Why You Should Hold off On Buying These Until Black Friday

Black Friday often is referred to as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, and with good reason. Between the marketing and unbelievable sales you’ll find on Black Friday (and in some cases Thanksgiving night in person and online), you’d be hard pressed to push the start button on shopping any time before then.

But that isn’t always the case as some go-getters start their shopping season as early as July as far as the holidays go.

And some months truly are better than others when it comes to certain products, whether you’re shopping in July and August on Back to School sales and want to pick up an extra backpack for someone on your holiday list a few months early because the price is right, so be it.

The same could be said for September deals, Labor Day sales ensuring, along with October having a variety of products that mark the closeout months on summertime clothing, for example, and deals to be had as such.

That said, Black Friday has its share of the marketplace as far as how much consumers spend, and certain products stand out more so than others, meaning that you can consider waiting even it means going against wanting to get most of your shopping done before the chaotic “holiday shopping season” officially is underway.

Black Friday is worthwhile to say the least, for retailers, and you can see that in the amount of money spent in total and per household, customer, etc both in store and online.

The online success of Black Friday sales last year in 2017 is surging with a 16.9 percent increase of those purchases versus 2016, with 5 billion dollars sold in a 24 hour time frame.^[1]

Individuals shoppers on Black Friday spent a little more than $300 per person ($335.47), 75 percent of that indeed were for gift buying and gift giving purposes; Millennials, as a side note, spent the most as far as age groups go with $419.52 per person.^[2]

Last year, in total, Americans spent nearly 60 billion dollars on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (the Monday shopping day after Black Friday), but an interesting statistic from a Black Friday shopping study showed that nearly 50 percent of consumers (47.8 percent) deferred spending and buying anything until Black Friday, with the assumption that waiting for Black Friday versus shopping ahead of it makes the most sense.^[3]

And deferring or simply waiting for Black Friday isn’t always just about the holiday shopping season, either. Some, as part of that study, say they’ll wait for Black Friday to buy anything, really, just under the guise that this is the best shopping day of the season, so why bother buying anything all year until the day after Thanksgiving?

A quick glance at a statistic about Black Friday and the average discount speaks to the importance of waiting, one would think.

Deals and discounts hit their high points about a week before Thanksgiving and Black Friday with about 20 percent on average offered, but that number jumps to nearly 40 percent on Black Friday itself, but the study also says you’ll save more by shopping in person on Black Friday versus doing it online, to the tune of 24 percent for the latter.^[4]

All of this discussion about Black Friday, waiting versus not waiting or being sure you’re getting the best deal allows us to beg the question: is Black Friday worth it?

Some argue that the Black Friday sales are only conducive to certain type of items, such as electronics, video games and rebates back from major retailers, and that’s exactly where your mind should settle when you’re contemplating to wait versus not waiting.

Black Friday lends itself to some sales, but not all of them, meaning some products are more sensible on that shopping day, and you should pounce without prejudice.

A quick glance at Black Friday, 2017, shows one example of the Xbox One S 500 GB being sold for $189.99 on Black Friday versus $279.99 the rest of the year.^[5]

That’s one of many example of what you should be eyeing on Black Friday, and here are a few more categories of gifts you should have your sights set on, as well:

Gaming gains huge points for offering big discounts on Black Friday

Much like the aforementioned 2017 Xbox One S example, gaming, consoles, accessories and games are always a big ticket, hot item for Black Friday based on discounts being offered.

Best Buy this year is rumored to be knocking off nearly $100 on the Microsoft xbox One S 500 GB consoles at $189.99, and Target is following suit with the exact same price, in addition to Kohl’s, a newcomer of sorts, offering that same price point, plus an additional $45 in Kohl’s cash.^[6]

That same report links the Sony PS4 and discounts to those same stores for around the $199 price point, a savings of $100 from both Kohl’s and Target.

It should be noted that the Microsoft Xbox One S 500 GB consoles were sold for $189 as well last year at Best Buy, Walmart and GameStop, among others.^[7]

You can see with this one example why some have a need to wait all year to buy a video game console if it means saving between $90 and $100 on the buy, versus spending full price 364 other days out of the year.

In general, gaming and gaming systems that bundle together accessories and certain games also are priced to move for consumers on Black Friday, so don’t overlook those as well.

