Looking for the best deals before your next trip to the store with the big red bullseye on it? We’ve identified some of the best products that you can find on sale at Target as well as some of the worst that you will want to avoid. These picks are based on the average discounts as well as the potential for additional coupons.

Target’s Five Best:

1. Toys

5 Best / 5 Worst Products to Find on Sale at Target

Possibly planning ahead for another surprise October Prime Day (like during 2020), Target has announced a pre-November, Black Friday-style event that will kick off the retailer’s push into the holiday shopping season. Deals will be available on the store’s website, on the app and within physical Target locations.

As of publication, Target hasn’t released a significant number of details on what will be on sale during the Deal Days even beyond mentioning categories like TVs, video games, kitchen appliances and vacuums. There’s no cost to participate in Deal Days as it does not require a membership like Amazon & Prime Day.

October 10 is also the kick-off date for Target’s, limited-time, price matching event. Any Target purchases made between October 10 and December 24 can receive a price adjustment if Target offers a lower price later in the holiday season. In addition, Target offers competitor price matching for 14 days after the date of purchase.

Saving even more on Target Deal Days

As always, we advise setting up your Target account prior to Deal Days to make sure you have quick access to checkout options, in the case of hot, limited inventory deals.

• If you have a RedCard, you can receive an additional 5% off your Target purchases. In addition, there’s frequently a deal that offers a bonus $40 to $50 gift card for signing up for a card. (For example)
• If you have a Discover IT card, you can sign up for an additional 5% cashback from Target during Q4. In addition, that card offers 5% cashback on Amazon and Walmart.com.
• Be sure to check Target Circle and look for additional 10% coupons that bring the overall cost down even further. These coupons are usually targeted at specific accounts.
• Look for deals that offer additional gift cards as a bonus for purchasing. Target frequently uses this tactic during Black Friday in order to entice customers away from competitors like Walmart and Best Buy.

Target schedules “Deal Days” event during October 10 – 12, 2021

If you are interested in snagging Prime Day deals (or deals at all the other competing sales), here’s a guide that will help you be online at the right times.

Already Active: Best Buy

Best Buy has been relatively quiet this year. Last year, Best Buy announced a competing sale one week before Prime Day. This year, radio silence. On Sunday, they launched “The Bigger Deal Savings Event” which is expected to run through the end of Prime Day on June 22.

Our assumption is that more impressive deals will roll out from Best Buy as we get closer to Prime Day, likely on Sunday. We will be listing all the best deals in the Best Buy specific feed.

Live on June 20: Target

Starting on Sunday June 20 and running through Tuesday June 22, Target will continue their trend of competing with Prime Day sales with a digital sale event. Target will be pushing out sales on electronics, home items, essentials, toys and more. 

Unlike Prime Day deals, there’s no membership required to access the discounted pricing. Target is also offering the ability to visit a Target store to pick up your purchase, assuming you prefer to get it immediately rather than wait for a delivery.

As of publication, Target hasn’t announced what specific items will be on sale. It’s possible Target will release that information as we get closer to the launch of the sale. You will be able to find all the best Target deals in our Target-specific store feed here.

Live at 7 p.m. ET on June 20: Walmart

Starting on Sunday June 20 (at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT) and running through Tuesday June 23, Walmart is calling their sale “Deals for Days”. Walmart is claiming to offer “Black Friday savings” on categories like electronics, home, toys, beauty, and fashion. This will include online only deals as well as specific in-store savings.

Some of the announced sales include a 40″ Hisense Roku LED TV for $178, a Straight Talk A32 5G Phone for $199, a Pioneer Woman 14-pc. Forged Cutlery Knife Block Set for $40 and a HP 11.6” Chromebook 4GB RAM for $159. There will also be apparel discounts on Reebok, Champion, Skechers, Levi’s, and Michael Kors products ranging from 20% to 70%.

Of course, you can find all the best sales here in our Walmart-specific deal feed.

