Black Friday survival guide: 11 ways to shop, save, and keep safe

From a one-day event, Black Friday has morphed into shopping four-day extravaganza, and 51 percent of Americans say they plan to hit the mall or the keyboard sometime between the Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving. In fact, shopping activity promises to be equally hectic throughout the weekend, according to Consumer Reports’ latest holiday poll, the second of our three seasonal surveys of the nation’s shopping behavior.

Despite the convenience of online shopping, twice as many shoppers expect to do their Black Friday weekend buying at brick-and-mortar stores vs. the Internet. By and large, they expect the same deals online as they do in stores. What will they be snagging? Based on our poll, seven of 10 consumers will be sniffing out bargains on clothes, electronics (notably video games and accessories), and toys. But they won’t necessarily be buying presents for family, friends, and co-workers. Two-thirds of gift shoppers said they will be looking to treat themselves.

Over the past four years, the percentage of people who shop at stores on Black Friday has been slightly but steadily declining, based on our poll results. At the same time, more consumers are delaying their shopping in general until closer to the holidays. As of Nov. 8, 36 percent of Americans had started buying gifts compared to 38 percent at this time last year. Over the past three years, the percentage of people who began shopping early in November appears to be trending downward, decreasing slightly each year, from a high of 45 percent in 2006.

Regardless of how much shopping you have left to do, here's our advice for Black Friday and beyond: 

• Determine if the sales are truly irresistible. No doubt you can score some incredible bargains on Black Friday by getting up extra early or staying up past your bedtime to take in the midnight madness sales. But are the deals so incredible that they’re worth battling massive crowds and losing sleep over? Like last year, competition for your shopping dollar is unusually keen, and retailers have been running aggressive promotions for months. So, if you miss out on one doorbuster, rest assured another will surely come along. This year, we’ve seen no shortage of so-called one-day sales that were extended.

• Is it worth breaking down the 'door'? Black Friday earned its reputation as a bargain-hunter’s paradise because retailers feature a few high-profile items at or below cost to draw you in. Such doorbuster specials are typically offered in limited quantities. Don’t bother to show up unless you’re willing to wait on line, sometimes for hours before the store opens, and brace yourself for disappointment. There are no guarantees you’ll snatch that $250 laptop, and stores don’t normally issue rain checks for their hottest deals.

• Get a jump of the bargains. There’s no shortage of Web sites that obtain and publish advance notice of Black Friday deals. Many of the hot specials are already listed on Fatwallet, Walletpop, Gottadeal, and TheBlackFriday. The sites often feature downloadable circulars and coupons, too. You can also find out which products come with rebates and which merchants offer free shipping.

• Is it cheaper online? If you find a seemingly good deal in a flyer, visit a price-comparison Web site to determine whether you can get it cheaper elsewhere from a reliable seller. Some sources worth checking: Bizrate, Nextag, Pricegrabber, and Pricescan. You might want to try Amazon, too, as our reader surveys have cited Amazon as a good merchant for appliances, electronics, and books. There are other plusses to online shopping. The three most compelling, according to our holiday poll: convenience, to avoid holiday crowds, product selection. 

• Are there bonus discounts? When you shop online and click to the checkout page, you’ll usually see a box to enter a discount or promotional code. These underused codes can be a source of unexpected savings, from an additional 25 percent off to a free pizza. Many of the sites that feature Black Friday ads also provide access to the codes. So do other sources such Couponcabin, Couponcraze, Couponalbum, Keycode, Shoppersresource, and Couponwinner.

• Visit the retailer’s Web site. When you sign up for e-mail alerts from your favorite stores, you’ll receive notification of upcoming sales and often be targeted with exclusive coupons not readily available to everyone. Shoppers can also learn if the products they want are stocked and available. In addition, many retailers will let you purchase the item online and pick it up locally. Some retailer sites also feature coupon codes.

• Request a price guarantee. If you want to maximize savings, ask if the retailer has a low-price guarantee, entitling you to a refund of the difference between the new price and what you paid if the item goes on sale or if you find it for cheaper elsewhere. Seven to 15 days are the norm for most price adjustments. Also note that most price-matching policies apply to the price charged by a “local” competitor. So if you see a cheap deal on TV from Amazon.com, don’t expect Best Buy or HH Gregg to meet it.

