How to get what you want for Black Friday

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A growing number of people shop online, but staying up until midnight to refresh your web browser for that Black Friday bargain doesn’t have the same vibe and camaraderie as camping in a line with other shoppers for doorbuster sales.

For those die-hard Black Friday shoppers, this article is for you to help you get what you want for Black Friday.

Before Black Friday

1. Visit your local store. Check their holiday sale hours. Familiarize yourself with where items you’re interested in are located in the store.

2. Check the ads before you go. There are websites, such as BlackFriday.com, that get stores’ Black Friday circulars in advance.

3. Look up customer reviews of products. When searching, be as specific as you can with the model number and name of the product. Sometimes stores sell a similar product to the one you want but with fewer features to justify that deeply discounted price.

4. Follow the stores on social media. Sign up for their email. Download their apps. Join their loyalty clubs. Some stores offer special deals to their most attentive and receptive shoppers. It’s free to follow or join or sign up, and you can always “un-follow,” unsubscribe or delete after the holidays.

5. Ask yourself, will it pay to shop around and hit multiple stores to get items for a lower price than other stores? Factor in the travel time, parking, crowds and waiting in another line versus the value of the discount and the item. Only you can decide if it’s worth it.

6. Know which stores carry the items you want, in case one store runs out.

7. Know the hours items you want are on sale. Some stores stagger the hours for various doorbuster sales to keep shoppers coming in beyond the first few hours after the doors open. If you can risk some high-demand items being sold out, you may prefer shopping during the store’s extended hours after the crowds have thinned.

8. Make arrangements for the kids. Leave them with a relative, trusted neighbor or babysitter (maybe offer to do some Black Friday shopping for them).

Heading out

9. Dress for the weather, and dress in layers. By dressing in layers, you can remove that heavy coat and wear just a sweater after spending hours walking in a crowded mall.

10. Know the weather. Check the forecast on the First Alert Weather 24/7 channel before you go out (channel 2-2 over the air, or check your local listings). Download our WBAY First Alert Weather app to your phone for radar, hour-by-hour weather forecasts for your current or chosen locations, and watch our First Alert Weather 24/7 while waiting in line. That’s self-serving, but you’ll get the information you want when you want it, and for where you’re standing. Click here on your mobile device.

11. If you have Black Friday circulars and holiday catalogs, bring them with you — and not just the ad for the store you’re shopping in. If there’s any question about a price at the checkout, you’ll have the information with you.

12. Have a shopping list — not your son’s Christmas list with every wish on it but a checklist of the specific items you intend to buy. The National Retail Federation suggests, “If you know who you need to buy for and how much you can afford to spend, you can make best use of retailers’ ‘Buy Two Get Third Free’-type deals.”

13. Include extra items on your shopping list in case the items on the checklist aren’t available. Don’t have too many “extras” or you might be tempted to pick them up, too, and you’re more likely to exceed your budget.

At the store

14. Park in the first spot you see. Chances are good that while other people are circling the parking lot waiting for a closer spot to open up, you’ll get to the door before they do.

15. Split up. You can be in two or three places at once if you go with family and friends and work as a team. Give each person a shopping list or assignment (e.g., someone can grab a shopping cart while you’re racing the crowd for that hot toy).

Get the best deal

16. Use your smartphone. Look for price-checking, customer review and Black Friday apps, such as Price Grabber, Amazon and BlackFriday.com. Some stores have their own app and might have special offers on those. Make good use of your phone’s browser to have multiple stores’ websites at your fingertips.

17. Compare items, not just prices. Some stores may sell products with fewer or lesser features, even though they’re from the same manufacturer, so they can sell them cheaper as doorbusters, such as a tablet computer with less memory or a box of chocolates that’s a few ounces lighter.

