How to go shopping on Black Friday
It made me
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"Depending on your situation, it can be good or bad."
How I did it: Start with a plan. You need to know exactly what you want to buy and where you want to buy it. You can find this information out by buying a paper on Thanksgiving. All the sale ads will tell you their "doorbuster" deals and opening times on Black Friday. Some advertisements tell you how many of each item will be available (especially for extremely limited items). Make a list for each store with the items you want to buy and their price. Note the store opening time. Note whether the item is extremely limited (most doorbusters will be) or is just a good sale item (usually things on sale all day or all weekend).
Determine where your priorities are. If you really want an LCD, you will want to visit a store with the LCD you want first.
Make a budget. It can be easy to spend a lot of money if you're not careful.
On Black Friday, you will need to wake up early and head to the first store before it opens. Some people camp out all night for the best deals. If you want a door buster, you will need to be one of the first people in. If you are just shopping for sale items, you will not need to be one of the first ones there and can arrive a few minutes after opening. Find your items and move on to the next store. Continue shopping from store to store until you're exhausted, broke, or finished.
Lessons & tips:
- Don't expect to get a doorbuster. Some items are limited to as few as 5 per store and will be sold to the first 5 people in the door.
- Different stores have different policies and may limit you to one doorbuster or one of each item.
- Expect extremely busy traffic and full parking lots. If possible, shop at stores away from the malls for shorter lines and easier shoppnig.
- My worst experiences came when trying to buy doorbusters. If you aren't one of the first few people in the door, you will not get a doorbuster.
- My best experience came last year, arriving at the store about 30 minutes after the doors opened. I bought several sale items without trouble and since I shopped away from the mall lines were shorter.
- The busiest stores every year will be the toy stores (like Toys R Us) and electronics stores (like Best Buy).
- If you're looking for doorbusters, try to find some for the less-busy stores. KMart, Sears (not in or at a mall), Big Lots, or other local "big box" stores will have doorbuster ads but be less busy than mall stores.
Resources: Personal experience, Thanksgiving day newspapers.
