12 Tips for Black Friday

Black Friday has become Switzerland’s biggest annual bargain holiday. Follow these tips from moneyland.ch to get the most out of Black Friday deals.

1. Make a shopping list

Make a clear plan of what you want or need to buy before you even begin looking at discounts. Creating a shopping list is ideal. It also pays to plan ahead. For example, Black Friday is often the cheapest time to buy Christmas presents. Ideally, you should stick to buying things which you have already planned on buying, but use the Black Friday discounts to get better deals on those purchases.

Stick to your shopping list as much as possible. Without a clear plan, you can easily be pushed into impulsive spending by the flood of discounts and deals. Do not buy anything which you do not need. Always remember that the best way to save money is not to spend it in the first place.

2. Create a budget

Once you know what you want to buy, the next step is to determine what you can actually afford, and how much money you are able to spend. If the things you want are still too expensive for you to easily afford even with Black Friday deals, then you are better off just passing on those purchases instead of putting yourself under financial pressure.

If you do end up buying anything which is not on your shopping list, make sure to deduct that spending from your Black Friday budget. The golden rule here is: Never spend money which you do not have. Getting credit card loans, buying on installments, or crating any other kind of debts does not save you money.

3. Prepare ahead of time

In past years, many retailers began offering the best deals on the Wednesday or Thursday before Black Friday. The result is that the best deals are often sold out by Friday. It pays to begin looking out for deals ahead of Black Friday. Consider dropping into the relevant stores on Thursday to avoid missing out on the deal you want.

On Black Friday itself, getting to stores early is key. Many online stores begin offering Black Friday deals at midnight and these sometimes sell out within minutes. In brick-and-mortar stores, the big rush comes in the evening, as consumers rush to grab deals after leaving work. If you are worried that the stuff you want will be gone in a flash, then getting to the store between its opening time and 10:00 AM is recommended.

4. Find the best deals

Online portals dedicated entirely to Black Friday deals are a good place to find discounts. Swiss portals include Blackfridaydeals.ch and Blackfriday.ch. You can also find numerous Black Friday deals on general price comparison websites like Toppreise.ch. 

You can also find the going promotions directly on dealer websites and in stores. In every case, you should take time to compare prices and not simply assume that a merchant has the best available offer.

5. Check offers regularly

Online stores, in particular, tend to regularly post new deals right throughout the week leading up to Black Friday, and throughout Black Friday itself. If you are looking for a deal on a specific product, then you may want to regularly check the websites of dealers in case your item goes on sale.

Online deal portals (like deindeal.ch) which aggregate and publish special offers can be helpful here. Some websites offer newsletters to help you keep tabs on new offers.

6. Compare prices

Many retailers advertise huge discounts, but when you compare the discounted prices to going market rates, they often fail to impress. For example, a retailer may wow you with an 80 percent discount off its standard price, but the discounted price is just 20 percent cheaper than the standard prices charged by competing stores.

Do not let yourself be lured by bait-and-switch offers. Merchants use a whole range of highly-refined tricks to convince customers that mediocre discounts are the deal of the lifetime. Other dealers may be offering the exact same product at a better price. Take time to compare deals throughout Black Friday. You can easily run a quick online search, and this should be a standard procedure. It can also be worth tracking deals for products which could be alternatives to the item you are looking for.

7. Stay flexible

While having a clear Black Friday shopping list is important, it can be helpful not to be stuck on a specific product. For example, if you want the latest iPhone, being open with regards to the phone’s color could help you take advantage of the best available deal. Does it have to be the golden iPhone, or would you be open to getting it in a different color to save money?

On the other hand, settling for something which does not match your needs generally is not worth it. For example, if you need a laptop on which you can play the latest games, there is no point in settling for a less powerful device just because it costs half as much. You will end up having to replace it before long, and the total cost will be higher than if you got the right product from the start.  

8. Check the return options

Many stores let you return stuff you buy within a certain timeframe. That is useful if you think you might find a better deal later on, or if you cannot make up your mind between two products but want to buy them before they sell out.

What is important is to carefully check the terms and conditions for returns. Many stores exclude certain products. For example, Swiss online retail giant Digitec Galaxus does not accept returns of many goods (like personal hygiene products, disposable products, and books), if the packaging has been opened. You generally need to return goods in their original packaging, so make sure to open them carefully and store the packaging until you are sure you will not return them. You can generally find the terms and conditions for returns on the merchant’s website.

9. Review the terms and conditions

Some deals have special terms and conditions attached to them. With telecom offers, for example, plans offered as special promotions may have long minimum contract terms. If you choose to sign up for these deals, you have to be ready to stick with that contract till the end of the minimum term, or the deal will not work for you. In the case of video game consoles, whether or not games and accessories are included can make a big difference in the total value of a deal.

The bottom line: Read the fine print before you buy. If you are not sure, or think there may be a catch, ask the dealer or store employees directly.

10. Do not buy the wrong thing

Black Friday brings particularly large discounts for electronics. But keeping a clear overview can be confusing because many electronic products have very similar names, or come in a huge array of models. For example, you may want to buy the latest model of a certain brand of laptop. You find deal for the laptop, but the computer on sale is last year’s model. Although it looks nearly the same and the model’s name is nearly identical, the performance and features are different. With phones too, a small difference in the product name (an added “pro” for example) can make a big difference to performance.

By making sure not to buy the right thing, you can avoid the unpleasant surprise of opening a package back home only to find out that it is not the product you wanted. Online stores often clearly publish model numbers. You can use Google to find the exact product which corresponds to a model number. Brick-and-mortar stores often provide this information as well, and you can also simply ask an employee for help.

11. Do not make impulsive shopping decisions

Many retailers promote special deals which only apply for a short amount of time or to a very limited amount of stock. They do this to make you feel pressured so that you buy without carefully considering the price. The urgent nature of these deals also encourages you to buy things which you have not planned or budgeted for.

Do not let these tactics influence you shopping decisions. If the store does not have a customer-friendly return policy or if you do not know whether you can make returns and under which conditions, you are better off not buying impulsively. Instead, only buy a product when you know that the price is the best available and are sure you will keep the item.

12. Beware of fraudulent stores

Being wary of fraudulent merchants is particularly important on Black Friday, as the huge array of almost unrealistic deals offers the perfect camouflage. Fraudsters may use the shopping spree to throw up fake stores with supposed Black Friday deals. Unassuming consumers who stumble across these on social media and elsewhere and try to make purchases may have their credit card information stolen or worse yet, their card may be charged but the purchased goods are never delivered.

These scams circulate through the Internet year-round, but are much easier to miss during the low-price hype of Black Friday, so you should be exceptionally careful during the shopping holiday. Stay away from obscure or suspicious-looking online stores.

More on this topic:
Black Friday in Switzerland Explained
How to get the most out of mobile plan promotions
Beware of these online scams