18. Some Black Friday bundle offers may be a better deal in the long run than buying the items at a lower price elsewhere (example: A TV and Blu-Ray disc player bundle may cost more at the outset, but cheaper than getting the TV on sale and buying a comparable disc player later). On the other side of that coin, sometimes bundles aren’t better but stores want you to think you’re getting more for your money; this is another time it’s important to look at model numbers and compare features.

19. Beware of promoted “savings” that aren’t. If an item has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $39.99 but every store is selling it for $29.99 as their regular shelf price, don’t let an ad fool you into thinking you’re saving 25% by buying it from them.

20. Use loyalty cards/store credit cards. Some stores offer discounts, or coupons for a future purchase, if you use their loyalty cards or store credit cards.

21. Ask a store manager if they will match a competitor’s published price. Again, it helps to bring Black Friday ads with you or have it at your fingertips on your phone.

22. Know the return policy before you buy, Wisconsin consumer protection officials say. If the item is opened, will they exchange it for something different or only for an identical item? How long does someone have to return an item after Christmas? The policy might be different for some doorbuster items that have limited availability. Many stores will only refund the lowest sale price of an item over, say, the past 30 days — regardless of what you paid — if you don’t have a receipt. Customers who are part of a store’s loyalty club may have a longer period to return items.

23. Watch as your items are rung up and check your receipt before you leave the store to make sure the prices are what you expect. Wisconsin consumer protection officials say in 2021, 1.7% of 47,000 items tested for price accuracy rang up at a higher-than-advertised price.

Take care of yourself

24. Be patient and understand what you’re getting into. Stores will be crowded. Lines will be long. Tempers may be short. You chose to be here; so did they.

25. Don’t lose your head in the competition. Rather than grab that mixer out of someone’s hands, look for something else on your checklist. One disorderly conduct ticket can wipe out any savings from Black Friday sales. Remember, you still have 30 shopping days until Christmas.

26. Don’t forget to eat. Have some healthy food in your stomach before you hit the stores, or your stamina may end up hitting a wall. Head for the food courts before 11 a.m. or after 1 p.m. Better yet, plan a family gathering somewhere away from the mall or stores so you can recharge your mental batteries as well as compare shopping notes — and regale each other with tales of the hunt.

Don’t break the bank

27. It’s easy to get carried away. Set a budget and stick to it. This is where it helps to have a specific checklist rather than everyone’s wish list. Keep track of what you’re spending, and it will help you avoid sticker shock in January when the credit card bill comes and you’re paying interest on Christmas gifts until Labor Day.

28. Avoid impulse buys, which can quickly add up. By stacking eye-catching items in the aisles and near the checkout lanes, stores are counting on you to leave with items that weren’t on your list.

29. Don’t spend your entire budget between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Think about what will still be there when the crowds are gone.

30. If an item is not on sale, not in limited supply or high demand, or offered for Black Friday sales only, you might find it on sale later in the holiday sales season, especially if retailers push discounts closer to Christmas (and again after Christmas) to reduce their inventory.

Be ready after the sale

31. Ask for a gift receipt. Some stores print one automatically, especially during the holiday season, but not all stores do. It helps to ask before the receipt is printed.

32. Tape or staple gift receipts to items right away.

33. Hold on to sales receipts. Keep them together in a large manila envelope — something that will be easy to find later. This is important not only for returns but for checking against your credit card statements.

34. Get those gifts in the mail right away. You just survived the busiest shopping days of the year; don’t stand in line again for the busiest mailing days of the year.

Or… don’t go at all

35. OK, we tried to make this for the die-hard shoppers, but we acknowledge many retailers offer the same deals online as they do in the store and there are many reasons why people want to avoid the crowds. Keep in mind you might have to pay shipping costs.

36. Some stores offer store pick-up for items purchased online. If you use this option around Black Friday, you might want to wait a few days before picking it up if it’s allowed. Either way, be prepared to stand in line at the pick-up desk.

37. Gift cards are popular.

Sources: Best Buy; BlackFriday.com; Green Bay Police Department; National Retail Federation; Prevention magazine; US News & World Report; Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection