Black Friday is a big deal in the world of tech and retail, there's no denying that. But there's also no need to stress or worry about securing the best possible deals on the big day, as it's our job to put in the hard work so that you don't have to. With this in mind, we've come up with a few tips and hacks to help you avoid that Black Friday FOMO and stay ahead of the game.
Whether you're shopping for yourself, for a loved one, or for (whisper it) Christmas presents – rest assured that these Black Friday hacks will help you to bag a bargain this seasonal sales period. It's all about preparation, and if over a decade of covering Black Friday deals has taught us anything, it's that deals will arrive early and when you least expect them. It's not always about shopping on the official Black Friday date (which this year is November 29), as deals can and will expire when stock runs out.
It's common knowledge that during big seasonal sales events such as Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, retailers will often hike up the original price of a product before discounting it to make a deal seem much greater than it really is. This is not only misleading to customers but very annoying for us when it comes to finding genuinely good deals to share with our readers.
That's why we've begun using price comparison trackers like CamelCamelCamel to keep tabs on the starting price of a product, and it allows us to see how a product's price has changed over the course of the year too. This way, we know if a deal truly is $200 off (for example) or if Amazon is simply fibbing.
This can also be a useful way to predict if a popular deal or limited low-price offer might come back, if the price tracker shows that it has cropped up several times before throughout the year.
Hack 2: Sign up to newsletters for exclusive discounts
An example of the discounts you might see in a newsletter (this is an old offer). (Image credit: Future)
Another hot tip ahead of Black Friday is to make sure you're subscribed to the newsletters of your favourite brands, companies, and retailers. I know that these can be extremely annoying, and at times spammy when you're getting inundated with emails – but remember that you can always unsubscribe after Black Friday or as soon as you've made the purchase you've been planning on.
Usually, you can expect to receive exclusive discount codes for shopping online or in store via email if you're signed up well in advance. If you like to stay updated with news, as well as deals, on the latest creative industry highlights then you can subscribe to the Creative Bloq newsletter which we only send out once per day (no spamming – we promise!!).
It might also be a good idea to sign up for a membership with retailers you shop with the most, to guarantee things like a speedy checkout and free delivery when it's time to finally make that purchase. You don't want any obstacles in your way if you find a limited-time deal that depends on stock levels, so being already signed in to a site could save you time in advance. We've recently put together a guide all about Best Buy Membership plans if this is something you're interested in.
I personally love creating wishlists, and I have one set up on almost every big retailer that I shop with. This is super handy as most sites will let you know when an item on your specific wishlist has dropped in price or come back in stock, which is ideal if you like keeping tabs on products and waiting patiently for the right time to buy.
With Amazon wishlists, you can create more than one for specific things like house decor, gaming products, and gift guides for loved ones. Head to Amazon's website and it will usually tell you exactly which products on your wishlist have dropped in price, and it will sometimes even show you the original price that the product was when you first added it to your list.
Creating a digital wishlist is a great way to track product prices, but you can even make a quick one on a post-it note or spare piece of paper if you like, just as a gentle reminder of the products you would like to buy ahead of Black Friday and to make sure nothing has been forgotten.
Hack 4: Follow your fave brands on social media
(Image credit: Future / Joseph Foley)
This might seem like an obvious one, but plenty of brands and companies will be grinding out content ahead of Black Friday to make sure you know about upcoming sales, deals, and promotions. Instagram is a great platform for keeping up to date with the latest offers from brands, and like I said before, you can simply unfollow them after Black Friday if you don't enjoy seeing sales content all year round.
Sometimes, brands might drop discount codes on their social media channels that you won't find readily available on the website. This is a way of rewarding loyal followers, so make sure you're checking everywhere for a code if you know with absolute certainty that you'll be making a big Black Friday purchase from them.
Influencers might also be sharing unique codes during Black Friday, which gets them some kind of affiliate rewards from you using it, but as long as you get some kind of discount, who cares? Reddit is also a great community space for sharing retail and voucher codes, so don't be afraid to ask in groups if anyone has found a bargain and if there's a code you can make use of.
Bonus tip: Install browser extensions like Honey if you hate the task of having to search for discount codes and manually enter them yourself. I've saved loads from using Honey on sites like Zavvi and Shein.
Hack 5: Use sites like Creative Bloq for deals coverage
We know that following all of the tips above can be tediously hard work, and who likes to spend hours upon hours searching for deals online? I mean...I do, because it's my job. But the hard work shouldn't have to be on you this Black Friday, so stick with us as we'll be highlighting all of the best deals for creative pros that we come across in the run-up to the big day.
Without blowing our own trumpet too much – using tech websites (like us, and our sister websites) is a great way of saving yourself the effort of having to deal hunt ahead of Black Friday. And it's not just during seasonal sales periods either, as we bring you deals on creative tech all year round through our top buying guides and dedicated tech roundups.
We've been covering Black Friday for over a decade now, and chances are that we probably have a review on whatever it is that you're hoping to buy, so not only can you use our clever deals widgets to check the best prices, but you can read all about our honest opinion on tech too.
Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. Beth kicked off her journalistic career writing for Digital Camera World, and has since earned bylines on TechRadar too. With a Masters degree in Photography, Beth loves getting to tinker with new cameras, especially camera phones, as the resident Samsung fan on the team. Her background working as a tester for CeX let her play around with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, including robots, and she’s recently gotten into 3D printing too. Outside of CB, you’ll find her gaming on her PS5, photographing local shows under the alias Bethshootsbands, and making TikToks of her dog, Tilly.
