How can I maximize my online Black Thursday experience?

November 21, 2014 8:24 AM

I want to do Black Friday online this year and I'm looking for tips on how to make my experience as successful as possible since the last time I did Black Friday in general was when I was 8 and going from toy store to toy store looking for a goddamn Furby.

There is only one item I rather want and it's a TV from Target.com that will go on sale at 6pm Thanksgiving evening. I am also attempting to source deals for an Apple AirPort Extreme and some expensive makeup that I use, but I am not sure where to look to get deals on those items. I also can't figure out when the Target sale begins PST/EST wise.

What can I do to maximize my chances of getting the TV I want, and where should I be looking for deals on the items I actually need (airport extreme, makeup, etc)?

posted by Hermione Granger to Shopping (9 answers total)

Some beauty bloggers do good Black Friday roundups. Here is an example (I think a lot of places are not up yet). Racked does a good roundup that includes beauty but I don't think it's up yet. They'll also be posted on makeup forums like MakeupAlley, /r/makeupaddiction, and Makeuptalk. If you post the items here it may be easier to help find you deals.
posted by acidic at 8:32 AM on November 21, 2014

Isn't Cyber Monday the day for good online deals?
posted by amro at 8:40 AM on November 21, 2014

Isn't Cyber Monday the day for good online deals?

Not really. Most online stores have both, or they merge them. Here is Temptalia's huge list of Black Friday & Cyber Monday beauty deals from last year which should give an idea of a) which brands/stores offer sales and b) whether the Monday deals are expected to be better than the Friday deals. Keep in mind that inventory could be an issue if you wait until Monday.
posted by acidic at 9:32 AM on November 21, 2014

Target's headquarters are here in Minneapolis, so there is a chance the time is Central if no time zone is given. I'd check the website at 3, 4, 5 and 6 Pacific time. Also check in the morning to see if they have any kind of countdown clock.
posted by soelo at 9:34 AM on November 21, 2014

Translating my canadian boxing day online experiences to black friday: if you know what sites you might possibly be purchasing from, setup your account on those sites beforehand. Email, password, shipping address, etc. That way you don't have to try and do it while the servers are falling over and/or other people are buying those limited supply products you're coveting, and hence you'll be much more likely to be successful in your own purchase.
posted by cgg at 10:20 AM on November 21, 2014

For the tv, Engadget or gizmodo generally have pretty good black friday/cyber monday coverage...search their sites for what day they posted their roundups last year...probably be the same day this year.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:48 AM on November 21, 2014

A relatively unknown feature of some credit cards (I just got a card called Discover IT, which has the feature, also has the best cash back percentages I've seen) is a price protection feature. Works great for advertised Black Friday deals without dealing with the chaos of Black Friday. What you do is make the regular purchase with a card with this feature, then you can make a claim if you can procure an advertisement showing a lower price.
posted by nathanm at 11:41 AM on November 21, 2014

Another benefit for the Discover IT card is during October-December is you will get 5% cash back for purchases made at Online Shopping & Department Stores, so you could get a deal better than Black Friday advertised deals.
posted by nathanm at 11:49 AM on November 21, 2014

dealnews is pretty great for round-ups.
posted by changeling at 4:27 PM on November 22, 2014