Early Black Friday Deals: Should You Buy or Wait?
Many retailers are already advertising sales.
— -- Commercials are already appearing for early Black Friday deals, but how do these early bargains stack up against the ones that will be offered on the biggest shopping day of the year?
Here’s a roundup of some of the offers available right now:
Walmart is having a sale on TVs, such as a 32-inch TCL Roku Smart LED HDTV for $125, down from $228.
Columbia is offering 60 percent off of apparel for the entire family for shoppers who use the code “AFFDEALS.”
And today Amazon is offering various kinds of Mega Bloks for up to 40 percent off. The deal on the children’s construction toys is for a limited time only.
But experts say there’s no need to worry just yet about missing the lowest prices.
“Anything that calls itself a Black Friday sale and is happening in the first three weeks of November is suspicious. We are very skeptical of it,” said Benjamin Glaser, an expert with DealNews, the website that tracks thousands of sales year-round.
The experts says it worth it to wait for better prices nearer to Thanksgiving, when phones are expected to be hundreds of dollars cheaper, TVs may be had for between 40 and 70 percent off and beauty products – so rarely discounted – can be subject to “buy one, get one free” offers, the experts said.
DealNews says the number of good deals are low at the beginning of November but they increase to peak discounts on Thanksgiving.
“We don't want to compromise Thanksgiving dinner. But if you want the best deals of the season, you do have to do a little bit of shopping on Thanksgiving,” Glaser said. “Wait until you're done with family time and then after you've cleaned up, take out your computer or take out your tablet and start browsing the door busters online that evening.”