Live at 12 a.m. PT June 21: Amazon, Newegg & Kohl’s

There have been a handful of early deals released by Amazon already. Here’s a link detailing all the sales:

• Early Prime Day Offers at Amazon
• Amazon Prime Select Streaming Channels for $0.99
• $10 Prime Day Shopping Credit w/ Select Purchases $10+

When the sale kicks off, you will find all deals listed on the main Amazon Prime Day page. In addition, we will be featuring the best deals and discounts in our Amazon-specific feed.

Calling this promotion the Fantastech Sale, Newegg currently has a presale going that will end at when the Fantastech Sale starts. There’s zero information on the deals Newegg will be offering during the main Fantastech Sale, but you will be able to see the absolute best offers in our Newegg-specific deal feed.

Kohl’s is calling their sale the WOW Deals event. Their customers will earn $10 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent on purchases, potentially offering better deals than Amazon if there’s significant pricematching.

Some of the early announced deals include the Google Nest Hello Video Doorbell for $150 (with $30 in Kohl’s Cash), the Shark ION Wi-Fi Connected Robotic Vacuum for $200 (with $30 Kohl’s Cash), and the  PowerXL Vortex 10-qt Air Fryer Pro for $100 (with $10 Kohl’s Cash). You will be able to see the best offers in our Kohl’s specific deal feed.

Here are the times when Prime Day 2021 & other competing sales start

Starting on Sunday June 20 and running through Tuesday June 22, Target will continue their trend of competing with Prime Day sales with a digital sale event. Target will be pushing out sales on electronics, home items, essentials, toys and more. This is timed to overlap with Amazon Prime Day (June 21 – 22).

Unlike Prime Day deals, there’s no membership required to access the discounted pricing. Target is also offering the ability to visit a Target store to pick up your purchase, assuming you prefer to get it immediately rather than wait for a delivery.

Prior to the sale, Target will be offering a 5% discount on all digital gift card purchases between June 16 and 19. Presumably, this will stack with the RedCard’s 5% cashback offer as well. For example, if you purchase a $100 Target gift card, you will be charged $95. RedCard will give you 5% back on the $95 ($4.75), which results in an overall discount of 9.75%.

As of publication, Target hasn’t announced what specific items will be on sale. It’s possible Target will release that information as we get closer to the launch of the sale. Look for the sale to go live at 12 a.m. PT on Sunday, June 20. It’s possible that Amazon will push to match those discounts when Prime Day launches as well.

You will be able to find all the best Target deals in our Target-specific store feed here.

Target announces digital “Deal Days” sale to compete with Prime Day 2021

Playing off the nostalgia of growing up in the late Eighties / early Nineties, Target is selling an exclusive electronic gizmo that puts an old, familiar game in the palm of your hand.

The handheld Oregon Trail game puts you back in that covered wagon making your away across America in search of a new life in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, circa 1848.

Sure, you could find any number of flash emulators to play this game for free on the Web. But this $25 device comes with ridiculous size buttons, the same found on those enormous keyboards from the decade of Sony Walkmans, Talking Alf and the Back to the Future franchise.

Similar to the 80’s version, you can name all the members of your party; ideal for the tombstones when they inevitably die of dysentery. You can also hunt for food using the directional pad and curse at the game when it only lets you bring back 25 pounds of the 1,000 pound bear you just shot. Speaking of hunting, this version of Oregon trail is more similar to the MS-DOS version than the Apple II, specifically because you can free walk around the hunting map.

The handheld Oregon Trail game is sold exclusively at Target for a price of $25. You can find it online as well as in-store (and likely eBay once the retailer sells out of the production run).

Shut Up And Take My Money: Handheld Oregon Trail Game

If you are interested in snagging Prime Day deals (or deals at all the other competing sales), here’s a guide that will help you be online at the right times.

Already Active: Walmart & Costco

Walmart’s “Big Sale” promotion started Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. PT. We’ve seen some solid sales on lower-end 4K televisions and toys. You can find all some of the best sales here in our Walmart-specific deal feed. Or you can check out the entire sale here.

Costco’s sale started this morning around 10 a.m. PT. We’ve just started to sift through the sale for any major discounts. You can look through the sale items here (requires membership).

