Black Friday is upon us — the day we give into our inner animal instinct for the almighty bargain. But many people don’t know how to win at Black Friday and lose out on the big sale. Shopping expert Mark Ellwood, the author of “BARGAIN FEVER: How to Shop in a Discounted World,” gives us the scoop on landing all the big deals. His mantra? Never pay full price for anything ever again. Here are his secret tips for shopping both in store and online:
1. Target what you want TODAY
Stalk the racks today, before the sales start, to work out what you really want. “You need to go into the store on Wednesday and take photos of everything you want to pick up on Friday,” Ellwood says. This way you will avoid buying stock that the store pushes out on Friday just to get rid of it. “Most of the stock for Friday is brought in just for that day. You don’t want to get suckered into buying a fake bargain.”
2. Be friendly — and assertive
When shopping in store, become friends with a sales associate and don’t ever be too shy to ask for a discount. “You would be astonished how many secret sales you can unearth just by being polite,” Ellwood says. “Tell them you want them to be your personal sales assistant, so they can make a commission off you.” Sales associates often hold the best deals in the back for their favorite, regular customers. Why not try and become one?
3. Shop for home goods and coats
Ellwood advises looking for pots and pans, because stores want to get rid of bulky housewares that take up the most room on their shop floors. “On Black Friday cookware will be deeply discounted. Pots and pans are bulky and they want to move the inventory out of there quickly.” And for practical reasons, grab a coat. “This year will be the coldest winter since 1962,” Ellwood predicts. “Coats won’t go on sale again until January.”
4. Close your browser — and score a bigger deal
If you’re shopping online and you don’t buy the items in your cart within the first 10 minutes, the retailer will likely reward you with an even bigger deal. “You have to register with a site, put all that stuff into a cart and close the browser,” Ellwood says. If you close the browser, the retailer will often send you an offer for a coupon code or free shipping to further entice you to buy.
5. Make use of your apps
Turn to sites like Shop-It-To-Me and PoachIt to win deep discounts on coveted goods. Shop-It-To-Me does all the bargain research for you. Simply tell it what you want to buy from different retailers at the price you want to pay, and you’ll be alerted each the item goes on sale. PoachIt, meanwhile, gives you coupon codes for retailers when you’re shopping on their sites. Ellwood says he once scored an extra 20 percent off while browsing KateSpade.com through PoachIt. “I use the PoachIt app whenever I shop online,” he says. “When you order something and hit the button it will display every coupon available on the internet.”
6. Twitter stalk your deals
Follow your favorite sellers on social media. And check out twitter feeds like @slickdeals and @dealnews that tell you where the best deals are each day. “These twitter accounts literally forward the promos directly to you,” Ellwood says. “All your favorite brands do it, too.”
7. Clear the cache
While it’s good to follow your favorite brands around the web, you probably don’t want them following you. A loaded browser with history of your favorite items can be death to a good sale. “You never want the store to know too much about you. Online shops use your personal information to customize pricing,” he said. “When you’re shopping somewhere like Amazon.com or any other retailer always use Google Chrome in Incognito Mode.”