Remember pre-internet Black Friday sales, when anxious shoppers would all but trample each other to get their hands on the last Furbee or Nintendo Wii? I think they were onto something. "While supplies last" isn't just a cliche; it's a fact of the online Black Friday Deals marketplace, and you'd do well to heed it and take action while the deals are hot.
Don't believe me? Please learn from my mistake.
Without giving too much away, I've been perusing a bunch of early Black Friday deals for possible gifts for my wife. There are a lot of options across, clothes, jewelry, and, of course, technology.
TechRadar, in particular, has done an excellent job of scouring the Internet for the best deals from top retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and across the pond, Curry's and John Lewis. In most of our posts on these deals, we remind consumers to act now because, one, prices are unlikely to drop lower (the official Black Friday, Nov. 24, is basically hours away), and supplies may be limited.
To be honest, I read some of that with a wry grin on my face, thinking, "Oh, sure, supplies of something Samsung, Apple, Google, Amazon, or another tech giant produces in the millions will be limited. Right."
It's for that reason that when I found the perfect tech gift for my wife, I only placed it in my Amazon basket and did not buy it. Maybe it was because it wasn't quite perfect. I also wondered if I'd see one more price drop. In my hubris, I assumed I had all the time in the world to make up my mind.
Except I didn't.
When I returned to my Amazon cart a day or so later, I noticed it was empty. "That's odd," I thought, "since when does Amazon empty a cart?"
Amazon did so because, as it posted in red on my defunct cart selection, "This item is no longer available from the seller you selected."
In other words, the deal was gone because it sold out. Of course, it sold out. This was a great deal, and other, smarter shoppers did not hesitate and let the gift languish in their shopping cart. Me? I did the equivalent of picking up ripe bananas at the local food store, dropping them in my cart, and then returning to the store and cart a week later, wondering why the clerk had thrown out the rotten bananas I had never bought.
Not every gear or gadget will be in short supply. Streaming service Black Friday deals, for example, won't run out, but most of the deals are for a very limited time.
Also, when we tell you that this is the lowest price a product has ever been, that should mean something to you. Rock bottom means rock bottom. Don't sit around waiting for one more price drop that will never come.
If you're looking at Black Friday as some sort of trick, where retailers and companies are not offering the best deals, and they will give you another chance with a better price in mid-December, you're wrong.
They all want to sell as much as they can right now, and their goal is to empty shelves and sell out inventory. That's why the prices are so good.
My advice to you is simple. Don't be like me. If you see a good deal, put it in your cart and head right to checkout. You're welcome.
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Psst! Some of the best Black Friday Deals we've found so far are below. You know what to do.
More US Black Friday deals
- Amazon: 50% off TVs, air fryers, AirPods & clothing
- Apple: AirPods Pro, Apple Watch 8 & iPads from $99
- Adidas: 40% off running shoes, sweatshirts & leggings
- Beauty: 51% off makeup, skincare & hair tools
- Best Buy: up to $800 off 4K TVs, laptops & headphones
- Bed Bath & Beyond: 65% off sitewide + free shipping
- Cheap TVs: big-screen 4K TVs from $269.99
- Christmas: 40% off decor, pajamas & trees
- Dell: save on best-selling Inspiron and XPS laptops
- DreamCloud: 40% off all mattresses
- Lowe's: up to $800 off major appliances
- Macy's: 60% off clothing, jewelry, boots & gift ideas
- Nectar: mattress deals starting at $359
- Nordstrom: 30% off Nike, Levi's, Skims, Adidas & more
- Samsung: up to $2,000 of TVs, phones and appliances
- Target: 40% off furniture, TVs, clothing & appliances
- Toys: Disney, Barbie, Lego & board games from $14.99
- Walmart: Apple Watch 9, cheap TVs, air fryers & toys
- Wayfair: 70% off furniture, rugs, & Christmas decor
More UK Black Friday deals
- Amazon: up to 62% off TVs, smart home and clothing
- AO: up to 40% off appliances, TVs and tech
- Argos: up to 50% off toys, tools and tech
- Boots: up to 40% off 1,000s of beauty products
- Currys: up to 40% off TVs, appliances and laptops
- Ebuyer: up to 45% off laptops and PC components
- Emma: up to 65% off mattresses, frames and pillows
- John Lewis: up to 40% off appliances, TVs, laptops
- Jessops: up to £550 off Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm
- Ninja: up to 25% off air fryers and cookware
- O2: up to £600 off iPhone, Samsung and Google
- Samsung: up to £600 off TVs, phones and appliances
- Shark: up to £100 off vacuums
- Simba: up to 55% off mattresses
- Superdrug: 60% off beauty, fragrances and makeup
- Toolstation: up to 30% off smart home, tools and DIY
- Very: save on tech, decor, appliances and furniture
- Vodafone: six months half-price SIMs from £11.50