Live at 10 p.m. PT: Best Buy

Best Buy’s sale is expected to start at 10 p.m. PT / 1 a.m. ET. There’s little information on what will be included in the sale beyond a Samsung 4K TV, laptops and a portable speaker. All info can be found here. When the sale kicks off, we will be listing the best deals in the Best Buy specific feed.

Just FYI, If you are a My Best Buy member (free to join) and you make a purchase on October 13 or 14 with a “Black Friday Price Guaranteed” on the product page, you will qualify for automatic price adjustments on said item if the price falls below what you paid on or prior to November 28 (Black Friday). Those adjustments will be applied to your payment method by December 14, 2020.

Live at 12 a.m. PT: Amazon, Target, Newegg

There have been a ton of early deals released by Amazon already. Here’s a few links detailing all the early sales:

• Amazon Prime Member Sales & Special Offers
• Early Prime Day Sale: Prime Members Only Coupons
• Amazon Devices Sale (Prime Day 2020)

When the sale kicks off, you will find all deals listed on the main Amazon Prime Day page. In addition, we will be featuring the best deals and discounts in our Amazon-specific feed.

Target will be launching “Deal Days” around the same time as Amazon. Although Target hasn’t specifically announced a start time, it’s likely that Deal Days will start at the same time as Amazon’s sale. You can find more information about Deal Days here and you will be able to find the best sales and discounts in our Target-specific deal feed.

Calling this promotion Fantastech Sale Round 2, Newegg currently has a countdown going that will end at midnight. There’s zero information on the deals Newegg will be offering, but you will be able to see the absolute best offers in our Newegg-specific deal feed.

Here are the times when Prime Day & other competing sales start

Launching on the same two days at Amazon Prime Day (Oct 13 and 14), Target is repeating their yearly tradition of “Deal Days.” Identical to Target’s Deal Days promotion in July 2019, the digital deals will start rolling out as Amazon Prime Day kicks off.

This year, Target is claiming to offer double the total deals as last year. Unfortunately, Target hasn’t elaborated on what specifically will be on sale beyond mentioned deals on electronics, home goods, essential products, toys and items in the Beauty category.

All deals will be available through Target’s contactless Drive up pickup system as well as the Order pickup counter inside the stores. Of course, it’s likely that Amazon will over many same day shipping deals on items, thus eliminating a need to even leave your home.

After Deal Days finishes up, Target will take a pause on offering deals until November 1. After October ends, Target will offer Black Friday deals (one million more than last year) throughout the entire month. Starting on Sunday, November 1, Target will offer week-long deals as well as a barrage of daily deals.

One interesting, pro-consumer tweak to policy this year is that Target customers will be able to request a price adjustment on any item advertised as a “Black Friday deal” between November 1 and December 24. That’s significantly longer than the company’s standard 14-day window to request a price match. Presumably, customers will be able to request the price adjustment at the customer service counters in Target stores, over the phone or online using the Target chat function here.

Regarding other competitors, only Walmart has announced a competing sale. Launching Sunday, October 11, at 7 p.m. ET., Walmart will have a “Big Save” event that will last through Thursday night. The company has release zero details on the volume of deals or what product categories will be covered.

There’s also been radio silence on free shipping promotions. Typically, Target, Walmart and Best Buy (among other retailers) announce free shipping promotions for holiday shopping. We expect those promotions to be more aggressive this year as more consumers have been pushed to online shopping due to the COVID pandemic.

Target announces October “Deal Days” to compete directly with Prime Day

Likely not the last store to announce store closures on Thanksgiving, Target will be closing all stores on Turkey Day for the first time in a decade. Both Walmart and Target have been comparing for in-store shoppers during Thanksgiving for the last several years.

Of course, customers will still be able to shop online on Thanksgiving, likely taking advantage of Black Friday deals as early as 6 p.m. PT on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving.

In addition, Target may extend the traditional November sales push into October, likely as an attempt to compete with Amazon’s Prime Day (rumored to start in early to mid-October). As detailed in Target’s blog post: “Starting in October and continuing throughout the season, you’ll find Target’s lowest prices of the year on items in stores and online.”

