Black Friday

Welcome to Black Friday 2008 at BradsDeals where you can research, plan and execute the best Black Friday shopping. View pre-release Black Friday Ads for major stores as well as my handpicked Black Friday Deals, commentary and tips. Sign-up for daily email alerts.

Brad's Top 10 Tips for Black Friday Sales

1. Research: start your Black Friday research on Thanksgiving day or earlier.
2. Make a plan: identify what you want to buy, what stores you need to go to and what time they open.
3. Timing is everything: arrange stores by opening time from early to late.
4. A fool and his money: be wary of Black Friday deals with quantity limits. If a store only has 10 items at that price, go elsewhere.
5. Visualize: know where your items are in the store.
6. Stay disciplined: no impulse buys (not this year) - stick to your plan!
7. Power of numbers: go with a team and attack separate stores or separate sections of the same store. Designate a meeting place.
8. Bring a snack: only amateurs stop at the food court on Black Friday! (Or the bathroom - so go before you leave.)
9. The quiet ones: don't ignore stores that don't advertise. They will have deals too!
10. Have fun: enjoy your family, friends and deals!

Black Friday 2008 Price Predictions

Based on last year's deals and current price trends, here are some predictions for 2008:

• Apple will take 10% off iPods, cutting prices on the iPod Nano to $134, the only day of this year that Apple will cut retail prices.
• There will be a $300 laptop that is sufficiently equipped for most users.
• You'll see TV prices drop to new all-time lows. Expect a 32" LCD TV for $350 and a 42" 720P Plasma TV for $500.

Black Friday 2008 Overall Predictions

These are difficult times and Black Friday deals are no longer only for the frugal. With increases in unemployment, foreclosures, gas prices and food prices, as well as decreases in consumer credit, discretionary spending and overall confidence, consumers will spend more on Black Friday but less overall during the 2008 holidays. Specifically

• More consumers will shop on Black Friday in 2008.
• Consumers will spend less on average.
• Overall 2008 Black Friday spending will increase.
• Overall 2008 holiday spending will decrease.

Black Friday 2007 Stats

• 147 Million Shoppers [source]
• 15.1% of Holiday Sales [source]
• $347 Per Shopper [source]

History of Black Friday

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employers give the day off to workers, increasing the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s. The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit). [ source ]