Here's Why You Should Be Skeptical of Early Black Friday Sales

With retailers promoting Black November and Early Black Friday sales, you may be tempted to start your holiday shopping early. But should you?
Published
Early BF

Wait... Where Are All the Black Friday 2019 Deals?

Looking for updated info on Black Friday 2019? Check out our Black Friday Sneak Preview, where you'll find all the latest Black Friday ads, rumors, predictions, and more!

SEE ALSO: Black Friday Sneak Preview 2019: See All Our Deal Predictions!

There's only a few weeks left until Black Friday, and you may be starting to get a little anxious. It probably doesn't help that we've been teasing you with our predictions for the deals you can expect this year. So it might be tempting to start shopping sooner, when stores use phrases like "Early Black Friday Sale" or "Black November."

But should you jump at these deals? Our research shows that if you wait things out until Thanksgiving week, you will be rewarded with better deals.

End of November Brings Tons of Editors' Choice Deals

As in past years, November began much like any other month in 2015, with Editors' Choice deals making up 10% to 20% of all deals on an average daily basis. However, that number spiked to 43% the Sunday before Thanksgiving, with EC deals averaging 35% per day for the week.

November began much like any other month in 2015, but the week of Thanksgiving saw more than five times the number of Editors Choice deals as the first three weeks!

If those stats aren't enough to convince you to wait until Black Friday to shop, the sheer numbers should. With an uptick in deals published, the week of Thanksgiving saw more than five times the number of Editors Choice deals as the first three weeks of the month!

Some Stores Have Better Early Deals, Most Won't

The numbers above show the general trend that deals are much better closer to Black Friday. But let's look at some specific stores that advertised "early" November sales.

Last year, Kohl's featured a one-day Black Friday Deals Now Sale on November 10, with prices cut by up to 78%; coupons for an extra 15% off and an additional $10 off were also available. That sale actually produced three times more Editors' Choice deals than Kohl's did on Black Friday itself.

Target held a one-day Black Friday Early Access Sale that promised BF-caliber deals. It did produce some Editors' Choice deals, but Target had about 60% more of them on Black Friday.

SEE ALSO: Have You Fallen for the 12 Biggest Black Friday Myths?

As you can see, avoiding sales in early November is not a hard and fast rule; but most early Black Friday sales won't be as exceptional as what we see during the week of Thanksgiving.

Readers, will you hold out until Black Friday or be lured by early sales? When did you find the best deals last year? Let us know in the comments.

Excited for Black Friday? Check out the DealNews Black Friday hub for the latest updates! You can also subscribe to the DealNews Select Newsletter, download the DealNews apps, or read more buying advice.


Stephen Slaybaugh
Contributing Writer

Stephen has been writing for such national and regional publications as The Village Voice, Paste, The Agit Reader, and The Big Takeover for 20 years. He covered consumer electronics and technology for DealNews from 2013 to 2018.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

Comments

Leave a comment!

or Register