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Here’s how to take advantage of all the holiday shopping savings this year.
Amazon; Disney plus; Best Buy; Apple; Insider
November is here, and that means Black Friday is right around the corner. You might be surprised to know that a number of major retailers — including Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target — are already offering early Black Friday sales.
Not sure where to start? That’s where we come in. We’re here to help you find the best deals on everything from 4K TVs to mattresses, and everything worthwhile in between. We’re seeing record-low prices on popular gifts across tech and gadgets, fashion, home appliances, and kitchenware.
If you, like many people, have inflation on the mind and want to buy gifts sooner rather than later, there’s never been a better year to cross off your list early. We’re keeping tabs on the best Black Friday sales, so if you want to get a jump on savings, check out the best deals worth shopping below.
Early Black Friday sales: Helpful links
Amazon Holiday Beauty Haul: Up to 70% off on makeup, skincare, and more, from now until November 6. Best Buy: Early Black Friday pricing on TVs, laptops, headphones, and more. Home Depot: Black Friday deals started in October, with deals on large appliances, tools, and holiday decorations. Target: Black Friday weekly deals debuting every Sunday through Thanksgiving weekend, including 40% off on kitchen appliances and cookware.Walmart: The retailer’s Black Friday Deal for Days officially kicks off on November 7, but you can already get savings on toys, TVs, and seasonal decor.Wayfair: Hot off the heels of its second Way Day 2022, the retailer has early Black Friday deals on holiday decor and home essentials.
The best early Black Friday deals
When is Black Friday?
This year, Black Friday is on November 25, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many retailers are starting their Black Friday sales early, so you can expect to start seeing sales pop up several weeks before the big day.
Black Friday deals will continue throughout the weekend, leading into Cyber Monday on November 28.
Which retailers are having sales for Black Friday?
Nearly every online retailer will be having a Black Friday sale, and big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy will host in-store Black Friday sales as well. Amazon will also host a major Black Friday sale online, and smaller retailers and direct-to-consumer brands like Brooklinen, Casper, and Lululemon will also likely be hosting big sales.
What should you buy during Black Friday?
What you should buy depends on what you either need or want to buy. The difference in discounts from deal holiday to deal holiday is so slim at this point it’s almost never worth waiting for the next one.
The one exception is TVs, when the absolute lowest price you’ll find on most models will usually be just before the Super Bowl. But smart TVs are still a great buy during Black Friday, especially if you need one right now. This would be the time to ask yourself if it’s really worth spending the holiday season without a TV in order to save another $50.
Other discounts for Black Friday span every category, from clothing and toys to popular tech products from brands like Apple, LG, and Samsung. For larger purchases like mattresses, we think Black Friday is actually a better time than Memorial Day to make a purchase. When comparing historical discounts, we actually saw lower prices and better deal bundles during Black Friday.
Quick tip: We use a lot of tools when vetting deals, and our favorite to recommend is CamelCamelCamel. It’s a free service for tracking Amazon price history. While it won’t work for other retailers, it can give you a point of reference to understand how the product is priced on Amazon so you can compare it to prices from other retailers.
Is Black Friday or Cyber Monday better?
Generally speaking, Cyber Monday tends to have better deals on clothing, smaller giftable items, home goods, and older models of tech products, while Black Friday tends to be the best time to make larger purchases like appliances and pricier or newer tech products for your household.
“Black Friday equals big-ticket items,” says Steve Koenig, the vice president of research at the Consumer Technology Association. “With big deals on TVs, laptops, game consoles, and more during Black Friday week, many [people’s] purchases end up being for themselves or their own households.”
However, the lines between these two deal days are starting to blur, with discounts often beginning days or weeks before Black Friday and running through or beyond Cyber Monday at the same rate. The difference in discounts is also becoming negligible. You may only be saving a few dollars by choosing one day over the other.
If you’re curious to learn more, our former deals editor spoke with several experts to break down the difference between Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday.
Can you shop Black Friday deals online?
Yes, Black Friday deals will be available online but there will likely also be in-store exclusive deals (usually called “doorbusters”) from big-box retailers to incentivize visits to brick-and-mortar locations.
What deals were popular last year during Black Friday?
Last year, we saw a lot of interest from readers in Apple products, small kitchen appliances like Instant Pots, and streaming deals from platforms like Hulu and Disney Plus.
Among Insider readers, the most popular deals from last year’s Black Friday sale included a Hulu annual subscription ($0.99 per month for 12 months, down from $8 per month) and the Apple AirPods Pro ($159, down from $249). Other popular deals included Sony’s PlayStation 5, the Apple Watch Series 7, a pack of Amazon smart plugs, and the Instant Pot Duo Plus.
Why is it called “Black Friday”?
The term “Black Friday” originated on September 24, 1869, after two investors caused a stock market crash by driving up the price of gold. Along with a 20% drop in the stock market that day, farmers also experienced a 50% drop off in harvest value for both corn and wheat.
The term returned nearly a century later in the 1950s. Police officers used the phrase, “Black Friday,” in reference to the Friday between Thanksgiving and the annual Army-Navy college football game. People would use this day to travel into town to shop, forcing local police forces to work longer hours in order to manage the influx of both traffic and shoppers.
Eventually, businesses began to adopt the term, though they originally tried to coin it as “Big Friday.” The new name never stuck and by the 1980s, “Black Friday” became the go-to phrase associated with the massive shopping day.
Deal predictions for Black Friday 2022
Based on last year’s discounts and recent deal events like Prime Day, we have a good idea of which products will go on sale this year.
Apple products like the AirPods Pro, Apple Watch Series 7, and MacBooks are likely to see some of their lowest prices of the year. We’re also expecting to see some of the year’s best deals on TVs like TCL’s 65-inch 4K Roku TV and LG’s 55-inch Class 4K UHD OLED Smart TV, both of which are already on sale ahead of Black Friday.
We’re not expecting Black Friday deals on next-gen consoles, like the PS5 or Xbox Series X. However, we are expecting major Black Friday restocks closer to Thanksgiving, especially at retailers like Best Buy and Game Stop. Expect some good deals on PS5 and Xbox games and accessories.
And although Amazon has already hosted two of its Prime Day sales this year, it never misses an opportunity to run deals of its own during Black Friday, especially on its own products. We expect to see devices like the Amazon Echo, Fire tablets and TVs, and Ring smart home devices discounted either at the prices we’ve seen during Prime Day or lower.