How to get the best Black Friday deals

Black Friday came to the UK back in 2014, when there were reports of panic in shops as crowds of people literally fought to get the best deals. Thankfully over the past few years both shoppers and retailers have learnt how to prepare for the frenzy. Here’s how you can make sure you get the best deals on Black Friday.

Prepare in advance with a list

The best way to make sure that Black Friday saves money is to prepare in advance with a list and a maximum budget for each item. Shops rely on impulse purchases in sales like this, but with some pre-planning you can outsmart them. (See our top tactics that supermarkets use to make you spend more)

Phones and technology are almost guaranteed to be reduced on Black Friday, so be sure to plan for these if you’re looking for some new gadgets. The biggest Black Friday retailers are Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, Curries, Mobiles.co.uk, Game, and Tesco Direct, so use these websites to prepare your wish list in advance.

Shop early

Last year, in an attempt to prevent all the crowds in stores and websites crashing, many big retailers spread their Black Friday savings over the whole week. Rather than queuing outside stores before they’re open on the Friday, follow your favourite stores on social media so you know exactly when the sales are starting. You might find that the best deals can be snapped up on Monday morning or even earlier.

Shop online

Weekend shopping can be stressful at the best of times, especially if you’ve got unruly children in tow. Why add to the stress by going to physical stores on the busiest shopping day of the year? All the biggest retailers will have the same discounts available online as in store, so you don’t even have to leave the sofa.

Shopping online also helps to prevent dangerous impulse purchases, which shops rely on during Black Friday. If you’ve planned what you’re after and are shopping online, you shouldn’t get distracted by walking through the other aisles of the store.

Set discount alerts

There are a few really great apps available like Price Alert for Amazon (available on both iOS and Android) that can tell you when the products you want have significantly reduced in price. Amazon is often credited with having brought Black Friday to the UK because of its huge array of discounts across the site, so it’s a safe bet that anything you watch will see a big price drop throughout the week.

In combination with using apps like this, make sure that whenever you see a discount you’re tempted by you Google the product to see if it’s cheaper elsewhere. Retailers have been criticised for claiming crazy “original price” values just so that the discount seems more impressive.

Sign up to newsletters

Lots of retailers will send pre-sales or extra discount codes to their email subscribers, so make sure you’re on the lists in advance. Think about any gifts you are planning to buy for family as well, and sign up to newsletters for those too. For example, if you’re thinking of buying video games for someone this year, it’s worth signing up to GAME’s newsletter. Just remember to unsubscribe to them afterwards so that your inbox doesn’t become full of junk!

Avoid Scams

Unfortunately Black Friday is one of the days where scammers play their best cards. Be wary of discounts that really seem too good to be true, and always check the URL in your browser to make sure you’re on a site that you trust. Some websites might be designed to closely resemble a trusted retailer, but small typos in the URL will give them away.

The same goes for emails, lots of scam artists have technology which makes an email appear like it’s from a trusted source, but if you click to view the actual email address it has been sent from, it will clearly be a dodgy address full of letters and numbers. If you get any emails you’re not sure about, don’t follow any links or download attachments. If it looks like it’s from your bank or PayPal, contact them directly via their official websites.

When is Black Friday 2017?

Black Friday occurs on the Friday after the American celebration of Thanksgiving every year; in 2017 this will be Friday 24th November.