Black Friday sales

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Deals and Freebies

November 24, 2016 By Jennifer Clark 1 Comment

The Friday following Thanksgiving became a popular shopping day decades ago when retailers discovered the attention they received for their multiple store-wide sales. The term Black Friday was originally coined in the 1960s in Philadelphia after the madness that would ensue from the weekend of events, according to History.com. However, in the 1980s, the term began to take on new meaning, and an annual shopping day flourished.

Many retailers have begun starting Black Friday sales on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day). For those of you who have turned Black Friday into a part of your own holiday tradition (or who just need to take advantage of the discounts) you’ll want to know where to find Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals and freebies.

Popular Black Friday Deals and Freebies

If you plan on participating in Black Friday shopping, you might want to check these out:

Online Deals

Dell: Dell Inspiron 11 3000 11.6-in Laptop w/Intel Celeron, 2GB RAM for $99. The starting rate is $199. If you’re interested in this deal, you can find it here once it goes live on Black Friday.
Amazon: Amazon is featuring Black Friday “Deals of the Day” now through December 22 instead of only dedicating one day to all their discounts. You have to act fast, though, because the deals do not last long. Prime members will get early access to some of the best deals. If you are interested, you can sign up for a 30-day trial membership. Bonus: If you shop using Amazon’s voice service, Alexa, you will receive even more exclusive deals, according to the company’s November 16 press release.
Ebay: If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll love this. You can get the Nespresso CitiZ Espresso Maker at 47% off at $119.01.
Ebay: Know a chef in your life in need of new cookware? Consider this chef’s star professional grade stainless steel 17-piece cookware set for $179.99, originally $419.96.
Amazon: Save $250 when you purchase this Sony Alpha a6000 ILCE6000YB Mirrorless digital camera with 16-55mm and 55-210mm lenses included. The sale cost is $698. Considering it comes with lenses, this might be a great gift for the aspiring photographer in your life.
Amazon: The Amazon Echo will be on sale for $139.99 valid on Thursday as part of the Amazon daily deals for Black Friday.
Amazon: Expect up to 30% off clothing and apparel and up to 70% off coats and jackets.
JCPenny: JCPenny is offering daily specials online through Tuesday that end at midnight each day.

Food Deals

McDonald’s: Use the McDonald’s app now through November 27 and receive $1 off a large McCafe.
McDonald’s: Get free hashbrowns or fries with an All Day Breakfast meal until November 27 just by using the app.
Cheesecake Factory: From November 25 -28, you’ll get two certificates for a free slice of cheesecake when you purchase a $25 gift card.
Dickey’s BBQ: If you are located near a Dickey’s BBQ, they offer $5 and $10 coupons off holiday takeout dinners from now through November 30. You can retrieve the coupon here.
Starbucks: You’ll be rewarded with $20 off orders of $100 or more when you shop Starbucks.com/shop November 24 through November 26 with free standard shipping.
Starbucks: As part of their Black Friday deals and freebies, Starbucks’ Verismo V Brewer will be on sale for $99, which is regularly $149. A free 12-count box of Verismo pods comes with the purchase.
Tevana: Visit any of the Tevana retail stores November 24-27 for buy one, get one free on Artisanal Brewing Kit, select Tea Collections, all prepackaged tea tins, 16-ounce PerfecTea Makers, all holiday infuser mugs and all holiday infuser tumblers. You can learn more here on the website.

