Black Friday: a Guide for Beginners

I figure I'll share what wisdom I have and write a brief post about various techniques to succeed during Black Friday, one of the most enjoyable days of the year.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, you will receive your ads. Take some time in between lunch and dinner to outline the sales at each store that interest you. Order them then based on when the stores open and the proximity of stores to one another. If you can, plan to work with two people driving and 2-3 people per car if possible. On the day of, set your alarm for about 15 minutes before the earliest store opens. Be prepared to run straight from bed to the car, so you might want to time the coffee machine or prepare a sandwich the night before. When you get to the store, the driver should drop of the two individuals at the store front before parking. While the driver parks, one of the individuals should enter the store and head straight for the checkout while the other individual gets the items of interest, so that by the time he has retrieved the items the first individual is closer to the front of the line. At this point, the driver can browse a bit but be ready to pick up the individuals and get to the next store to repeat the process.

There are a few techniques that can come in handy. Pay attention to whether a store takes rainchecks on items that go out of stock before a certain time in the day, and don't fret then if you don't get one. Another good idea is that in a store with an impossibly long line, consider buying a very expensive item that allows you to pay in a separate part of the store (and thus pay for your entire purchase) and then return that item later Friday night when the store isn't busy. Please pay attention in this case to return policies. Also, check how many of an item can be bought and consider just asking someone to pick up an extra one for you so you can focus on other stores.

Note that in recent years, sales have become a bit less enticing, and also that online deals are often comparable to anything you would find in stores on Black Friday. Many times stores use Black Friday "sales" as a way to move old/out-of-date items.

Last but not least-Black Friday is not a day for browsing. If you don't know what you want, don't bother going to the store. And if you're only going to podunk stores like Sports Authority, there will be no line so don't bother waking up early unless they're giving away $25 certificates to the first 100 people or something.

Personally, I really don't care so much for the items. It's just a really fun experience that I've done every year since 3rd grade with my family and thus associate it as a Thanksgiving ritual.