Smart phone, tablets, TVs and most electronics are an easy buy on Black Friday

Look no further than Black Friday as a means to save on all things electronics, such as phones, tablets, TVs and others of that ilk.

You can look at this category in two ways as to why items are marked down: getting rid of old models and just trying to get the attention of someone who desperately needs to upgrade any piece of electronics they own.

For example, Apple is a major Black Friday player with up to $150 off retail prices on average on Black Friday, whether you’re shopping directly from them or if you’re getting it from Best Buy, Walmart or another third party.^[8]

From a smart phone and tablet perspective, pay close attention to not only Apple but also Samsung as they’ll be pushing their new Xr and Xs models and Galaxy S9, respectively. They’ll gain the most attention just due to how much they’ll market and discount to get the attention of the masses.

Not much is more synonymous with Black Friday as are televisions. You could call smart TVs or high def TVs the backbone of what made Black Friday so noticeable and worthwhile as a shopping day, given the amount of discounts you’ll see.

A lot of the hype comes from, again, most retailers wanting to make room for newer models, and thus discount older models to a ridiculously cheap rate.

Just to give you a flavor what Black Friday and TV deals looked like last year, look no further than Best Buy, Target and Kohl’s (starting to sound familiar on these retailers doing the most out of any to discount items).

Best Buy had a 50 inch Sharp 4K LED TV for $179.99, and a 65 inch LED 4K Ultra HD TV for $749.99, a huge discount on both, while Target had an LG 4K UHD TV, 55 inches, for just $499, with Kohl’s matching that same price on a Samsung model plus again adding $150 in Kohl’s Cash as an incentive.^[9]

And as far as tablets go, you can’t ignore those, either.

Last year, Amazon discounted the Fire Tablets about $30 as incentive to buy.^[10]

Home appliance deals ramp up on Black Friday as year draws to a close

Between Best Buy, Lowes, Sears and Home Depot, appliances are another Black Friday item that finds discounts that far exceed what you’d expect to see at any other time of the year.

Again, appliances are the type of product that truly has a limited shelf life, so once the 2019 models come along, you’ll see “last year’s” models start to find bigger discounts across the board.

Last year, Best Buy offered 40 percent off appliances, starting with a Samsung refrigerator marked down that exact percent off and with a sale price of $1,050; Home Depot also on average offered 40 percent.^[11]

Also, much like with video game consoles and package and bundled deals, appliances often are part of that same strategy from a retailer perspective.

A few years ago, 2016 to be exact, retailers ushered in “kitchen packages” to the tune of Black Friday sales with Home Depot giving consumers a fridge, electric cooker, microwave and dishwasher for around $1,759, and JC Penny doing something comparable with the same products included for $1,776, only a few dollars more than the Home Depot price point.^[12]

Whether you’re shopping for a slew of kitchen appliances for, perhaps, a kitchen remodel or you’re just looking to replace something in your kitchen or bath that is outdated, Black Friday is always the most opportune time to start searching and more importantly saving on appliances, regardless of whether you need a simple stove, washer and dryer sets or that pesky fridge is acting up, and you’re not in the mood to wait until Black Friday 2019 to replace it.

Getting amped up and excited for Black Friday makes a world of sense when you consider the amount of savings on certain products but just that general propensity to save money.

The only way, however, Black Friday can beneficial overall is if you actually know what you're in the market for, versus just going out blindly on Black Friday or shopping online (an even more dangerous play) and not really sure what you’re looking for, honestly.

That is going to lead to a lot of overspending and a penchant to buy when you really aren’t wanting to buy.

Nearly half of the Black Friday buyers have buyer’s remorse, and only about 31.6 percent of shoppers actually wait to see the adds before they decide to go out and shop, regardless of what “deals" have or have not been made public.^[13]

What that means is Black Friday shouldn’t be just another day to overspend and not think about buying wisely. Instead, you should use those sales and discounts, the retailers fighting for the almighty dollar, as a means to save more, not just buy for the sake of doing so.

And as long as you’re out buying, and devising and revising a plan, make sure you stick to the products and goods that are going to be the most lucrative and are truly worth your time, and more importantly, your money on this shopping day.