MR J’S TOP TIPS
CHRISTMAS is coming – and so is Black Friday.
The festive season may have been the traditional time to shop big but Black Friday, held every year in November, gives Santa a run for his money. And, in both cases, it pays to plan your shopping. So I’ve teamed up with Which? to give early bird shoppers a heads-up on how to survive the experience.
This year’s Black Friday is November 24 so save the date if you’re keen to do some serious shopping.
So what are the best Black Friday tips?
Preparation is the key. If you know what’s going to be on sale beforehand, it’s easier to check if it’s a good offer or not. Sign up for retailers’ newsletters, ‘like’ their Facebook pages and register for Twitter alerts, as they’ll be keen to publicise their best deals.
Find out whether retailers will match prices. Some retailers, such as John Lewis, will match prices on Black Friday deals but won’t match prices with online-only stores such as Amazon or AO.com
Most other shops don’t have price-matching policies, but they may agree to refund the difference if you challenge them about a price drop soon after you’ve bought something.
Sign up for online accounts with the biggest retailers a few days in advance.
Make sure you’re signed in to your account before you start shopping. Consider pre-entering your payment details and shipping details and saving them to your account so you can complete your purchases more quickly.
Research the products you want beforehand. It’s no use grabbing a bargain if the product’s no good. In previous years Which? has seen shoppers nearly coming to blows over items we wouldn’t bother putting on our own shopping lists.
Research prices online before hitting the shops. There are useful web tools you can use to check how much a product has actually been sold for previously. CamelCamelCamel, for example, provides price history for products sold on Amazon.
Make a list of different retailers selling the same product if one of the websites crashes on Black Friday.
Check whether retailers will let you buy online and pick up later.
Some retailers, such as Argos, will hold your product for seven days. This means you can go and collect it after the Black Friday shopping crowds have disappeared and can avoid paying postage costs.
Start your Black Friday shopping early – really early.
Although shops might not open their doors until after breakfast, websites never close. Take advantage by checking Black Friday deals at the crack of dawn – or even midnight.