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Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are undoubtedly the best days of the year for sales. I should know—I write about sales all year. Many retailers offer a 20 percent discount here and there throughout the year, but Black Friday is when they release and increase that discount to 30 or 40 percent to grab your attention during the best shopping period of all. If you shop smart at these sales, you can get all your holiday gifts early and under your budget. or you can simply get a few things for yourself.

But you have to know when and how to shop. Sometimes it pays to shop early, before things sell out. Other times it’s worth waiting for a slightly better discount. To help you navigate the sales, I’ve racked my deal-obsessed brain to come up with a list of tips, including which categories have the best deals, which ones you can safely skip, which deals tend to sell the faster and more.

Shipping is notoriously fickle this time of year, so there is ever a good idea to order gifts fairly early. Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are an ideal time to do this because there are only so many offers to choose from. I suggest you spend the last few weeks before Cyber ​​Week making a list of possible gifts for the people on your list so that when the sales are available, you can quickly check to see what’s on sale. But if you want inspiration for today, we’ll round up our favorite gift-worthy Black Friday deals again this year, so be careful.

Last year, I went in with the goal of finding the best deal I could on some AirPods Pro because I wanted to give them to my boyfriend for Christmas. It was one of the few things I bought over the weekend.

Black Friday was the only time we saw Owala FreeSip on sale last year. It makes a great gift (even if it’s just for you).

Black Friday sales start earlier and earlier every year. Brands used to start sales on the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but competition got tougher last year. Brands would tell me they don’t start sales until a certain date, but then a competitor would announce its the sale was starting and other brands were clamoring to follow suit. Right now, it’s more common for sales to start earlier than not, but most of the time they’re only good for about a week after Thanksgiving.

Most of the time, the deals that come out before Black Friday are the same ones you’ll get during Cyber ​​Week, so if there’s something you really want and it’s already on sale, I say go for it get it while it’s in stock. It’s more likely to sell out than to get cheaper. However, there are some cases where the deal is a little better — like 25 percent off instead of 20 — come Black Friday, so don’t hesitate to wait if you don’t think the item you want will be available. run out

Great Jones’ sale runs until December 2nd, so there’s no reason to wait to shop it.

if you do I want to shop early, I collect everything the best Black Friday sales that have already started here.

Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday sales vary very much brand to brand, but in my experience, most places don’t increase their sales on Cyber ​​Monday. At most, they might throw in a prize with your purchase. or add more items to the shopping cart, but usually the discount is the same. So my advice here is the same as above: if you really want something, buy it early. If you’re willing to gamble on the stock, you can wait and see if the discounts change or if a free man is added.

Retailers like Amazon, Nordstrom, and Target will often price-match with deals running on other sites. This can make shopping easier as they will generally have faster and cheaper shipping and/or a more flexible return window. Last year, for example, Nordstrom matched the prices of Casper and Our Place.

Shoppers no longer have to camp outside a JCPenney or Walmart to buy a washing machine or TV on sale. The deals have simply moved online, where you can find the best deals of the year on appliances and technology. Best Buy and Target are both good places to start, especially if you’re looking for Apple tech or even a high-end vacuum cleaner.

“Almost every year since I started covering technology in 2017, at least ten people ask me what technology they should hold off on buying until Black Friday,” Jordan McMahon wrote in his Post last year’s Black Friday tech sales. His answer is: get the expensive technology, like HEADSET, TABLETSor game consoles. “You probably won’t find a better deal than the ones on offer this week,” he says. Last year, we saw great deals at individual retailers like JBL, Sonos, and Dyson, as well as tons of discounts at mega-retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Target.

“Amazon always has significant discounts on its own products, such as Kindle sites and Echo devices—I always wait until this time of year when I need to upgrade one of my e-readers,” says McMahon.

Technology is one category you should definitely check for price matching though. Last year, Apple did not discount its products, but instead offered gift cards of various amounts with the purchase of a product. Target, Best Buy and Amazon, however, offered direct discounts on Apple products. The best place to buy depends on what you want – money now or later – but it’s worth comparing and considering before paying.

Last year, several streaming services offered deep 12-month discounts during Black Friday. Hulu, for example, was just 99 cents a month when you signed up during Black Friday (it’s normally at least $8 a month), and Paramount+ was only $2 a month (down from 6 USD). If you weren’t sure if another streaming service was worth it, now is a good time to subscribe and try it out for cheap.

As is usually the case during holiday sales, tons of clothes are significantly reduced. Last year, Madewell offered 50% off their entire site, which was the best deal we’ve ever seen from the brand. (Its sitewide discounts are normally capped at 40 percent.) sale of Lululemon it’s always popular, too, with men’s and women’s items up to 70 percent off. The sheer volume can be a bit overwhelming, which is why our fashion writer Amber Pardilla will only sniff the good deals. As he finished past yearsit will aggregate the best deals, organized by merchant, making it easy to compare discounts and find the best.

According to the senior writer Liza Corsillothe big three—Amazon, Target, and Walmart—have the most extensive deals on toys during Black Friday. Last year, he found dozens of options for more than 50% off at each of the retailers. But don’t limit yourself to the three. Smaller, independent brands like Fat Brain Toys and Maisonette, for example, also had good (and sometimes better) sales, with up to 60 or 70% off certain toys.

Lots of beauty brands discount products by up to 20 percent year-round, but almost always up to 25 or 30 percent off for Black Friday. “I always use it as an opportunity to stock up on my favorite beauty products, buy gifts for loved ones, and try out new products I’ve been eyeing throughout the year,” says the writer. Tembe Denton-Hurston. It’s a particularly good time to shop Sephorabecause it rarely has sales. Last year it offered up to 50% off brands like Tarte, Topicals and Kiehl’s, and there were flash deals that changed daily.

This value-sized moisturizer from First Aid Beauty was nearly 60% off last year at Sephora.

If you keep up with my year-round coverage of mattress salesyou know the mattresses are ever on sale. While a typical discount at any given time is around 15 to 20 percent, Black Friday seems to be one of the only times when mattress brands increase the savings, usually by an additional 5 percent.

$1,699

$1,999

now 15% discount

$1,405

$1,874

now 25% off

Yes, all the big brands will have sales, but so will smaller businesses — and they often don’t wait for Small Business Saturday to roll out. Salter House never has sales, but I bought this nightgown while it was a rare 20 percent off Black Friday last year.

If this year is anything like the last few, quite a few retailers will be extending their sales and turning the entire first week of December into a full cyber week. The discounts won’t change, but brands might offer a free gift with purchase to convince you to check out.

Strategist is designed to show helpful, expert recommendations for things to buy in the vast e-commerce landscape. Each product is independently selected by our team of editors, which you can read about Here. We update links when possible, but please note that offers may expire and all prices are subject to change.