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Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are without a doubt the best days of the year for sales. I should know: I write about sales all year round. Many retailers offer a 20 percent discount here and there throughout the year, but on Black Friday they let loose and increase that discount to 30 or 40 percent in an effort to get your attention at the biggest shopping time of all. If you’re smart about this sale, you can get all your holiday gifting done early and under budget, or just get a few things done for yourself.

But you do need to know when and how to shop. Sometimes it pays to shop early, before everything sells out. Other times it pays to wait until a slightly better discount comes along. To help you navigate the sales, I racked my deal-obsessed brain to come up with a list of tips, including which categories have the best deals, which ones you can safely skip, which deals sell out the fastest, and more.

Shipping is notoriously finicky this time of year, so that’s to be expected always a good idea to order gifts well in advance. Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are an ideal time for this, as they are common So many offers to choose from. I suggest making a list of possible gifts for people on your list in the last few weeks before Cyber ​​Week so that when the sale starts, you can quickly check out what’s on sale. But if you want all-day inspiration, we’re doing a roundup of our favorite gift-worthy Black Friday deals again this year, so be on the lookout.

Last year I went in with the goal of finding the best possible deal on some AirPod Pros because I wanted to gift them to my friend for Christmas. It was one of the few things I bought this weekend.

Black Friday was the only time I saw the Owala FreeSip on sale last year. It makes an excellent gift (even if it’s just for yourself).

Black Friday sales start earlier and earlier every year. Brands used to start sales on the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but competition intensified last year. Brands told me they didn’t start selling until a certain date, but then a competitor announced it are the sale began and other brands would like to follow suit. At this point, it’s more common for sales to start early than not, but they usually don’t get good until about a week after Thanksgiving.

Usually the deals that go live before Black Friday are the same as what you get during the actual Cyber ​​Week, so if there’s something you really want and it’s already on sale, I say you should buy it while it’s on stock is. There is a greater chance that it will sell out than that it will become cheaper. However, there are a few cases where the deal is slightly better – such as 25 percent off instead of 20 – during Black Friday itself, so feel free to wait if you don’t think the item you want will sell out.

The Great Jones sale lasts until December 2, so there’s no reason to wait to start shopping.

If you Doing If you want to shop early, I’m rounding up the best Black Friday sales that have already started here.

Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday sales vary enormous from brand to brand, but in my experience most places don’t increase the discounts on Cyber ​​Monday. At most, they might throw in a free gift with your purchase or add more items to the sales bin, but usually the discount is the same. So my advice here is the same as what I offered above: if you really want something, buy it early. If you’re willing to gamble on stock, you can wait and see if the discount changes or if a freebie is added to the mix.

Retailers like Amazon, Nordstrom, and Target will often price match the deals happening on other sites. This can make shopping easier, as they generally have faster and cheaper shipping and/or a more flexible returns window. For example, last year Nordstrom was a price comparator of Casper and Our Place.

Shoppers no longer have to camp outside a JCPenney or Walmart to buy a washing machine or TV on sale. The deals have simply moved online, where you can find the year’s best discounts on devices and technology. Best Buy and Target are both good places to start, especially if you’re looking for Apple technology or even a high-end vacuum cleaner.

“Almost every year since I started talking tech in 2017, at least ten people have asked me which tech they should put off until Black Friday,” Jordan McMahon wrote in his Black Friday tech sales post last year. His answer is: provide expensive technology, such as headphones, tablets or game consoles. “You probably won’t find a better deal than the ones on offer this week,” he says. Last year we saw great deals at individual retailers like JBL, Sonos, and Dyson, as well as tons of discounts at mega-retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Target.

“Amazon always has significant discounts on its own products, like Kindles and Echo devices. I always wait until this time of year when I need to upgrade one of my e-readers,” says McMahon.

Tech is a category you should definitely visit however, check that the price matches. Last year, Apple did not discount its products, but offered gift cards of varying amounts when purchasing a product. However, Target, Best Buy and Amazon offered outright discounts on Apple products. The best place to buy depends on what you want (money now or later), but it’s worth comparing and considering before you pay.

Last year, several streaming services offered significant twelve-month discounts during Black Friday. For example, Hulu was just 99 cents per month when you subscribed during Black Friday (normally it’s at least $8 per month), and Paramount+ was just $2 per month (down from $6). If you’re not sure if another streaming service is worth it, now’s a good time to subscribe and try it out for cheap.

As is usually the case during the holiday sales, tons clothing is significantly discounted. Last year, Madewell offered 50 percent off sitewide, which was the best deal I’d ever seen from the brand. (Typically, sitewide discounts are 40 percent.) Lululemon’s sale is also always popular, with men’s and women’s items marked down up to 70 percent. However, the sheer volume can be a bit overwhelming, which is why our fashion writer Ambar Pardilla will only sniff out the really good deals. As she has done for the past few years, she compiles the best deals organized by retailer, making it easy to compare discounts and find the best deals.

According to senior writer Liza Corsillo, the big three – Amazon, Target and Walmart – have the most extensive deals on toys during Black Friday. Last year, she found dozens of options at more than 50 percent off at each of the retailers. But don’t limit yourself to these three. For example, smaller, independent brands like Fat Brain Toys and Maisonette also had good (and sometimes even better) discounts, with discounts of up to 60 or 70 percent on certain toys.

Many beauty brands offer discounts of up to 20 percent on products all year round, but during Black Friday they almost always increase that discount to 25 or 30 percent. “I always use it as an opportunity to stock up on my favorite beauty products, buy gifts for loved ones, and try out new products I’ve been eyeing all year,” says writer Tembe Denton-Hurston. It’s an especially good time to shop at Sephora because there are rarely sales. Last year it offered up to 50 percent off brands like Tarte, Topicals and Kiehl’s, and had flash deals that changed daily.

This valuable moisturizer from First Aid Beauty was almost 60 percent cheaper at Sephora last year.

If you follow my year-round mattress sales report, you know that mattresses are too always for sale. While a typical discount at any given time is about 15 to 20 percent, Black Friday seems to be one of the few times mattress brands increase savings, usually by an additional 5 percent.

$1,699

$1,999

now 15% discount

$1,405

$1,874

now 25% discount

Yes, all the big brands are having sales, but so are smaller businesses – and they often don’t wait for Small Business Saturday to go live. Salter House never has a sale, but I bought this nightgown when it had a rare 20 percent discount on Black Friday last year.

If this year is anything like years past, quite a few retailers will be expanding their sales and turning the entire first week of December into a full Cyber ​​Week. The discounts won’t change, but brands can throw in a free gift with purchase to convince you to check out.

The Strategist is designed to provide helpful, expert recommendations on things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Each product is independently selected by our team of editors, which you can read about here. We update links where possible, but note that offers may expire and all prices are subject to change.