Prior to Black Friday, Target typically picks one weekend during November to schedule a weekend flash sale. Target will offer pricing that’s fairly similar to prices offered on Black Friday; mainly on electronics as well as kitchen housewares, home goods and toys.

We wouldn’t be shocked to see similar sales occur in October, either directly competing with Prime Day or staggered throughout late October as an attempt to kick off holiday shopping early.

Following Walmart, Target announces all stores will be closed on Thanksgiving

At Ben’s Bargains, we’ve worked 24/7 for the last two decades to bring you the best deals on the Internet. But for the past two weeks, we’ve also been working to bring attention to items that aren’t necessarily on sale, but simply in-stock and selling out insanely fast due to coronavirus-related demand.

We know many people around the U.S. are having difficulty finding common items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, hand soap, paper towels, tissues as well as medical supplies.  We want to lend you some of our expertise in how we hunt for in-stock home essentials, ideally to help you snag something you need without having to go to a grocery store, drugstore, warehouse club or any other public venue.

1. Look for the bulk options

We’ve discovered that bulk options are shifting in and out of stock more frequently than single-item options. Referencing some of our expired deal posts, this 10-pack of tissues would be a good example of that type of option. We’ve seen this trend occur at Amazon, Walmart, Target and other large retailers on items like 4-packs of hand sanitzer or 3-packs of disinfecting wipes.

On average, you will pay more for a bulk option, but less per item compared to the single-item option. If you won’t have enough space to store a bulk option, consider sharing with your friends or family. You could also take what you need and donate the rest to a charitable organization.

2. Check your local delivery services

One of our deal editors landed a great deal on toilet paper simply by checking to see if Amazon Fresh did delivery in their area. They scored a great price on 24 rolls of toilet paper and never had to leave the house. Amazon is currently working to expand the Amazon Fresh service area as well as increase capacity (currently available in over 2,000 cities, $35 minimum for free delivery).

Another option is Instacart (assuming workers aren’t on strike as of next week, currently available in 40 states, $4 delivery fee on $10+ orders), Walmart Grocery (available in 1,600 cities, $8 to $10 delivery fee) and FreshDirect (available in NY, NJ, CT, PN, DE and Washington D.C., $6 to $16 delivery fee).

It’s possible you may have to order additional products in order to qualify for free shipping minimums when placing these types of orders. Alternatively, we advise you also check through Prime Pantry (an Amazon service for bulk items) to see if Amazon has allotted any inventory specifically for Prime Pantry customers. It’s rumored that Subscribe & Save customers do receive inventory allotments ahead of other customers, assuming you can subscribe while an item is in stock.

3. Use In-Stock Alerts on Retailer Sites

Amazon doesn’t have these, but Walmart definitely does. When you visit a product page on Walmart, you will see a red “Out of Stock” label under the price if it’s sold out. Underneath that, you will find a big, blue “Get In-Stock Alert” button. Click it, enter your email address and you will get an alert when it comes back in-stock.

Target also has this option, but only on select items. Look for the “Notify me when it’s back” button. Target does exclude this option on high-demand items, so it may not appear on all pages for essential items.

4. Use 3rd Party Tracker Sites

There are a handful of in-stock, tracker sites that are useful to reference when trying to find in-demand electronics like the Nintendo Switch. As of a few weeks ago, many of those sites have shifted to tracking in-demand home essentials, everything from cleaning supplies to bulk food items.

Two helpful options are NowInStock and ZooLert. If you bring up one of the product category pages on those sites, you will notice the site tracker updates every minute. It’s literally scanning 20 to 40 product SKUs and updating inventory data as quickly as possible.

5. Simply Be Online

Just like so many of the best online deals, simply being online at the right time can be massively important when searching for deals and especially in-stock items. Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen products stay in-stock as short as two minutes before selling out again!

If you have a job that allows you to work from home, dedicate an alternate screen (secondary laptop, second monitor, tablet, etc…) to monitoring email alerts as well as the Ben’s home page or any additional 3rd party tracker site. You can also sign up for deal alerts on Ben’s and we will fire off an automatic email as soon as a new post appears. We also have a specific category for household essentials.

