Black Friday 2010 starts in the wee hours of November 26, and some stores have already started their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales online. If you are hoping to save money on a tablet computer, score a great deal on an iPod Touch, or buy an ereader on sale during Black Friday, you will have an advantage if you learn the rules for stores and if you are able to do price comparisons while you shop. This way, if you get to a store and you didn't get a ticket or the hot items are sold out, you can quickly check online shopping options.
Learn Store Rules for Black Friday Shopping
Before you go shopping for that $99 Nook at Best Buy or Walmart's $99 Sony PRS-300, learn the store rules before you go. The best way is to check online for store policies and procedures for Black Friday. For example, the Sears ad says that they are starting Black Friday at 4 a.m., but the fine print says that those early hours are only where they are legally allowed for participating stores. If you plan to buy a $100 ebook reader at Sears, call ahead and make sure your store will be open that early and ask if they will have them in stock.
Best Buy and Staples handle Black Friday crowds by handing out tickets to shoppers while they wait in line, so you have to plan to be there early to take advantage of the best after Thanksgiving bargains. In 2009 ABC news reported that Walmart decided to "open Thanksgiving morning and remain open through Friday evening, rather than closing Thanksgiving evening, and reopening early on Black Friday" because of safety concerns. If you plan to shop at Walmart for Black Friday, prepare to go through their strict rules of following employee directions, finding limited quantities in obscure areas of stores, and checking your receipt and purchases at the door.
Use Amazon's Price Comparison App
On November 22, 2010, Amazon.com unveiled their new price comparison app for iPhones. With Price Check by Amazon, shoppers can use their iPhone to see if the price in the store is being matched by Amazon.com or other online stores. The free app is available from Amazon and iTunes, and it uses the iPhone camera features to scan a barcode with Amazon's barcode scanner and match pictures of items in the store with Amazon's inventory. You can also just say the product name into your phone and Amazon will come back with a comparison price, or use the old school route of typing in the product name into the search form.
Amazon will offer free shipping options during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, so if you live in one of the states that Amazon does not charge tax in, you might be able to save a little more money than you expected, although that is negated if you life in one of the states that require you to pay an internet shopping tax when you file your annual taxes.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to get deals on electronics, and by following the store rules you can get a bargain and shop safely. It would be a wonderful feeling to be faced with a long line and find out that Amazon is price-matching through their price comparison app. You could buy the tablet, iPod, or ereader from Amazon and go home and go to bed! Remember to check Twitter for last minute Black Friday announcements on electronics. On November 18, TJ Maxx surprised everyone with a $399 iPad that was unadvertised except for a lone tweet, and no one has forgotten those Black Friday Kindle 3 rumors quite yet. Amazon will have the Kindle 3G for $89. It is a previous generation, but the Kindle 2 is an admirable ebook reader, and it is certainly a great Black Friday deal.
Sources
" New Safety Rules for Black Friday Crowds " was written by ABC staff and published by ABC on November 11, 2009.
"Price Check by Amazon App Now Available for iPhone" was distributed by the Amazon.com media room on November 22, 2010.
TLE101
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
