Black Friday Deals

The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. While some stores are extending deals or opening as early as Thanksgiving itself, there's still no waiting in line online -- and it saves gas money, too.
According to a press release, the National Retail Federation predicts a 2.8 percent rise in holiday sales for 2011 and 36 percent -- more than a third -- of all holiday shopping will take place online this season. In 2010, customers spent an average of $365.34 on the weekend through Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving when many online deals launch.
Popular daily discount site LivingSocial, which usually focuses on local deals, announced Monday that it's offering national sales for Black Friday through the entire weekend, with more offers coming Cyber Monday. Most deals will be 50 percent off or more, available on LivingSocial's website and smartphone apps. Participating retailers include Electronic Arts (video games), Skechers (clothing and sneakers), and Wine.com, selling $80 bottles of wine for $40.
LivingSocial, which has more than 46 million subscribers who typically get deals through emails and apps, says its Black Friday coupons will be available to customers for redemption starting Tuesday, Nov. 29.
While LivingSocial competitor Groupon is not doing Black Friday promotions this year, many other websites are also offering help to avoid waiting in line at sure-to-be-crowded stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
A new website, zaarly.com, is an online marketplace where people list services or goods they want to buy. Launched earlier this year, the service is free but requires users to register. Many use the digital bulletin board to buy sold-out items or recruit personal shoppers.
"I'll pay for someone to stand in line for me," a Suffolk University student told Boston.com. "I'm sure it will be crazy [on Black Friday]."
Another site, Ebates.com, gives customers cash back for making purchases online from retailers instead of going to their brick-and-mortar stores. Shoppers can compare offers and earn a percentage of their purchase back from stores like JC Penney, Nordstrom, Old Navy and Barnes & Noble.
Nerdwallet.com compares rewards for online shopping from credit card "malls" like ShopDiscover and American Express Bonus Points Mall. NerdWallet compares each credit card offer and reward for similar products and displays them in an easy-to-use list of deals.
An additional site and mobile app, DealTaker.com, helps users find and share deals that might be otherwise hard to find. The site informs subscribers about about social media offers from stores' Facebook pages and any unadvertised free shipping codes.

Channeling the frenzy. Ever since a Wal-Mart employee on Long Island was trampled to death on Black Friday in 2008, retailers have been alert to dangers of stampeding shoppers. "Stores thought that creating this frenzy was good for business," Marsha Cohen, chief retail analyst for the NPD group tells The Boston Globe. "As it turns out, this puts retailers in a very precarious legal position and it creates a very inefficient system for consumers to take advantage of sales."This year, the Globe reports, Target is creating a buffer zone of at least 10 feet between entrances and the start of the lines. Groups of 30 people will be allowed into the buffer zone every 20 or 30 seconds to keep mobs from rushing en masse into the store.
Did you check online? Consumer Reports notes that many retailers offer the electronic goods at the lowest price of the year. But even then, CR says, the best bargains may not be at the brick-and-mortar stores. Don't forget to check Amazon.com and other websites, which often can do better. (Amazon is even starting its Black Friday deals early.)
Brick-and-mortars, though, are also using the Web to build excitement and lure buyers into the store. Best Buy already has announced some Black Friday deals on the Internet and promises more on its Twitter and Facebook pages this week. Already on tap: a 24-inch high-definition Dynex TV for $80, a Samsung laptop with a 320GB hard drive for $300, and a Toshiba Blu-ray disc player for $40.

The tech lure. Consumer Reports' James Willcox offers this advice when shopping for electronic goods:

Often retailers — and sometimes, manufacturers — will combine two or more items into a specially priced package they say will save you money. But you should check the individual prices of these items at both the store and its competitors to see if you're really getting a great deal. Our research during the past week uncovered some real savings, but also bundles that barely saved any money at all.

Hottest deals. Fatwallet.com, one of the top sites for deals, offers a user-friendly Deal Finder, to check out sales either by category or by stores. Here are some of its hottlest Black Friday offerings so far this year:

1. Norton Internet Security 2012 (1-PC) [Boxed CD] - Staples - Free
2. Toshiba Satelite C655D-S5332 15.6" Laptop - Radio Shack - $299.99
3. Xbox 360 4GB Console w/Kinect - Wal-Mart - $199.96
4 . Acer 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Staples - $99.99
5. BlackBerry PlayBook 7" Tablet - 16GB, WiFi - Staples - $199.99

Fast and furious. It seems almost impossible to keep track of the waves of ads that are coming as BF looms. One tip: Bradsdeal.com puts the big ones all on one page for a quick peek. Here's one you'll find from Ace Hardware: A Radio Flyer red wagon for $49.99.