What can I expect on Black Friday?

[gacomeau1]

I'm a regular cross-border shopper, but I've never experienced Black Friday. My wife and I plan on going this year.

Are the black Friday deals only on sale for that one day, or will the sales extend into Saturday? Also, for those who have past experience, are the crazy prices very limited in terms of stock? That is, if I go Friday after work, will I still be able to find some sale items? I'm not looking for anything in particular, so it's not like I want to get there super early for one specific item.

[kcorscadden]

Unless you are shopping online, I wouldn't even bother.

To answer your questions:

It is only on Friday that the bulk of the stuff is on sale. There may be stuff on sale Sat and Sun, but probably not much. Usually, the bug ticket items go right when the store opens and you will probably have to wait outside with 100's of others before the store opens. If you do get inside be prepared to push/shove/punch/etc as it will be a mad house. Depending on the item it can be limited stock. Think about the initial PS3 or Wii release up here and all the people who stood outside waiting for FS and BB to open. It is similar to that but for multiple items. If you don't plan on going until after work, don't bother going at all because all the good stuff will have been long gone.

[CSK'sMom]

Quite a few stores Black Friday sales run through Saturday and even Sunday in some cases. Door crasher deals will be just that, limited numbers on a first come first serve. The thing is though because Black Friday is the start of the US Christmas shopping season the stores can be wiped out of stock in a matter of hours if it's a good deal. For example, last year Kmart had buy 1 get 1 free Joe Boxer men's sleep pants and women's pajama sets. The sleep pants were $8/pr and were sold out by 10am.

As kcorscadden said, the stores are absolutely packed and people are pushing and shoving. Carts are used as weapons, that is if you can even get one. The lines are long to cash out and change rooms are non-existent due to the lines. If you're just going to browse, honestly, don't bother. It's the day when all the die hard shoppers are out, we know exactly what we want and we get it. We get all of our Christmas shopping pretty much done in one day.

[TechRock]

prepare to be punch in the face...by crazy ppl

[Psylocke]

prepare to be punch in the face...by crazy ppl

LOL... I'm bringing a face mask.

[Happy13178]

LOL... I'm bringing a face mask.

A gun might be more practical.

[Ebola]

Bring your taser.

[sonnislav]

http://www.theblackfriday.com/index.shtml

a collection of deals for this upcoming thanksgiving sale (US)...

[Psylocke]

A gun might be more practical.

I wouldn't doubt that some of these bargain hunters will come prepared... I know for a fact there's gonna be at least a dozen random acts of violence stemming from the upcoming Black Friday... shoppers are gonna go nuts!

Bring your taser.

This seems like a good option... esp. if someone tries to beat me to a good deal.

[Jin-n-Juice]

Check out the links in this article:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16846.aspx

[joeyjoejoe]

Check out the links in this article:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16846.aspx

The video is hilarious... there's a guy that falls flat on his face 11 seconds in.

[GangStarr]

Since this thread seems very 1 sided, I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

I've never done Black Friday near the US/Canada Border, usually about 7 hours away.

For the past 4 years I've spent xgiving in the US visiting friends, and don't go to stores early morning on black Friday. I don't try for any door crashers, the sales are at outlet malls are pretty decent if your just looking for decent dress clothes. Most store I've found had some sort of "black friday" weekend sales, further discounting the product that's already a good deal for us Canadians.

I can usually grab dress pants that are usually marked down to $30-$60 for $20-$40, and similar savings on dress shirts. Shopping year round in the US is generally cheaper than Canada. Black friday will add anywhere from 5-20% additional savings. It also helps if you have amerifriends who have department credit cards. Card holders are usually sent decent coupons they can stack with their savings for paying with the store card. I've had great success buying discounted brand name suits / leather jackets from Macy's.

Shopping as of 11am on Black Friday, I've never seen any pushing / shoving or violence. The malls are busier then usual, and parking can be tough, that's about it.

Again this is an opinion from someone who isn't after the door crashers and is in the US anyways.

[psyko514]

I had my first BF experience in Plattsburgh last year. We showed up at Walmart around 3 AM with no interest in the big door crashers (which went on sale at 5 AM). We saw line ups for specific items all around the store but it was hard to grasp just how many people were there as everyone was so spread out.

At ~4:55 AM, we headed to the cash with a cart full of movies, food products and clothing. There was no line. We heard the crowd erupt at 5 AM as they cut the wrap on the pallets and distributed the door crashers. At 5:02 AM, a crowd of hundreds came storming to the cashes. So glad we got out of there at that time!

[CSK'sMom]

The Walmart ad is officially out folks. It's on the Walmart website, just punch in a zipcode. For those going to Niagara Falls/Buffalo use 14305.

Interesting approach this year, stuff going at staggered times starting at 10pm, Midnight and 8am. Definitely some sweet deals in all depts.

[Pavel]

Since this thread seems very 1 sided, I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

I've never done Black Friday near the US/Canada Border, usually about 7 hours away.

For the past 4 years I've spent xgiving in the US visiting friends, and don't go to stores early morning on black Friday. I don't try for any door crashers, the sales are at outlet malls are pretty decent if your just looking for decent dress clothes. Most store I've found had some sort of "black friday" weekend sales, further discounting the product that's already a good deal for us Canadians.

I can usually grab dress pants that are usually marked down to $30-$60 for $20-$40, and similar savings on dress shirts. Shopping year round in the US is generally cheaper than Canada. Black friday will add anywhere from 5-20% additional savings. It also helps if you have amerifriends who have department credit cards. Card holders are usually sent decent coupons they can stack with their savings for paying with the store card. I've had great success buying discounted brand name suits / leather jackets from Macy's.

Shopping as of 11am on Black Friday, I've never seen any pushing / shoving or violence. The malls are busier then usual, and parking can be tough, that's about it.

Again this is an opinion from someone who isn't after the door crashers and is in the US anyways.

agreed, but people are funny sometimes and not in a good way. line-up in the madness for BF sales and even BD sales causes me to SMH. For example, people will actually pay money to a stranger to get a reservation for an iphone when they can do so themselves, or even pay a couple of hundred more for an iphone than retail so they can get it two weeks earlier than they would have ordered online. the BF or BD madness is the same. However, imho, those that do go and line-up do more so for the "social" and "emotional" experience. Any savings they incur is just a bonus.