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What NOT to buy on Black Friday
SOURCE: Financially Fit on Yahoo! Farnoosh Torabi
Black Friday traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season but not every sale is the ultimate bargain.
Before you plan to camp outside your favorite store in the cold, Farnoosh Torabi, host of Financially Fit on Yahoo! Finance, said you might be better off staying home if you’re shopping for items like brand name TVs, jewelry and winter staples.
Here are a few tips on what NOT to buy this year on Black Friday:
- Brand name TVs: HDTVs are a hot holiday item, and on Black Friday, retailers will offer them at some of the lowest prices ever seen, but these rock-bottom prices will only be available on lower-end brands. If you’re looking for discounts on specific brand name sets, you’ll need to be patient. High-end HDTVs are actually priced lower in January, before the Super Bowl. Last year, for example, 55-inch name brand TVs such as Samsung, Sony and LG were reduced as much as 30 percent.
- Toys: You can save up to 63% off popular toys by waiting until the final two weeks before Christmas for the lowest prices of the season. However, don’t wait too long. The most sought-after holiday toys can sell out quickly or rise up to 200 percent.
- Jewelry: It may already be too late to get the best the price. Watches and jewelry increase in price steadily from October through December. The best time to buy these items is during spring and summer months, when demand is lower.
- Luxury Items & Winter Staples: Popular styles of Ugg boots with a suggested cost of $160 sold for as little as $85 in September and October but soared about 59% on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, going for around $135.
Other Black Friday Tips:
- Price Match: Keep in mind that brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and Target say they’ll match the prices of some online competitors this holiday season, including Amazon and Wal-mart.
- Go Online Instead: 70 percent of in-store Black Friday offers were available online at the same prices or less. Online prices beat in-store competitors 94 percent of the time on products such as TVs, laptops, tablets, cameras, video game consoles and GPS devices.
- Return Policies May be Stricter: so be sure to clarify before you buy, as you may not be able to exchange or get your money back.
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