Shoppers have one big advantage this year -- Black Friday lasts for several days. As we've reported, sales begin on Thanksgiving Day and go on until Saturday night and even beyond. You can be at one store for one deal and then hop to different store for another. And for the first time, one store is guaranteeing it will never run out of those big sale items you want.
Around Black Friday shoppers turn into all night campers, intent on getting blockbuster deals.
"It's the one day all year where the tables are turned, and we aren't simply reacting at the last minute to marketing," said Brad Wilson from Brad's Deals.
Wilson scans the marketplace for bargains. He says we have an advantage: ads tell us who has what deals and this year not all stores open at once.
One place to start at precisely 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day is Best Buy. They will open up with doorbusters like a 55-inch LG flat screen television that will be offered at half price for just $499.
"That's the lowest price we've seen on a TV like that," said Wilson.
And beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, Best Buy will offer any MacBook Air computer for $150 off or you can get a Microsoft Surface tablets for $199, a $150 savings.
"There will probably be between 700 to 900 people in line," said Roland Flores, a ToysRUs manager.
Here at ToysRUs, doors will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, offering some deals that last just four hours. A popular Leapfrog computer tablet for kids will be sold at half price, just $39.99 until 9 p.m. A "Despicable Me" Dancing Dave will also be half price at just $24.99.
Other ToysRUs deals last through the weekend like the Kawasaki Power Wheels ride-on car, also half price at $49.99. Our tester, Patrick, gave the toy not just one thumbs up, but two.
At Target we found a $299 Nikon l360 camera that will sell for just $99 over Black Friday weekend. Doors open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. And target regulars might like this deal... a new iPad Air for $479. That's a $20 savings, but it also comes with a $100 Target giftcard.
And for the first time, Macy's will be opens on Thanksgiving from 8 p.m. through the night. Deals include a $200, five-piece luggage set for just $49. An 11-piece Cuisinart cookware will be sold at half price for just $99 and $129 cashmere sweaters will be sold for just $39. All these deals are offered while supplies last, but Walmart is changing even that.
At Walmart, customers who are in the store between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day are guaranteed to get the doorbuster deals. If the store runs out of an item, customers get a voucher and the product will be shipped to them before Christmas Day.
"It's a little funky that they're doing it all within this one hour. The fact that they're offsetting that with guaranteed availability it's big time in our favors," said Wilson.
Here are some of the guaranteed deals -- you can get a new iPad mini for $299 -- and it comes with a $100 Walmart giftcard, so if you shop there, it's a big savings.
These are just a few of the thousands of deals you will find next week. It's easy to scan the offers yourself to find just the right gift, at the right price.
Here are some links to help you scan the deals:
www.fatwallet.com/black-friday
Checkout our Black Friday Resource page here.
