If You're Not Shopping Black Friday This Way, You're Missing Out
- Author: Chris Remington
- Posted: 2024-08-07
In 2020, Black Friday is already looking vastly different than it did in years past. What were once literal "doorbusters" are typically online sales that are scheduled to go live at a certain time. While there are still a few stores that require customers to come into them to get discounts, it's a small minority of businesses. Others require you to show up for curbside pickup and won't ship, but they don't require you to enter the store.
It's easy to see a deal on an item you want, click "Buy Now", and be done. There are so many other ways to save that you can "stack". This means you can take advantage of multiple promotions for the same item. In the best case, you can even profit by ordering something! Here's how it works.
Find the Item You Want
It's always easiest to stack Black Friday promotions at department stores rather than supermarkets or famous online auction sites. This is because these stores usually have a higher default profit margin. Especially if it's an industry that was heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, like a clothing store, you'll have better luck.
Pick out an item you want, then move onto the next step.
Find Promo Codes
Though many sites will advertise that something is deeply discounted, that discount usually can go a bit deeper through the use of promo codes. There are browser extensions that will automatically research these for you. If you prefer, you may also just look up active promo codes for that store and try them. This takes time, but it can majorly pay off in the long run.
Look for Referral Bonuses
Do you know a friend who might be interested in buying something from the same store? Many stores have "refer a friend" bonuses in the form of store credit. A common scheme is that if a friend signs up through your link and places a $25 order, you both get a $10 credit.
Use Online Rebate Services
This tip is one that many shoppers don't utilize. You'll need to research the different rebate services to ensure it isn't a scam. Ideally, you should work with a friend whom you can refer. For example, one prominent online rebate site is offering a $40 cash bonus for both you and a friend you refer when the friend places any order of $40 or more!
Using apps associated with these rebate services can get you even more of your money back. It isn't uncommon to see cash back offers of 14% or more at popular stores! This is, of course, in addition to whatever other discounts you may be receiving.
Take a Look at Your Credit Cards
If you haven't looked at offers from your credit card companies, you could be majorly missing out. Though certain companies are far more generous with offers than others, you will usually be able to find at least something for a store you want. These offers will usually stack with all of the above.
Let's look at an example shopping trip using all of these options.
A Hypothetical Example
Let's say Department Store A has about $200 worth of clothes that is on a Black Friday special for $100. Let's say that you have a credit card offer for $25 off a $100 purchase. Then, let's say your online rebate company is offering a promotional 14% off, and you referred your friend so both of you get a $40 bonus.
Starting at $100, we can deduct the $25 credit card offer. This leaves us at $75, but typically, online rebate companies will give cash back on the full amount. In this case, we would deduct another $14, leaving us at $61. Applying your $40 one-time refer a friend bonus, we are now at only $21. Finally, let's not forget the points most cards accrue; these are usually given at a rate between 1% and 3%. Remember, this is usually applied to the full purchase amount, so let's say we'll get $2 back in normal credit card points.
In this example, we just lowered our $100 purchase from Department Store A to a mere $19, even after sales were taken into account.
The Takeaway
Black Friday has historically been stressful and required physical presence. Now that there's time to stack up promotions, you can take advantage of unprecedented deals as we go through these unprecedented times!
