How To Prepare for Black Friday 2010

5 Helpful Tips from a Veteran Line-Stander

Nov 23 2010, 3:51pm CST | by Robert Evans

1. Get there before 10 PM. If you hope to take advantage of any special or 'limited customer' deals, you need to be early. 10:00 PM may not even be early enough. If your Best Buy is doing a super HDTV deal, you can bet that everyone in the front of the line is there to take advantage of it. Either get there early, or leave empty handed.

Doorbuster deal tickets will go out starting 3 AM. That $700 50" 1080p plasma TV is going to be spoken for before 5 AM ever rolls around. Which brings me to point two...

2. Get out of the city. Black Friday is like a zombie movie. The Horde is going to flock to the nexus of shops at your nearest population center. Many larger outlets in big cities have seen folks standing in line for several days now. You can't squeeze water from a stone.

So fire up Google, find those same stores out in the suburbs or in slightly rural areas. Get away from the crowds and find a place where you have a shot at being the first in line. Want that 32" HDTV for $198? There'll be extras at that Wal-Mart out in the Sticks. But don't forget...

3. Call ahead. Your Black Friday planning starts NOW. Pick out your stores, get on the phone, and make sure they're taking part in the deals you want. Don't go anywhere without doing your research first. If you can, wheedle the manager to try and get an idea of typical Black Friday line trends at his store.

It's worth noting that Wal-Mart already has store maps up to help you plan your Black Friday assault.

4. Prioritize. If there's only one or two Best Buys within convenient distance, your odds of getting that cheap-ass 50" TV are pretty low. On the other hand, Target is offering a badass 40" TV for a pittance of $298. That is the lowest deal of its type right now, and Target's lines will not be the monsters you see at other Big Box stores.

You'll only have time for the Doorbuster deals at ONE store. So take stock of your options and choose carefully.

5. Be Aware. Did you know that Wal-Mart has a Black Friday price match guarantee? That means you can bring a competing ad in on Black Friday and Wal-Mart will match the price on an identical product that they carry. This doesn't work online. You'll want to look at your local Wal-Mart inventory now and compare that to deals from other retailers.

Amazon also offers compulsive holiday shoppers a way to get their fix (and their gifts) without standing in cold lines. They'll have a running series of deals aimed at meeting or beating other Black Friday deals. These specials only have a limited supply, but they update throughout the day.

Sure, you'll probably be too slow to catch all the deals. But you'll definitely be too slow to make every single doorbuster.

Thanksgiving week is here and Black Friday 2010 Deals are already on sale and most Black Friday Ads for the actual Black Friday, Nov. 26 are available. You can now find the best deals of the season on TVs, Laptops, Phones, GPS, Blu-ray players and other gadgets. For the hottest Black Friday deals and complete coverage of the biggest sales event of the year visit our Black Friday 2010 Hub.

See also our exclusive Black Friday Deals Guides:

Updates

Our Week In Technology : Facebook's Rocky IPO Road & Xbox 720 Tasty Titbits

Source: THINQ.co.uk

And last but not least, Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriting financial institution in Facebook's IPO has been hit by a subpoena "in connection with the analyst's discussion with certain institutional investors about the revenue prospects for Facebook ...
Full article at: THINQ.co.uk More like this 11 hours ago, 10:26am CDT

Which Way To Ramgarh?

Source: Outlook India

But even the less insubstantial films—the mileposts, the main body of Hindi cinema—exhibit a troubled relation with place, a strange detachment, a hovering over, almost as if wary of putting down roots and belonging. ...
Full article at: Outlook India More like this 16 hours ago, 5:07am CDT

Facebook fatigue is setting in

Source: Vancouver Sun

You gotta feel sorry for Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg. He had the week so well planned: ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on a Friday, dressed in his best Sunday hoodie, to launch the ...
Full article at: Vancouver Sun More like this 19 hours ago, 2:09am CDT

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

Don't miss ...

Black Friday

Cyber Monday Ads and Deals 2011 - List of All Sales (...

Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.