year (plus I had to work). We had heard later that some people waited for hours to get out of the parking lot!! I really want to go, but am nervous as to what awaits. This year my conundrum is who can watch our 4 kids so I can go . . . hmm . . .
By the way, if anyone is in the Becker area – you should stop in to Cafe Pawz. My husband works there and the food is awesome, I crave their club Panini’s! :)