Get Black Friday Deals without Getting Dark Circles under Eyes

Wait before you plan on skipping eggnog on Thanksgiving night and sleep in your clothes so you can roll out of bed and stand in line at retail stores at 4am to get ahead of the Black Friday squatters.

Save those dark circles under your eyes for a good time.
If you have a specific item in mind, typically electronics, here are some helpful tips this year so you don't waste your time and wish you got drunk on eggnog and slept in like normal people.

1. STUDY the circular for the fine print that appears next to an advertised "doorbuster deal" at the bottom of the page in this year's circulars.
It will either say "While supplies last," "Minimum 2 per store," "No rainchecks" or "All items are available in limited quantities." Is it a sleasy practice for a major retailer to only offer 5 items that is advertised in a nationwide circular? It is.

A quick scan through a few of this year's Black Friday circulars show quantities as low as a "minimum of 5 per store" on some models of large plasma and HDTVs and popular brands of home appliances such as a washer-dryer pair.

2. Beware of "derivatives". You heard of "refurbished". Well this time the key word is "derivatives". Some of the holiday electronics with those low sale prices are derivatives, models that have a few less features than a standard model in that product line. A report earlier this month in Consumer Reports called attention to HDTV models from Samsung and Sony advertised in Black Friday deals that appear to be "derivatives." The report said these one-off TVs "with unfamiliar model numbers" are usually cheaper than the standard model in their class.

Our recommendation is two fold:
a. Study the model you want. Write down the model # and ALL the features. When you get to the store, check the model number of the item itself and on the box.
b. Right before your purchase at the register (so you have the product and don't lose it to the hordes of shoppers), ask the manager to write on the receipt "This [item and model #] is not refurbished or a derivative", signed by manager with printed name. It will make them double-check before committing the company to a signed statement. This is one of our favorite tips that has saved us from buying either a refurbished or derivative item. And if we still wanted the item, we negotiated a lower price!!!

3. Don't order online on Black Friday. Often retailers don't have live inventory of their items and many customers waited months or sometimes received a different model. Wait for Cyber Monday--the biggest Black Friday online, after Thanksgiving weekend. Deals may not be doorbusting but the savings can still be significant.

4. Rainchecks are not waterproof. In other words, even if retailers offer rainchecks on items which run out on Black Friday, there is no guarantee you are protected and the item will arrive down the chimney by Christmas or post the New Year.

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