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Black Friday may be over, but Cyber Monday is officially here — they’re historically the two biggest U.S. shopping days of the year. Almost any brand and retailer you can think of offers some sort of discount, giving shoppers the opportunity to buy tech, kitchen and home goods, fitness equipment, gifts and more.
These sales holidays used to be two distinct events: Black Friday was for in-person shopping, while Cyber Monday was for online shopping. But retailers now offer discounts online and in-stores weeks ahead of the events, causing experts to coin the term “Black November,” a month of deals shoppers can take advantage of.
With a month’s worth of sales to sort through, how can you be sure you’re taking advantage of the best ones? Below, experts answer all your questions, including what to buy and what to skip and how to avoid impulse purchases.
SKIP AHEAD How to save on Cyber Monday
$24.00
Amazon
$24.00
Kohl's
$24.00
Sephora
$29.99
$31.99
Amazon
$27.99
Amazon
$29.00
Walmart
$24.99
Amazon
$18.99
Amazon
$19.00
Ulta
$19.00
Kitsch
$14.24
$22.99
Amazon
$14.24
$18.99
Ulta
$14.24
$18.99
Target
$14.82
$15.99
Amazon
$13.49
Target
$15.99
Walgreens
$19.99
$29.99
Amazon
$7.99
$14.99
Amazon
$9.89
$19.95
Amazon
$9.89
Target
$19.95
Lifestraw
$9.99
Amazon
$14.03
$25.00
Amazon
$25.00
Ulta
$25.00
COSRX
$10.84
$15.48
Amazon
$11.05
$15.30
Target
$15.48
Walmart
$8.84
$16.10
Amazon
$8.84
$12.98
Walmart
$11.97
Neutrogena
$17.99
$39.99
Amazon
$17.99
$39.99
Best Buy
$17.99
$39.99
Target
$18.66
$22.58
Amazon
Once Black Friday is over, prices for products already on sale usually don’t drop any lower on Cyber Monday, says Kristin McGrath, shopping expert at RetailMeNot. Many retailers run their sales from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, constantly adding new discounts for shoppers to choose from. Others run Black Friday sales, go dark over the weekend and launch Cyber Monday sales, which are either all new deals or a mix of new deals and repeated Black Friday deals.
Overall, don’t hold out for Cyber Monday sales, says Vipin Porwal, founder and consumer savings expert at Smarty, a cashback browser extension. If the Black Friday price fits within your budget, it’s best to purchase a product as soon as you find it — waiting could mean it sells out, he says. Think about Black Friday as your best shot at purchasing everything on your wishlist, and use Cyber Monday as your final chance to grab anything you forgot about or couldn't find earlier. McGrath says.
The strongest sales end after Cyber Monday, experts say. But since many people shop for holiday gifts through mid-December, retailers continue offering discounts, although they’re typically weaker compared to Black Friday and Cyber Monday prices.
There’s not much of a difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday anymore — in fact, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, McGrath says. The savings events used to be distinguishable due to the type of shopping they were centered around: Black Friday was for in person shopping and Cyber Monday was for online shopping. Now, however, online shopping dominates both days, and some retailers host sales from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — a five-day period experts call the Cyber Five — so there’s no real separation between the events.
“The weekend has morphed into one big mega sale,” says Ashley Fricker, senior editor at CardRates.com. “Every retailer wants their slice of the shopping frenzy, so not providing a discount is basically telling your customer to shop from another retailer who likely has it on sale.”
Early deals also start between mid-October and mid-November, further blending Black Friday and Cyber Monday together. Experts now dub November “Black November” because the whole month is so concentrated with sales.
Typically, some of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are on giftable products like toys, electronics and games, as well as luxury goods across fashion and beauty, says Vipin Porwal, founder and consumer savings expert at browser cashback extension Smarty. You’ll also see strong deals on large and small appliances, he says. McGrath also recommends shopping for “practical stuff,” like pantry essentials, cleaning supplies, bed and bath products, clothing basics like socks and more.
Since so many brands and retailers offer their best prices of the year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there’s nothing notable experts recommend not buying, especially if you want it in your hands before the end of the year. However, if you’re trying to cut down on your wishlist, consider waiting to purchase furniture and mattresses until President’s Day sales, says McGrath. There’s also reliably good TV deals in February before the big game, so wait until then to buy one.
Planning is key when it comes to big sale events like Cyber Monday. It helps you focus on what you’re looking for, avoid impulse purchases and take advantage of the best deals possible. Below are a few expert tips to help you be successful during the events.
Online and in stores, shopping traffic is at its peak during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Because of this, products tend to sell out quickly, and you won’t know when or if they’ll come back in stock. Once you find a great deal on a product at the top of your wishlist, purchase it as soon as possible. Not doing so may mean you won’t get to shop the sale.
Retailers constantly drop deals leading up to and during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Signing up for email lists or opting into push alerts via apps helps you stay updated about what’s new. This is also how you’ll get a good shot at purchasing a popular or trending product — retailers are likely to let shoppers know when it goes on sale, and if you can buy it immediately, you’ll be able to snag it before it sells out.
Big savings events are geared toward impulse shopping — retailers bet on shoppers feeling tempted by deals and adding more items to their carts than they originally planned. That’s why it’s important to make a shopping list: Beyond keeping you organized, it helps you focus on products you need to buy or have budgeted for, and reduces the temptation to spend on non-essential purchases. Some people prefer a classic pen-and-paper list, but it may be easier (and faster) to bookmark links or add items you’re most interested in to your shopping cart.
Using a credit card to shop during Black Friday or Cyber Monday may allow you to earn points or take advantage of exclusive rewards. Certain cards let you earn cash back at specific retailers, and some also offer welcome bonuses or points, Frick says. If you’re looking to spread out holiday expenses while avoiding costly interest rates, she recommends using a credit card with a 0% APR on new purchases.
Retailers compete for your shopping cart during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and one of the main ways they do so is by “price chasing” each other — this means an item sold at multiple retailers will likely have the exact (or almost exact) price tag across the board. In these cases, deciding which retailer to buy from comes down to the shipping price and where you can use or gain the maximum amount of rewards points. Also, weigh different retailers’ cash back offers.
To make comparing prices easy, we recommend using tools like Keepa, CamelCamelCamel and Honey. They help you monitor prices before and during the sale, and you can sign up for price-drop alerts on specific products. While shopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, Fricker recommends plugging items you have your eye on into these tools to see if the price was lower during another point of the year. That can help you decide whether it’s worth waiting to make the purchase, she says.
If you’re purchasing an item that requires a size — like clothing, shoes or bedding, for example — check the retailer’s return policy before you checkout. You don’t want to get stuck with something that doesn’t fit, so it’s important to know how long the return window is and if the retailer has any exceptions to its return policy.
Also, don’t forget about price matching. Some retailers will match the price of a product to that of their competitors if you find an item for less at another store within a specific timeframe. But price matching programs may exclude Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases, so read the fine print.
At Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
Zoe Malin is an associate updates editor at Select who has reported about Black Friday and Cyber Monday since 2020. She wrote Select’s history of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as a variety of holiday sales articles. For this piece, Malin researched Black Friday and Cyber Monday, spoke to three experts and referenced Select’s related coverage.
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Zoe Malin is an associate updates editor for Select on NBC News.
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