7 Black Friday Shopping Tips: Find the Best Savings on Tech Deals

Black Friday shopping tips for finding the best deals

Everybody knows that peak shopping season in the US happens during the end of the year Holidays. Particularly, you're bound to find some sort of deal, discount, sale or 'doorbuster' on the most popular electronics and tech around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  With all these retailers throwing ads at you left and right, how can you be sure you're finding the best price? Here are our top tips to help you find Black Friday deals that you and your wallet won't regret.

At Back Market, we've made it our mission to offer Black Friday deals every day of the year, so don't worry if you miss the biggest sales this Holiday season. You can rest easy and sleep in after Thanksgiving if you plan on shopping on Back Market.

#1: Be flexible

Maybe you really want a Black Friday iPhone deal but don’t quite want to pay the price of $999 or more for Apple's newest iPhone. Unfortunately, Apple and other manufacturers almost never promote discounts and sales throughout the year, nonetheless on Black Friday. The sales you’ll see are usually from big retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, WalMart or Target who are able to drop prices on their old or overstocked items. If you’re looking for smartphones, you’ll also be able to look for deals through network carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, but you’ll likely have to sign a long term contract or trade-in your current phone to land a discount.

If you’re still not happy with the offers from big retailers and carriers, you should consider keeping your options flexible and buying refurbished or ‘reborn’ tech as we like to refer to it. The used and refurbished market may give you deals that you didn’t even think were possible. For example, we frequently have discounts up to 30-70% on refurbished electronics on Back Market. And even if it isn't Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you'll be able to find a better deal year-round on the refurbished market.

#2: Don’t give up

Maybe you just found out that the Black Friday tech deal you were eyeing is no longer valid. In fact, retailers will usually advertise a truly remarkable discount on an item, but only offer that for the first hand-full of sales. It’s a tactic to drive more shoppers to them even though very few people will get the best deal. Don’t get frustrated over one lost deal. There are many other products and offers that can take its place and there’s a good chance that you’ll still end up saving money if you keep looking.

And if you're open to buying refurbished, chances are that you'll be able to find a ton of other deals that can replace that special one that you were thinking about.

#3: Keep your options open

Your chances of finding a jaw-dropping deal will substantially increase if you keep more than one brand in mind when you’re shopping. If you want the best deal on wireless headphones, for example, don’t just look at Black Friday deals on AirPods. You may be a lifelong Apple fan, but what if I told you that brands like Beats by Dr, Sennheiser, Sony, and Bose offer products that are just as good—if not better—than what Apple has to offer, except you may not be familiar with them.

#4: Research early and often

If you truly want to find the deal that you can brag about, chances are you’re going to need to spend some time researching and comparing prices on your favorite tech. Over the years, sites have been advertising discounts earlier and earlier leading up to Black Friday, so you’ll need to stay on top of offer announcements throughout November and even during mid to late October.

That said, the savings during the week of Black Friday and day-of are still the biggest on average. If you plan on buying in this time frame, you just need to make sure you know what prices to expect so you can confidently make a purchase or move onto the next store or site. It’s also useful to know the original retail or recommended list price provided by the manufacturer, so you can be sure you’re actually getting a good discount.

#5 Don’t always trust the advertised discount percentage

This might be more apparent if you’ve done your research properly, but there’s a tricky strategy that sellers like to implement over the Holidays. Leading up to Black Friday, some stores will increase their prices to make their advertised discounts more appealing. Moreover, you should look out for any fine print on these ads - language like “limited-quantity” or “with eligible purchase” could indicate that it’ll be harder to get this deal or you’ll need to spend more in order to get the deal.

#6 Create a budget and be decisive

Every Holiday you will surely be bombarded with a myriad of advertisements on TV, radio, in the mail, through social media and directly to your email. It can understandably be very overwhelming! However, you can cut out some of that stress if you’re prepared with a budget and a list of your favorite products. 

Retailers design their marketing with the intention of making you buy impulsively and more than you expected to. The advice here is to simply stick to your budget - if you know you can’t spend more than $200, then don’t give into that extra deal that will put you over that mark just because “it’s too good to pass up.” Also, if you’re able to prioritize your wishlist, you’ll have an easier time deciding on which items to buy and which ones to leave on the shelf.

Alternatively, if you have a bigger budget available after the Holidays when there are less deals around, you can always shop at Back Market for discounts every day on smartphones, laptops, game consoles, smartwatches and much much more.

#7 Save more when you trade-in or sell your old device

It’s no surprise that carriers like Verizon often offer huge discounts on new phones when you trade in your old one. But it’s hard to get the maximum discount unless you have the top version of last year's smartphone to trade-in or unless you’re ready to sign a 1 to 2 year contract. However, refurbished sites such as Back Market also offer Trade-in program where you can sell your old tech or use it as a trade-in to save more on another purchase.

Not only is this great for your budget, but it also has a huge positive impact on the environment when we’re able to reduce our e-waste and decrease our consumption of raw materials used in making brand new electronics. So make sure to check with your favorite retailer if they can buy your old smartphone, tablet, or gaming console to see if you can save more. And if they don’t, you can always sell your old tech to us :)

One last thing before you go shopping

We hope you’re able to find a deal this Black Friday or Cyber Monday that makes you feel like you really lucked out. And if you're not quite ready to buy or if you want to see bigger discounts on a product you really want, keep checking back on the refurbished market--you'll see deals year-round. If you keep these seven tips in mind, we’re sure you’ll be able to find a really extraordinary bargain. Good luck!