It may not be Halloween quite yet, but before you know it, Christmas songs will be blaring on the radio, and it will be time to start your Yuletide shopping.
While some might be worried about supermarket food shortages during the festive season, there will still be savings to take advantage of come Black Friday.
Shoppers in the UK and beyond will be taking to the shops and heading online in the hope of nabbing themselves a bargain as they look to find the perfect Christmas gifts.
When can you hope to make the most of the seasonal deals this year, and how can you tell if you’re getting a good deal?
When is Black Friday 2021?
Black Friday takes place on Friday, November 26, as it always occurs the Friday following Thanksgiving in the United States.
This will be followed by Cyber Monday on Monday, November 29.
Traditionally, Black Friday discounts end at 11.59pm on the day itself, or when the discounted stock runs out.
However, many big brands now extend their deals over the weekend and in most cases, into the Monday of the following week.
Although Cyber Monday was originally created as the online alternative to Black Friday, deals are now offered online across the entire weekend.
Which retailers will be taking part in Black Friday?
Many sites and shops will start offering promotions in the weeks building up to the day itself, so keep your eyes peeled.
It isn’t yet clear exactly which shops will be taking part in Black Friday, although many UK retailers will offer some kind of promotion, while Amazon often start advertising their discounts often at least one week in advance.
Other retailers who tend to offer savings include Argos, John Lewis, Currys, Tesco, and Boots, along with online clothing stores such as ASOS and PrettyLittleThing.
While some shops – like Marks & Spencer – have traditionally skipped the event, others could follow suit this year as the UK deals with a lorry driver shortage and rising shipping costs.
How to get the best Black Friday deals
One way to establish if you’re getting a good deal or not is to use a price-tracking website or app.
For example, Pricehistory.co.uk tracks prices of products on Argos, while CamelCamelCamel offers the same thing for Amazon data.
By adding the URL of your desired product, you can track its price history and see if it has ever been sold at a lower cost, letting you know if you’re making a genuine saving.
Price Spy is another site that tracks prices across a number of retailers, including Amazon, John Lewis, eBay, and Superdrug.
Along with comparing prices and doing price checks, Which also recommends being wary of retailers when it comes to the so-called ‘was’ price that they are advertising.
In 2020, they found that retailers were often using old RRPs (recommended retail prices) as ‘was’ prices, reflecting the value of the item when it was first released, not its current value.
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