A Newbie's Guide to Black Friday Shopping

It’s the busiest shopping day of the year when shoppers camp out or line up along the street to get into their local Target or Walmart to get the newest appliances for dirt cheap or stock up on Christmas gifts early on and miss the Christmas shopping fiasco. It’s the day when you to fight your way through an equally eager bunch of people clawing their way to get to their desired merchandise and someone will inevitably get a black eye or a broken rib. It’s Black Friday.

While recovering from last night’s cornucopia of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, juicy veggies and whatnot, people will be leaving their homes later that night to snap up the big flat screen TV that will make your friends envious or that one winter coat that’s all the rage this season.

However, if you’ve never trekked through an ocean of hungry shoppers, you might need to learn a few tricks and take down some notes to do it right. You need to be strategic if there is an item out there that you know you want or feel the need to get.

Tip #1: Be quick and efficient. Make a list of the items you want to buy or save money on the most, and stick to it. That way you won’t get distracted by the zillions of other semi-interesting products that you feel would be an decent addition to your material possessions. You just need to head straight toward the aisle where you know it’ll be waiting for you.

Tip #2: Know where to shop. Make a note of which stores you want to hit first, or one store in particular with the item you want first and foremost. If you’re going for an array of general items, you might want to go to Target or Walmart. If you’re into acquiring that set of movie theater-quality speakers or a new laptop, off to Best Buy with you.

(Obvious) Tip #3: Get there ahead of time. It’s part of the tradition of Black Friday – it’s probably the tradition. Some stores are different with their opening hours, some open at midnight and others in the morning. You need to figure out which stores open when, which ones you’ll go to and get there up to a few hours before it opens (depending on how popular the store is.)

If you wish to know which stores open when, here’s a general list (and the super list):

• Target – 4 a.m.
• GameStop – 12:01 a.m.
• Best Buy – 5 a.m.
• Wal-mart – 5 a.m.
• Macy’s – 4 a.m.
• Sears – 4 a.m.

The other thing you want to know about is Black Friday’s online counterpart; Cyber Monday. This is the biggest online shopping day of the year, when online shoppers do their extreme shopping without the physical exertion and an angry mob pushing and prodding you. But if you enjoy the adventure of going to the store and getting physical with other shoppers, then stick with BF, it might even be good exercise. Who knows?

Enjoy your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping with well-planned ambition.