Organization also helps. Open up an Excel sheet or Google doc and make a list of all the items you need. Add links to those items at your favorite retailers and simply click through the URL list a few times a day. You may get lucky. We advise you to focus on the larger retailers at this time (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc…). We’ve had extremely limited success in finding in-stock items online at smaller retailers.

Good luck and stay safe!

5 Tips on finding in-stock toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other essentials while shopping online

While plenty of retailers have their own credit cards to earn a percentage back on a purchase or 0% interest for 6 to 12 months (along with astronomical interest rates if you don’t pay it off each month), many third party cards offer expanded options for rewards at your favorite retailers during the holiday shopping season.

Here’s a collection of the top 5 cards you should be looking at before the onslaught of November sales

1. Chase Freedom

During the 2019 holiday shopping season, the Chase Freedom card offers 5% back (up to $75 back on $1,500 in purchases) on department stores, PayPal, and Chase Pay (using your smartphone).

There are 25 retailers on the department stores list; the largest being JC Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Sears. Kohl’s strikes us as particularly good, if you don’t have a Kohl’s card. Specifically because you will be able to get Black Friday prices on popular items, but also 5% cashback and the promotional Kohl’s cash off (which is usually $15 on every $50 you spend).

PayPal also jumps out at us, specifically because of the landslide of eBay deals that pop up in November. Ideally, you should combine that with one of eBay’s promotional periods where they offer a 10% – 15% off coupon.

2. Discover it Cashback

During the 2019 holiday shopping season, the Discover it Cashback card offers 5% back (up to $75 back on $1,500 in purchases) at Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.

While Amazon & Target aren’t particularly exciting (both retailers offer 5% cash back cards with no limits), Walmart.com jumps out at us. It’s been particularly difficult to get 5% cashback at Walmart in previous years. Although, Walmart did just partner with Capital One last month to launch a 5% back Walmart Rewards Program.

The 5% discount at Walmart applies to purchases made online (shipped to your home) in addition to purchases made online (ship to store for pickup).

3. Citi Dividend Card

During the 2019 holiday shopping season, the Citi Dividend Card offers 5% back (up to $300 back on $6,000 in purchases) at Best Buy and (currently unnamed) department stores.

While you can definitely get 5% back with a Best Buy card, it’s in rewards that you have to spend at Best Buy, not cashback. Citi’s card could be a better option for someone that’s in the market for a large 4K HDTV on Black Friday, but also wants cashback instead of rewards.

Be aware that the $300 on $6,000 in purchases is specific to the calendar year. If you already earned $200 in rewards using the card during the first 9 months of the year, you would only be able to earn $100 back in the last 3 months.

4. AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Card

During the 2019 holiday shopping season, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card offers 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $360 back on $6,000 in purchases) as well as 6% on streaming subscriptions & 3% on transit.

This card can be particularly useful for anyone that’s hosting huge family gatherings during Thanksgiving / Christmas and needs to drop some serious coin at the supermarket. It’s also good for the entire year (not specific to Q4), thus you can continue to save at the grocery store for 12 months.

The only downside is the $95 annual fee, but that’s easily mitigated with the $250 back on $1000 of purchases for new customers. If you don’t want the annual fee, you can step down to the Blue Cash Everyday card (which offers 3% back at grocery stores, same cap on total purchases).

5. The Best Store Cards

As mentioned earlier, the best store cards are offered by Amazon and Target. Both retailers offer cards that offer 5% cashback without any cap on total purchases for the year. Other benefits include:

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: 5% back on Whole Foods purchases, 2% back at restaurants / gas / drugstores, 1% back on everything else.
• Target RedCard: Free shipping on all Target.com purchases and additional 30 days for returning items.

Other popular Store Cards include:

• Lowe’s Advantage Card: Offers 5% cashback on all purchases. 6 months special financing on $299 or more purchases
• Old Navy Visa Credit Card: Offers a $5 reward for every $100 you spend in an Old Navy / GAP / Banana Republic Store.
• Costco Anywhere Visa Card: Offers 2% back on all Costco purchases, 4% back on gas, 3% back at resturants

Here’s the Top 5 Credit Card Rewards for the 2019 holiday shopping season