Large Retailer Deals

JC Penny: JC Penny will be offering both online and in-store sales, kicking things off early at 3 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. In addition to savings on clothes for the whole family and women’s boots, JC Penny is offering up to 40% off on major appliances. You can see their Black Friday ad here.
Target: One of Target’s biggest doorbusters include their store-wide sale on TVs, which is also available online. The Apple Watch Series 1 will also be on sale starting at $198.
Walmart: Walmart will have competitive sales to Target, offering discounts on everything from toys to home decor. In fact, they even included a Black Friday sale comparison right on their site. One of their bigger sales will be Philips 55-inch 4K LED HDTV for just $298. Additionally, you can get the DJI Phantom Standard 3 drone at $369, compared to its standard price of $489. Black Friday sales will begin online at midnight on Thanksgiving Day, with in-store sales not starting until 6 p.m.
Best Buy: Best Buy is typically seen as the place to go for electronics, and their Black Friday deals and freebies reflect this. They also rolled out the Black Friday sales early, and the company is giving free shipping on everything during the holiday shopping season. With Samsung Galaxy Tablets as low as $69.99 and a savings of up $125 on the iPad mini 4 from Apple, there are some deals worth checking out from Best Buy.
Macy’s: Macy’s started their online sales now as well, with in-store sales starting Thursday at 5 p.m. They will be having some doorbusters on clothes for the whole family, including winter jackets, men’s suits and shoes. Kitchen appliances will also come cheap, with items like slow cookers and panini grills starting at $7.99. Some bigger sale items will be available in-store only, such as the Dyson DC39 Ball Multifloor Pro Canister Vacuum for just $249.99 (originally $579.99). Additionally, another featured item is the Chloe Velvet Tufted Sofa, which will be $499, down from $899.

There are still many Black Friday deals and freebies that have not been released yet. Make sure to contact your favorite retailers to see what sales they may be having if you are looking to get a lot of Christmas shopping done this weekend.

Will you be taking advantage of any of these deals?

These Stores have the Biggest Black Friday Sales

November 19, 2015 By Amanda Blankenship 1 Comment

Most retailers have revealed their Black Friday sales if they are having any, but many consumers are wondering, where are the best deals? While the “doorbuster” sales may seem the greatest, there may be other better deals out there.

The list prices for many of the Black Friday sales are artificially inflated. This is just used to make the price look more impressive. For example, if a television is on sale for $200 on Black Friday and it is regularly $600, it will definitely grab the attention of shoppers. However, the original price is inflated. It may have never been sold for $600. In fact, it could have always been listed at $200, but it is Black Friday, so more people are paying attention to the ads and will believe the $600 original price. So, which places are offering the biggest, and most genuine, discounts?

J.C. Penney is the top discounter on Black Friday. The average markdown is 68 percent for the holiday sales event. If J.C. Penny claims the item you are buying is worth $100, you probably won’t be paying any more than $32.

Next on the list is Kohl’s. The average discount at the department store is 66.7 percent, coming in a close second to Penny’s Black Friday sales.

Those who shop regularly probably won’t find these two stores as a surprise. J.C. Penny has offered more and more discounts and been more honest about their pricing since 2012 when the company announced that it would put and end to its fake pricing. The CEO at the time admitted that less than 1 percent of the merchandise in the store was sold at full list price.

Kohl’s send out coupons in the mail for $5 credits and 30 percent off your entire purchase. When you combine these with your in-store discounts (a percentage off of certain items), you are likely to regularly get 50 percent or more off your regular purchases.

Both Kohl’s and J.C. Penny have been called out in the past for false advertising and inflated prices. However, the biggest discounts and the best deals don’t go hand-and-hand, but if you are looking for the largest discounters this Black Friday, here are the top competitors:

J.C. Penney: 68% Off

Kohl’s: 66.7% Off

Stage: 63.9% Off

Groupon: 63.7% Off

Belk: 59.5% Off

Macy’s: 56% Off

Kmart: 50.1% Off

Panasonic: 47% Off

Fred Meyer: 45.3% Off

Office Depot/OfficeMax: 42.8% Off

After the Office Depot is Sears, whose average Black Friday discounts of 41.7 percent off. Companies like Walmart (30 percent) and Amazon (25.8 percent) are often thought of for providing the best value and best deals for their shoppers are actually providing the lowest discounts on Black Friday. However, the two stores’ prices start out low, so furthering their already discounted prices is difficult.

