Everything You Need for 'Black Friday'

Nov. 23, 2006 — -- Just the mere mention of the phrase "Black Friday" conjures up images of stampeding hordes of shoppers trampling people and wrestling one another just to get their mitts on a cable knit sweater that's 70 percent off.

Yes, the holiday shopping season kicks off with what's traditionally thought of as the busiest shopping day of the year, where deals are plentiful and supplies are not. It's where many of the same people who last week ridiculed the gamers who camped out to get a PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii will wait in strikingly similar lines for great deals on home appliances and designer clothes.

Believe it or not, the day after Thanksgiving is not the busiest shopping day of the year, according to the MasterCard Holiday Shopping Insights report. Master Card says that designation is reserved for Dec. 23 -- two days before Christmas. But most retailers say that for the last few years, the last Saturday before Christmas has been the busiest. In any event, Black Friday didn't even crack the top five busiest shopping days last year, hitting only No. 6 in the Master Card survey.

And Cyber Monday -- the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend -- thought of as the busiest online shopping day of the year, is actually the ninth busiest day -- Dec. 5 won busiest online shopping day last year.

Regardless of those facts, millions will still be heading to shopping malls and national and local retailers Friday; with that in mind ABCNEWS.com went to the Black Friday experts over at Consumerist.com to get some tips and tricks to give you an edge in Friday's all-out shopping warfare.

Print out store price-matching policies: Many retailers offer price-matching, which can cut down on the number of stops you need to make. Keep a copy of these guidelines on hand if a store employee gives you static.