You don't have to wait until Black Friday for these great deals
Some retailers are starting to ramp up their deep discounts earlier this year
Retailers used to be content to fight each other for consumer dollars on the day after Thanksgiving. We called it Black Friday and it was the official start of the holiday season. It seems quaint to think about that now—to imagine frugal shoppers getting up early to save some money and complete their holiday shopping with time to spare.
Over the years Black Friday has grown exponentially, spawned an online counterpart known as Cyber Monday, and managed to kill people along the way. Really. People are literally dying for Black Friday savings.
“With more pressure on retailers to ramp up sales and make the most of the year-end shopping season, many are rolling out deals earlier, turning the entire month into what's now considered ‘Black November.’ That means shoppers can find some good deals earlier in the month and don't have to brace themselves for dealing with crowded stores on Black Friday,” according to Ben’s Bargains.
The experts at Ben’s Bargains have teamed up with Yahoo Shopping to bring you this quick and useful guide to make the best of your Black Friday shopping. Stay with us and you’ll save money, get what you want, and avoid getting trampled to death.
First, know that some product categories are more likely to offer good prices than others. Second, consider buying an item immediately if you find it selling for anywhere from 35 percent to 40 percent below the regular retail price. You’re unlikely to find a better deal, so get it while you can. (This applies to nearly everything except for TV sets. Retailers often use astounding TV deals to get shoppers into their stores.)
Ben’s Bargains also suggests consumers look into using retailers' apps to track sales and collect coupons—Target's Cartwheel app is a good example.
Tablet sales typically kick in around the beginning of November. This year will bring great deals on tablet computers including the Google Nexus, Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab. If you’re a member of the Apple Army—or you’ve been waiting to join—Apple's iPad mini 2 is already a great deal. Apple items typically don't get discounted much. Walmart, however, is selling the iPad mini 2 with 16 gigabytes for $199 as one of its holiday rollback promotions. (The iPad mini 2 retails for $269 at the Apple Store. If you catch Walmart’s deal, you’ll save 26 percent.)
The holiday season is always a good time for gamers. Some of the best games of the year are released this time of year. This year is a fantastic example, with Halo 5, Fallout 4, and Rise of the Tomb Raider among the many A-list games living up to their promise of greatness. Retailers are capitalizing on this by bundling games with the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4 this year, which gives consumers a good value on proven game consoles and some of the best games you can buy. Ben’s Bargains said those discounts will likely last through Cyber Monday, while deals might even get cheaper through early December. This year’s bundles include games such as Fallout 4, Star Wars: Battlefront, Halo 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
One typical deal is the Xbox One 500 GB console with Kinect, which comes with three games, including Dance Central Spotlight. That bundle is selling for $399 on Amazon, or about $101 less than its normal retail price.
Non-Apple smart watches
If you’re looking for an amazing deal on an Apple Watch, well, you’re out of luck. However, other smartwatch makers and retailers are picking up on Apple’s steam by offering good deals on their watches. If you’re craving an Apple Watch, this probably doesn’t interest you. But if you’re not enamored with the Apple name and cache, go to Best Buy for the Samsung Gear S Smartwatch for $99 and free shipping, down from its regular price of $329.99.
Toys
What’s the holiday season without toys? Even adults are getting into the action this year with the aggressive Star Wars marketing aimed directly at the wallets of every Generation X mom and dad with nostalgia in their hearts and some money to burn.
Major retailers Amazon and Walmart have offered excellent deals on toys during the past two years, and Ben's Bargains believes the trend will continue. The hottest category for 2015 is likely to be Star Wars merchandise. The new movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens on Dec. 18. The toys and marketing, however, began months ago. There’s an excellent deal you can get right now through Toys 'R Us, which is selling the Star Wars Command Galactic Battlefield Set for $51.98, compared with the regular retail price of $99.99. (You can buy it online, but you have to pick it up in a store.)
Ben's Bargains believes this will be another good year for laptop deals, if the past few years are any indication. For example, Lenovo is selling its Ideapad 500 for $799, down from its regular retail price of $1,150. That’s 30 percent discount.
More deals can be found on lower-price laptops, such as Walmart's $279 price on an Acer Midnight Black Aspire laptop, which comes in around 24 percent below its regular price.
For more Black Friday and holiday deals, check out Ben’s Bargains and Yahoo Shopping.