The list of the biggest discounters is likely to also be the list of stores with the most inflated prices. Be wary of large discounts this Black Friday and be sure to research the best deal. While Walmart’s percentage off may not be that much, they are still probably offering the better deal.

List of Where to Find the Best Black Friday Deals 2014

November 22, 2014 By Kendra Smith 4 Comments

It’s that time of the year again when retailers are trying to entice you into their stores to spend all of your hard earned money. Commercials and advertising inserts are telling you what great bargains abound if you just visit their store this Black Friday, but what stores are really offering the best discounts?

There are plenty of reason to skip the Black Friday sales, but if you have decided to brave the crowds to try to score some deals, it’s important to know which retailers are offering the best of them this year. This year many retailers are opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day to try to entice you with their deals (while others are refusing to do so). Where you might imagine the best Black Friday deals to be, and the actual list of top Black Friday deals, may surprise you.

WalletHub has completed its Black Friday retailer survey and released their list of the best and worst Black Friday deals. This is a list you may want to take a close look at as you plan which stores to invade in the late night hours of Thanksgiving or the wee hours the next morning.

In the survey, the company compared regular pricing to the Black Friday discounts in over 5,000 ads from the biggest retailers around including JC Penny, Walmart, K-Mart, and Target just to name a few.

Who came out on the top of the list? JC Penney has the trophy, offering a discount of over 65 percent. Macys slid in by a narrow margin for second with an average savings of 53.52 percent savings. On the heels if Macy’s, shockingly, was drugstore chain Rite Aid at 53.34 percent average savings.

Bringing the top five to a close were two more really close calls. The grocery store chain Meijer averaged 50.85 percent savings while Sears rounded out the top five at 50.19 percent.

The top five may come as a surprise to many readers, but when you compare some of these top end stores to discount chains such as Walmart, Big Lots or Costco. However, because prices are already significantly lower in these stores for similar products, it stands to reason that their average Black Friday discount percentage may appear lower overall.

There are plenty of stores offering substantial savings beyond the top five. The most notable stores with discounts with an average savings between 35 to 50 percent Walgreens (46.74%), OfficeMax/Office Depot (43.89%), Kohl’s (39.89%), Staples (38.56%), RadioShack (36.49%), K-Mart (35.91%) and Target (35.61%).

Perhaps the most disappointing on the list of Black Friday deals is Best Buy and Walmart, barely coming in at a 32 percent discount.

Many would think that discount retailers would be on the top end of discounts regardless of possibly already discounted pricing in their store. Why? Because of the trend shift from brick and mortar retailers to online stores. Cyber Monday has put a dent in the sales that the retailers are seeing on Black Friday.

This brings us to the most surprising number yet. On Black Friday, Amazon discounts are barely above 26 percent, putting them near the bottom of the list of top 22 retailers. So, ultimately, who is last place on the list? Big Lots and Costco, coming in at 25.24 percent and 21.14 percent respectively.

While all this information is good to know, one must try and remember that these discounts did not take into account the difference in the starting price for similar or the exact same products.

Here is the complete list:

1. JC Penney (65.44% savings)
2. Macy’s (53.52% savings)
3. Rite Aid (53.34% savings)
4. Meijer (50.85% savings)
5. Sears (50.19% savings)
6. Walgreens (46.74% savings)
7. Office Depot (43.89% savings)
7. OfficeMax (43.89% savings)
9. Ace Hardware (41.01% savings)
10. Kohl’s (39.89% savings)
11. Staples (38.56% savings)
12. HH Gregg (38.26% savings)
13. Radio Shack (36.49% savings)
14. Kmart (35.91% savings)
15. Target (35.61% savings)
16. AAFES (34.84% savings)
17. CVS Pharmacy (34.32% savings)
18. Dell (32.41% savings)
19. Walmart (32.16% savings)
20. Best Buy (32.08% savings)
21. Amazon (26.10% savings)
22. Big Lots (25.24% savings)
23. Costco (21.14% savings)

(Photo courtesy of djLicious)