10 Black Friday Shopping Tips: Eliminate the Shopping Chaos

The biggest shopping experience of the year is right on our door step; Black Friday! The last think you want to do is enter the chaos without some helpful Black Friday shopping tips. Otherwise you may find yourself left behind, discouraged and maybe even a little bit scared! We’ve done our homework and compiled a list of the top 10 best Black Friday shopping tips to help you through the chaos and achieve the best deals with the most fun!

Top 10 Black Friday shopping Tips

Black Friday Shopping Tip 1: Make a game plan– Decide long before the day what items you want and can afford. What stores you will visit and in what order. Gather sales fliers from the stores that showcase their black Friday sales. Compare them with each other. Find the ones with the best deals. Use sites like blackfriday.com and slick deals to help you find the right product at the right place at the right price. Slick deals has an entire forum dedicated to black Friday and if you are looking for a specific item, you can set up deal alerts so when that item is found on sale somewhere, it emails and text notifies you right away. Part of making a game plan is also setting your budget. Decide how much you can spend and plan your purchases accordingly. And lastly arrive early so you can secure a great spot in line.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 2: Do Your Research– If you are planning on making a special purchase of a big-ticket item based on a Black Friday sale, it is important to make sure that item really is a great deal. Check consumer reports and read consumer reviews of the item, see what quality of item it is before you decide to make the purchase. A bad product is still a bad deal no matter how cheap the price is slashed. Take the time to make sure it’s a quality product and worth getting up early or staying up late for the price cut.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 3: Stick to the game plan- Don’t get distracted. Get in, get it, get out and then move to the next store. Don’t let that fancy display distract you from your game plan. Having a shopping buddy will help with this, as you can divide and conquer, be a support to help each other to resist stuff not on the list. They can also turn a hassle shopping experience into a fun outting, and they can give you that second opinion if that dress makes you look like a stuffed plum.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 4: Cash only- Part of your game plan should be to make a budget. To help you stick to that budget only take cash with you. This way you can only spend what you have budgeted for and you won’t be drawn to buy that extra pair of boots, or that unplanned for kitchen appliance. Make this year a guilt free black Friday.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 5: Bring the Ads- Many stores offer a “lowest-price” guarantee; however you may be required to produce a copy of the exact product being advertised for less. Although many stores won’t price match an online deal, even if it comes from their own stores site. But it is always worth a try, so go ahead and print off that price sheet from online.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 6: Ask for a gift receipt- Many stores let you print a special gift receipt. This includes the item description and information the store would need if a return was made, but does not include the price paid. This is handy in case the person you give the gift to needs to return the product for any reason. Without a receipt many stores will kick and scream and may even refuse a return or exchange. Including a gift receipt will remove any headache your gift receiver may encounter.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 7: Dress for success- I don’t mean go out in business attire. I mean don’t wear those 6 inch heals that have your feet screaming after walking in them for an hour. I don’t care how hot they make you look. You are on a shopping mission, not a guy hunting mission. Trust me, no guy will be looking at you, they will have their hearts, eyes and lips attached to that big screen TV that is $200 off retail price. Dress comfortably, in light layers. Wear comfortable shoes. Bring water bottles and snacks. This will help keep you at optimal shopping speed without having to stop and buy something; wasting time and your cash only budget.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 8: Let it go- if an item you wanted is gone. Oh we’ll! Let it go. Don’t let it ruin your entire holiday. Focus on the true meaning of the season, count your blessings for what you did get. And don’t give up hope, there is always cyber Monday which often has better deals than black Friday. This is where slick deals will come in very handy. They will soon have cyber Monday  deals listed and maybe you can find an even better deal.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 9: Skip it Completely unrelated to the others, but one way to manage black Friday shopping rush is to skip it. If the items you want aren’t big door rushing items, then skip the madness and go later in the day. We always use black Friday to get PJs for Christmas. Not a big door rusher there. So often we go later in the day when things have calmed down. It makes for a much nicer shopping experience.

Black Friday Shopping Tip 10: Remember humanity– Above all else, in all the rush and chaos, remember to be kind, and human. What is it about saving a few bucks that can turn normal and kind people into savages that push, grab, and stomp all over each other? We all like to save a buck. But don’t let that buck rob you of your humanity. Don’t push. Don’t steal or grab something someone else has. Don’t trample over others. Think kind thoughts. Be kind to others. If even just a few are kind and courteous, maybe it will rub off and others will be kind and courteous too. Maybe we can all have a great Black Friday shopping experience.

No matter what your plans are for Black Friday; I wish you the best of luck and above all I hope you have fun! I hope our Black Friday shopping tips have helped you navigate through the chaos that awaits; and that you were able to score some amazing deals for your Holiday shopping. Let me know of some of your brilliant black Friday shopping plans! Are you staying home? Are you braving the store?

What are you best black Friday Shopping tips?