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

Looking for a way to rival Amazon’s popular Prime subscription model, Best Buy is launching a new membership service called Best Buy Beta. This service is going to provide access to exclusive sale pricing, zero shipping costs, and two year protection on some products.

It also includes a concierge service that will answer customer questions 24 hours a day, an extended return window (60-days), no restocking fees on returns and an additional 10% off on all subscriptions billed through Best Buy.

The Best Buy Beta service will be priced at $200 per year (or $180 if the customer has a Best Buy credit card). This new subscription service will replace Best Buy’s “Total Tech Support” membership, effectively adding additional features for roughly the same cost.

Best Buy Beta is already available at some locations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. New locations coming by the end of April will be located in Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee. If the pilot of the service is successful, Best Buy could roll out nationwide to many of the 900+ nationwide locations within the next 12 months.

Exclusive sale pricing could be interesting if Best Buy cuts pricing beyond the online discount added with a free My Best Buy membership. It’s unclear if the additional discounts will be available on the BestBuy.com site though. It’s possible that Best Buy will limit the additional discounts to in-store purchases only, thus increasing foot traffic to retail locations.

At the time of publication, Amazon is currently charging $119-per-year for Amazon Prime service and rival retailer Walmart is charging $98-per-year for the company’s Walmart+ subscription service.

Best Buy launches $200-a-year subscription service in 60 stores

Looking for the best deals before your next trip to the store with all those folks in blue vests? We’ve identified some of the best products that you can find on sale at Walmart as well as some of the worst that you will want to avoid. These picks are based on average discounts as well as the potential for additional coupons used in the transaction.

Walmart’s Five Best

1. Pantry Staples

Walmart has really inexpensive prices on boxed groceries items like cereal, chips, crackers, etc. Bags of cereal are probably the cheapest you’ll find anywhere. Even the premium cereal boxes are significantly less than a traditional grocery store chain.

You can also find additional coupons on pantry supplies at coupons.walmart.com. These can be printed at home and redeemed at the store.

2. Camping Gear / Fitness gear

We see a ton of sales on camping gear from Walmart’s Ozark Trail brand. While frequent campers may want to stick to places like REI, Osark Trail supplies work for anyone going on the occasional car camping trip or simply pitching a tent for the kids in the backyard. The quality is great for the price.

The same advice goes for inexpensive fitness equipment. Ben’s often features deals on inexpensive weightlifting benches, weight sets, etc. This is excellent for anyone who wants to give exercise a try without making a huge financial commitment in equipment.

3. Auto Supplies

In addition to offering inexpensive oil changes, Walmart often offers sales on motor oil as well as car cleaning supplies, detailing kits, etc.

If you are interested in an additional discount, Coupons.com frequently offers printable coupons for $5 to $10 off certain motor oils that are redeemable only at Walmart.

4. Craft & Art Supplies

Walmart has a impressive craft/art supply department, far better than what you can find at Target. You can pick up knitting supplies, beads, even fabric for less than what you’d pay at Michael’s or JoAnn Fabric.

5. LEGOs

Walmart is known for frequently marking down LEGO sets, usually in the 20 to 30 percent range. You can also find great deals in their clearance sections if you remember to check.

These clearance deals are usually not offered online and are very YMMV, totally dependent on location. Some discounts will even reach up to 50 percent on expensive LEGO sets.

Walmart’s Five Worst

1. Organic / Health Food

While Walmart has excellent prices on the common foods in your pantry, the opposite is true for organic food. That includes produce, milk, yogurt, snacks, etc. It’s difficult to find and generally marked up quite a bit.

I’ve heard Walmart has been making an effort to change this, but my experience has been disappointing when you are looking for mostly healthy food items. The same goes for organic baby food; you can find better deals at Target.

2. Clothing

Yes, clothing (and shoes) at Walmart are ridiculously cheap. Unfortunately, they’re also ridiculously cheaply made and generally lacking in the fashion department.

While Target has managed to come up with a nice marriage of low prices and trendy styles (especially in the women’s apparel department), Walmart still has a long way to go.

3. TVs and Laptops

Aside from Black Friday, where Walmart will offer crazy cheap doorbuster prices on off-brand laptops and televisions, Walmart generally doesn’t have the best deals on electronics for the other eleven months of the year. You’re better off getting a deal on a brand-name TV at eBay, Best Buy or Amazon.

Note: The refurbished deals that Walmart offers online can be a good deal on name-brand models. However, be aware some customers have complained about the condition of Walmart’s refurbished products.

4. Walmart-brand Diapers

I once tried a pack of their store brand diapers while on vacation and the quality was truly awful. Cheap? Yes, but definitely not worth the hassle. Target is a much better option for picking up diapers; Amazon as well.

5. Blu-rays / DVDs

Years ago, Walmart used to have the best DVD deals. Specifically, the $5 bin was an easy place to pick up something new to watch. Lately, Walmart isn’t the best place to get a good price on movies, especially new release titles.

