Black Friday Deals Have Already Started: Have You Started Shopping?

Mike Flacy — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 03:00:43 +0000

It’s aggressive out in the world of retail, ladies and gents. Due to the shortened shopping season, retailers have been quietly pushing out Black Friday quality deals all month and it’s only going to become more intense this weekend. Walmart will be price matching specific competitor deals starting on Friday morning (Nov. 22nd at 8 a.m. EST) in-stores and online.

Sears and Kmart are rolling out exclusive sets of deals for rewards customers starting on Friday night at Sears (7 p.m. CST) and Sunday at Kmart (12:01 a.m. CST). The Disney Store is planning sales up to 50% off on Friday at midnight. In addition, Best Buy is running a pre-sale this week and Target is running a Toy sale as well.

Analysts at Time and Bloomberg are attributing this overly aggressive behavior to the fewer number of days between Black Friday and Christmas this year as well as slow growth in disposable incomes and low consumer confidence.

You just need to look through the Ben’s Hottest Deal feed to see how aggressive it’s already been. Some of the killer deals (now expired) that have been quietly rolled out over the past several days included:

Microsoft Surface Pro at Staples: 40% off MSRP at $549 (Amazon Price: $725).
Apple iPhone 5S at AT&T: 50% off Contract Price at $100 (Apple Price: $199).
Lexar 64GB Memory Card at Office Depot: 66% off MSRP at $20 (Amazon Price: $49)
Samsung 120GB SSD at Tiger Direct: 53% off MSRP at $66 (Amazon Price: $99)
Kenneth Cole Suits at Macy’s: 71% off MSRP at $99 (Regular Sale Price: $170)
Melissa & Doug Kitchen at Toys R Us: 60% off MSRP at $49 (Regular Sale Price $85)

Unleash the Dogs Deals of War!

According to Ben’s Bargains managing editor Joe Warner, this is only the tip of the iceberg for potential sales this weekend. He said that Walmart’s early warning shot at its competitors this Friday may just rock the boat even more. Since it’s likely that major online retailers like Amazon will respond with even more aggressive sales, multiple editors at Ben’s Bargains will be monitoring all the competitive responses during the weekend.

Want to be ready for all the upcoming weekend deals? Be sure to watch the Ben’s home page deal feed for the latest deals as well as our Black Friday deal feed on the Black Friday Hub. You can also check out the six tips at the end of this article for even more help on getting the most out of Ben’s Bargains. Happy deal hunting!

Ben’s Home Page Deal Feed Ben’s Black Friday Hub

Bonus Pro Tip: Want to get a an even bigger discount on these early sales and Black Friday doorbusters? There have been tons of deals this month on discounted gift cards. For example, eBay recently ran a promotion for a $100 Lowes gift card for $80.

Combine that with a Black Friday deal at Lowes, like the $149 DeWalt 20-volt cordless drill on sale for $99, and you’ve increased your overall discount from 33% to nearly 50%!

Black Friday Deals Have Already Started: Have You Started Shopping?