Black Friday is, arguably, the biggest sales event of the year. Hundreds of stores put out some of their best deals during the holiday season and if you’re determined, you can get some truly awesome stuff at insanely low prices.

But not everything is a great deal, even if it’s on sale.

What to buy on Black Friday 2018

Video games: It’s no secret that most big box retailers will drop a pretty great selection of video games on sale during the holiday season. Even games that are less than a month old tend to get discounted during Black Friday, so if you can wait a few weeks on picking up the hottest titles, you could save a bundle. And not just at big box retailers – plenty of games go on sale digitally on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Even Nintendo’s eShop has reasonable sales during the holiday.

The must-have toys of the year: Retailers know toys sell during the holiday season and yet they will still heavily discount the hottest toys of the year on Black Friday. It may not be by much, but if you have any of the hottest toys of the year on your shopping list, Black Friday is a great time to pick them up at a discounted rate. The closer it gets to Christmas, the more likely they are to sell out, so grab any Must-Have gifts before the isles are bare.

Movies: DVDs and Blu-rays are still big sellers for retail and they are almost always heavily discounted for Black Friday. If you can wait, it’s often much better to resist the urge to buy the hottest releases on their date and buy them on Black Friday instead. Some titles benefit from both Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!

Smart devices: It seems Apple, Google and Amazon are duking it out heavily for the control of the home Smart market. Thankfully, consumers benefit the most from these kind of brawls, with loads of retailers heavily discounting older generation models and in some cases, even newer models! If you’re in the market to smarten up your home with these voice assistant devices, Black Friday is your best bet for the best deals.

Footwear: It’s not exceptionally well known, but Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the best sales days for athletic footwear. If you’re eyeing any kind of athletic gear, make a point to check out several footwear stores on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for the best pricing of the year.

What not to buy on Black Friday 2018

Big-Ticket electronics: It’s easy to get wrapped up in Black Friday hype for big, expensive electronics. Loads of retailers put lots of electronics on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, like projectors, receivers and home theater systems, but the reality is that these deals are often closing out older models for the year, ones which retailers know have newer models releasing early the following year.

Clothing: Several large retailers love to put out discounted clothing options for shoppers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but you’ll find the best clothes deals when shopping out of season. Retailers love to put shorts and tee shirts on sale once Fall is in full effect, and in summer retailers will discount heavy jackets and coats. Those deals will be far superior to what you find on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as retailers are typically just capitalizing on the holiday season with gift ideas, warmer clothing and product branded options.

Jewelry: While jewelry is often thought of as a staple on Christmas wish lists, the holiday season isn't when you will see the biggest sales. If you can, try to hold off on your jewelry purchases until after Valentine's Day. That's when you'll see deep discounts as retailers look to clear out what didn't sell throughout the winter months.

Travel Deals: Travel sites and airlines tend to sit out Black Friday - and then push big sales on Cyber Monday. If you do see a rogue sale on Friday, we suggest waiting a few days. You are much more likely to see bigger discounts on Cyber Monday from the same (and even competing) brands. The caveat with these deals though, is that they tend to be date and location specific. But if you are flexible with the date and location, you can end up with huge savings on your next getaway.

What maybe to buy

Televisions: Black Friday TV deals are great, although you need to watch out for tempting prices on cheap models. Costco, Amazon and Best Buy all offer some of the stronger deals. But another option is to wait until around the Super Bowl, both before and after. In fact, television sales have become such a huge focus point during the week of the Super Bowl that most manufacturers release the newest models of the television line right before the big game. You’ll find tremendous deals starting the Sunday before the Super Bowl, but you can also score big on Open Box deals the week following the Super Bowl.