On Black Friday, you can get some of the best bargains of the year. However, consumers also can be tricked. A recent study found 36 percent of items offered for sale on Black Friday had no savings compared with their pre-Black Friday prices.
Be sure to compare prices continually to make sure you’re actually getting a bargain.
In addition, stick to your budget. The best Black Friday deals are for items you’ve been planning to purchase. For example, a couple of years ago, I bought a new kitchen stove. I got about $250 off, and I researched carefully for months the features I wanted. I love my new stove.
If you see something that catches your eye on Black Friday, you may be disappointed later that it wasn’t that great of a deal.
Another shopping tip for the year’s biggest sale is to stick your favorite retailers. Look over the ads to see what the best prices are for the items on your list.
As for the best places to get Black Friday deals, WalletHub, a personal finance website, offers this list:
1. JCPenney
2. Belk
3. Kohl’s
4. Macy’s
5. The Home Depot
6. BJ’s
7. Amazon
8. Target
9. Newegg
10. Best Buy
11. Walmart
12. Dell
13. Costco
JCPenney is the best place to shop on Black Friday because it offers an average discount of 74.1 percent, said Chip Lupo, an analyst for WalletHub. This is the seventh time JCPenney has earned the top spot in this report since 2014.
Lupo said JCPenney offers some steep discounts on extremely expensive items this year, too, such as diamond rings, if you’re ready to propose to that special someone.
Belk is the second-best Black Friday retailer, even though it only has physical locations in 16 states, he said. At Belk, you’ll receive an average of 72.4 percent off your purchases, and you can still take advantage of deals online if you don’t have a location near you.
Lupo said Kohl’s has the third-best Black Friday discounts this year, saving you an average of 45.4 percent and as much as 68.8 percent on some items. The store’s best deals are on apparel and accessories, which will be 53.5 percent off, on average. Kohl’s is also known for its appliances selection with items marked down by an average of 42.4 percent.
Lupo said these categories are where the discounts are concentrated:
- Computers and phones – 28.18 percent
- Jewelry – 15.17 percent
- Toys – 13.27 percent
- Apparel and accessories – 12.72 percent
- All other product categories – 12.56 percent
- Consumer electronics – 9.22 percent
- Appliances – 8.93 percent
- 5.14 percent
- Consumer packaged goods – 2.8 percent
But as a person said, who responded to one of my Black Friday articles in the past, you can save 100 percent on Black Friday if you don’t buy anything. Good point.