 • Get extra savings through instant charge cards. For big purchases, consider opening up an instant store charge card to receive an extra 10 percent off at the checkout. Then pay the balance immediately and cut up the card. More than 13 million Americans are still carrying debt from the 2008 holidays, our poll revealed. So don’t take out a credit card if will encourage you to overspend.

• Eye return policies carefully. Most merchants extend the return period for holiday purchases, but they reserve the right to refuse to take back anything without a receipt or gift receipt, especially if the item was bought with cash. Even if a store agrees to take an item back without a receipt, you’ll probably receive a gift card or store credit only. And you’ll get back the lowest price the item actually sold for, not necessarily what you paid for it. You’ll also need your receipt for warranty service.

• Protect yourself. Read a Web site’s privacy policy. It might tell you that the site sells customer data, which could generate spam. Look for a lock icon (denoting a secure site), but be sure it’s in the correct location, which reduces the chances it’s a fake. It shouldn’t be on the Web page itself, but in the browser on the lower right corner. Web sites beginning with “https” not just “http” provide added security, too. It’s also smart to use a single credit card for all online purchases to minimize the potential fallout from identity theft. Alternatively, you could request a temporary ‘virtual’ credit card from your card issuer, which is valid for a single purchase. Another alternative: use PayPal, which conceals your credit-card information in a transaction. Avoid using a debit card for online transactions because you’re not protected as well as you are with a credit card.

• Get notified if the price drops. More sites are popping up that can help shoppers follow the price history of items they want to buy and alert them when the price drops. One such site is Ookong, another is Dealalerter. 

Comments

[Bryant at Offers.com]

This is a great post with helpful info! One more online resource for readers that can help is from Offers.com - the Offers.com Holiday Savings Center is monitoring and posting the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and the editorial team is working through the Thanksgiving weekend to make sure the information is up to date.

[Shawn]

Great tips for sure, but personally I can't deal with Black Friday. The crowds are too much. I'm a much bigger fan of Cyber Monday and shopping online instead. You listed some decent shopping sites but I'd add http://www.sortprice.com to the list as well. Great selection and a strong shopping presence on Facebook.

[Greagory Creaser]

I agree with Shawn, there is something to be said for sitting at the kitchen counter with my laptop in my pj's with a hot cup of coffee. We tend to purchase gadgets from extreme geek and hunt for deals in the electronics arena. Actually the new PowerMat wireless charger looks intriguing. Here at VeriSign we're betting everyone is looking at the shipping charges, and we are hoping savvy users are shopping on secure sites that offer EV SSL. So Good Luck on Cyber Monday - I will be shopping from my home- safe and warm with my wife by my side.

[Chris Hill]

I'm biased as I'm the CEO but also proud of our team's efforts. Check out www.CheapToday.com on Black Friday or on any day for the best hand-picked deals from national brands including: Macy's, Target, Calvin Klein, Victoria's Secret and a whole lot more.

[totem 4]

I agree that Black Friday can be a mess but I always go. I plan ahead though, make sure I take as much patience as I can, and no exactly what I am prepared to spend. That way if that great deal hits my eye I can decide whether or not its worth trade off on my list. I also shop the internet sales but there is alot to be said for actually looking at something up close.

Warning -many of the best deals are on off brand electronics. My experience has been mixed in the past and so I've decided from now on to go only with name brands that I recognize and products that I have run through CR. Good luck and remember to keep the spirit!

[GV Giant]

I'd like to think retailers are going to feel a bit "under the gun" this year concerning Black Friday. Last year, it turned out that there were precious few true "ultra-deals" on Black Friday, making crowd-fighting and the like virtually a waste of time.

And aside from some of the deal sites listed above, I'm not sure I've seen a whole lot in the "preview ads" that utterly wows me this year either. I guess Thursdays paper will tell.

[Chad]

Every year I shop less and less in the malls. I find great deals and no wasted time shopping on coupon sites like http://www.shopgala.com and http://www.retailmenot.com

[Rafael Bernardes]

There are reasons why we should benefit from online coupons through a shopping portal versus shopping at a physical store. Thank you for sharing the information. I think you got the best shopping deals and i found one more source i.e www.coupons2grab.com.