You can find much better deals from Amazon (who discounts for people that preorder) and Target (who often includes gift cards with popular new releases).

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

Starting on Friday, December 4, Walmart is removing the $35 minimum order requirement in order to qualify for free next-day and two-day shipping. This new policy is on everything Walmart sells accept for groceries. Grocery orders will still require the $35 shipping minimum.

Walmart Plus launched back during September 2020 as a rival to Amazon Prime. For $98 per year (or monthly at $12.95 a month), Walmart Plus gives subscribers free shipping benefits on a couple hundred thousand items sold on Walmart.

The $35 cart minimum was previously a negative aspect of using Walmart Plus, as Amazon offers free shipping on all Prime-eligible items, regardless of order size. While the service is cheaper than Prime, Walmart Plus also lags behind Amazon Prime significantly in offering additional perks, like the Amazon Instant Video service or free eBooks via Kindle services.

Anyone interested in Walmart+ can sign up for a free, 15-day trial of the service here. Could be handy for holiday gift shopping, especially if Amazon struggles with inventory.

Walmart ends $35+ free shipping requirement for Walmart+ subscribers

Likely looking to reach more online shoppers this year due to the COVID pandemic, retail giant Walmart is taking a new approach to Black Friday sales this year.

Starting on November 4, Walmart will run it’s first “Deals for Days” event for online shoppers. Specifically starting at 7 p.m. ET, customers can visit Walmart.com to find deals like a $88 42-inch UHD Roku TV as we as Hotel Style bath towels on sale for $5.

On November 7, Walmart will release more deals online and in-stores. Some examples include the Magic Bullet Blender for $15 and a 1:6 scale RC truck for $40. Those deals will become available at 12 a.m. ET on the site and in stores at 5 a.m. local time.

On November 11, Walmart’s next event is targeting customers looking for electronics deals in addition to apparel, home and other categories. There isn’t much specificity on what will be on sale though. The same start times apply though. 7 p.m. ET on Nov 11 and 12 a.m. ET on Nov 14 (5 a.m. local time in stores).

On November 25, the pattern will repeat. (This is an identical pattern to Black Friday events in previous years, btw.) Deals will go online at 7 p.m. ET on November 25 and more deals will be dropped on Black Friday at 12 a.m. ET for online & 5 a.m. local time in stores.

Here’s a list of the deal drop times for online shoppers:

• Wed, November 4: 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET
• Sat, November 7: 9 p.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET
• Wed, November 11: 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET
• Sat, November 14: 9 p.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET
• Wed, November 25: 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET
• Fri, November 27: 9 p.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET

Walmart expands Black Friday plans with weekly events in November

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

After testing a grocery delivery service for the past year, Walmart is launching an unlimited delivery service for $98-per-year or $$12.95-per-month (which comes out to $155.40-per-year). Membership will be open to all Walmart customers on Sept 15, 2020 and a 15-day free trial will be available as well.

This service will be available in 4,700 stores. Over 50% of those locations will offer same-day delivery. Other features of Walmart+ include Walmart’s Scan & Go app, a mobile app that lets customers scan items as they shop and checkout using Walmart Pay rather than going to the register. Customers will also get up to 5 cents off a gallon at Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express fuel stations.

That launch of Walmart+ was delayed significantly due to the COVID pandemic. For any customers currently enrolled in the Delivery Unlimited service, those customers will automatically become Walmart+ customers (since both services are priced the same).

While the Walmart+ yearly cost undercuts Amazon Prime’s $119 yearly cost, it’s extremely difficult to match the feature set that comes with Amazon Prime. Beyond quick shipping times, Amazon offers access to a multitude of additional perks like original content on Amazon Video, Amazon Fresh grocery delivery (in some areas), Prime Music streaming, one free Kindle book per month, free games on Twitch Prime, and many other perks.

Walmart launches Walmart+ delivery service, an Amazon Prime competitor

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

Closing for Thanksgiving for the first time in roughly a decade, Walmart has made the decision to give employees the day off prior to one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Black Friday. The same goes for the Sam’s Club warehouse club chain, but that retailer is typically closed for Thanksgiving just like Costco.

The last time Walmart was closed for Thanksgiving was 2010. The retailer opened at midnight, just after Thanksgiving expired. Since 2010, the opening time was pushed earlier and earlier into Thanksgiving. As of holiday 2019, Walmart opened at 6 p.m. local time.

Of course, this shift is unlikely to alter when Walmart offers Black Friday deals online. If anything, it may push the start time to an earlier point in order to expand sales. Last year, Walmart started offering Black Friday prices on the Wed. preceding Thanksgiving at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

Walmart will be open for normal hours on Wednesday and will announce the opening hours for Black Friday at a later date.

It’s likely Walmart will also have to announce some form of crowd control to protect customers against spreading coronavirus when lined up outside stores this year. Best Buy has used a ticket system in the past that assigns doorbusters to people in line to avoid crowds rushing the door at opening.

Walmart will close for Thanksgiving this year