Are "Black Friday" prices only on Black Friday?

[heydude]

I keep seeing commercials and advertisments saying they are having Black Friday like sales that are not on Black Friday.

I wonder if any are real.

I mean, they seem to only by trying to "extend" the success of Black Friday in to the entire November and December.

When they say "Prices are Like a Black Friday price!" are they really or only on Black Friday?

[rosarugosa]

I don't know how prices actually compare because I never go shopping on Black Friday due to a combination of principles and sanity. It doesn't seem like the door-buster specials are ever anything I want or need, and you're not going to catch me standing in line all night outside a store (especially in late November) for anything, even if it's free.

[SteveinMN]

Some of the before-Black Friday sales are for real. But, then, so are some of the Black Friday sales.

For example, high-def TVs. Guaranteed more than one store/Web site will have an incredibly cheap loss-leader price on an HDTV of a certain size. But it's probably not going to be the most current model and it most likely will be from an off-brand, not a first-tier manufacturer (Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.). There will be sales on the good stuff, too, but the prices won't be that remarkable. In fact, historically, a great time to buy HDTVs (TVs in general, actually) is in mid-January, when stores are trying to pry a few more bucks from consumers who tapped out their credit cards for the holidays and before the Super Bowl.

The key to Black Friday shopping, IMHO, is to treat the entire experience as an adventure and to know the usual cost of what you have your eyes on. Without both of these aspects attended to, the chances of being disappointed on Black Friday (or before) are pretty high.

[Tussiemussies]

Depends maybe on the purpose of what you re buying it for? I find the clothing sales right after Christmas fantastic. One year DH and I didn't exchange on Christmas Day but bought the day after for great savings. I always shop online too -- so easy and places like LLBean have sales sections to begin with and then the sales discounts go on top of that sales category too. There are some sites on the net that will tell you what are the best buys of each month of the year for different items.

If your looking for Christmas gifts, I find the sales the whole season to be pretty good!

:)