Is a One-Day Sale REALLY a Sale?

So this year, I decided to invest some time in researching before shopping on Black Friday. Since the economy is down, discounts and sales can either be great or tricky.

Clothes & Mall
I went to the mall on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, to have a sense of what items are being sold in stores and jot down the prices. I also asked the salesperson working on the floor for the sales item on Black Friday. Old Navy was cool about telling me the deals since their Black Friday sale had been publicly announced through ads. The coolest part is that the guy told me to buy the items now and come back on Friday to price adjust them. So I did. I was able to secure the items I wanted in my size. Other stores were either secretive or not knowledgable. A Gap salesperson told me "the sweater will be on sale, but I can't tell you which one." Turns out their sweaters were 2 for 1 and they weren't all that great. Gap has really disappointed me over the years with their production line. Some other stores were tricky because items that were sold on Black Friday were for same exact price on Wednesday.

Thus, I find it quite funny how people are tricked about coming to the mall on Black Friday thinking they would get great discounts. However, they could have gone on Wednesday, avoided the traffic, and purchased at discounted rates.

Advices: 1) Wait if you can on clothes because they will be cheaper towards Christmas and after Christmas. 2) Dont be hesitant about asking sales people what are on sale. 3) Make sure that you aren't paying the same price or more than the pre-sale price (stores can be tricky)

Electronics
The only electronics I needed to buy this year was a flat television screen for my parents as a Christmas gift. We settled for a 37" Vizio at Costco. I was at Costco comparing prices for televisions and the first thing I did was ask a sales person on the floor. I was pretty lucky because the guy knew everything about the deals. He advised me to buy the 37" Vizio television for 599.99 now and price adjust it with a coupon for $100 off on Friday. $499.99 for a 37" is an awesome deal right now, plus 2 year warranty on top of that. Prices for flat screen tvs may be going down more, but we were content with the buy.

Drugstores Sale:
Walgreens, Long Drugs, Rite Aid, CVS just to name a few. All in all, there are plenty of them out there, but I chose to go to one that had the best deals.

Home Items:
Target and Walmart are the places to go. I saw a mixer for $25 those things go for hundreds if you are into baking. I saw a wooden jewlery armoire for $35. Some board games on sale. They didn't have cranium or taboo though.

Final Advice: Get what you need and compare prices.

It's Simplelicious!
KM