" Black Friday pile used to be SO serious . Now I do n’t even bother . Even online they raise the price to ' drop it . ' "
Over the weekend, a TikTok video exposing sneaky retail practices on Black Friday went mega-viral. Inthe clip, which has been viewed over 38 million times, a shopper pulls the Black Friday sale prices out of their sleeves, revealing normal sale prices beneath that are exactly the same:
Like, not even a dollar lower:
And it just keeps happening:
A representative for Target explained what happened, telling theNew York Postthat the TVs “were on sale before Black Friday as part of our early Black Friday sales.” And to be fair, the tags underneath the Black Friday prices do clearly say “Sale.”
Some people spotted retailers raising prices before Black Friday in an attempt to pass off the regular price as a sale.
And it’s happening online, too.
And people expressed their frustration about how Black Friday in general just isn’t what it once was.
So with retailers changing prices often and sometimes in sneaky ways, how are you supposed to find actual deals? Recently,I talked to Andrea Worochabout just that.
Woroch is a consumer deliverance expert who you may have seen sharing money - saving tip on shows likeTodayandGood Morning America , and she answered all of my Black Friday questions .
First, she recommends using the appFlippto track prices on the items on your holiday shopping list. She likes Flipp because you can “add items to Flipp’s ‘Watch List’ feature to get notified when a deal becomes available for a specific gift on your shopping list.”
Next, she says you’ll want to check out an item’s past prices to help you understand how much it should cost so you’ll have a better sense of when you’re actually getting a deal. “To determine if a Black Friday sale is a good deal, check the product’s historical pricing data using tools likeCamelizer.”
She also shared some tools that can help you compare prices across different retailers. “Comparing prices is also crucial, since you never know which retailer may be offering a deeper discount that day. DownloadPriceBlinkfor instant price comparison when you are shopping online, or use theShopSavvyapp to compare deals in store.”
And finally, she loves using cash back tools that make deals even sweeter. “Use browser tools likeSidekickto get up to 25% cash back from thousands of retailers during Black Friday sales. You can also earn free gift cards to stores like Target and Amazon by scanning receipts using a cash-back app likeFetch.”
