Black Friday's Dirty Little Secrets
Black Friday sales do offer potentially great deals.
But like everything else, there are a few secrets you need to know about this year to make sure you stretch your bucks as much as possible.
Because of our soft recovery and stalled retail sales, most retailers aren't even waiting untill Black Friday to start advertising their deepest discounts.
Matt Mcgrath of Corals Gables Evensky & Katz says "It's a race for consumer dollars and retailers are coming off slow sales so they're starting early because they want to make sure they get a piece of the pie"
But are "Black Friday" deals really this years' best bargains?
According to "CNN Money", as retailers cut back inventories to trim *their* bottom lines we can expect limited sales merchandise with the best deals coming at specific times of the day.
Since gold has been hitting record highs, smart shoppers can expect the best discounts only on gold-filled or gold-plated jewelry.
McGrath says as far as "Black Friday" goes, " I think it's probably more hype than great deals since because of limited supplies the best deals may only go to the very first few people in line at 5am or midnight".
"Timed sales" may offer the lowest prices if you're shopping for specific items like electronics, which usually start at midnight. Clothing's usually marked down at the start of the day, with late afternoon seeing the best bargains for cosmetics and jewelry according to Marketwatch.Com.
And don't forget no matter when you shop, compare online prices *First* so you know you're special deal is really the best money saver you can find.
If you have a smartphone, consider using a "Price Scanner" or "Barcode Viewer" to double check your stores' discount.
I recently went shopping and thought I found a good deal on a new camera.
But when I scanned its barcode, my smartphone found the exact same camera for sale at the store's online site for $50 cheaper.
The store clerk checked out the discount and with about 2 minutes worth of hi-tech double checking, I got the in-store deal for $50 bucks less than I expected.
Of course, I spent some of the savings on an extra memory chip that was on sale too!
Some of the country's biggest online vendors, including Amazon and Walmart are posting their Black Friday ads online to stimulate early spending.
And many are already promoting early "Cyber Monday" deals which normally wouldn't come out for another week!
If you shop online, look for those free-shipping deals to save as much money as possible.
If shopping locally and in person is more your style, don't forget about using cash as much as possible.
It not only will save you all your credit card interest when the bills come due, but you can demand a cash-only discount and be sure to get the lowest prices possible.
