Brad

thanks everyone. i guess that makes the decision easy. saves me some time, lol.

Just throwing this out there... how many of you would find copies of previous year's ad scans useful? We have the text lists of the ad items from 2003-2009 posted at all times, but we take the scans down a few days after BF each year. I have full Black Friday newspapers from the past 3-4 years (and a large-format scanner to make scanning easier), but I don't know if it would be worth the time to scan and post these older ads. These would be clean scans of the final ad, not poor photos or chopped up scans like some of the leaked ones we normally post. So let me know what you think. Are these pretty much useless by now? Should I scan them? Just scan the "main" stores?

Update: there were some questions about Target.com not being on the list. We had some technical issues with Target that have since been fixed, so Target.com is back on the list. Any deals posted in the last few days for Target will still count as well, even though it was missing from the list.

Remind me by sending me a PM every month or so and if I'm not too swamped with BF duties, I'll post an update. Both will count unless the original clearance thread already had that individual item listed inside.

A lot of people picking Ace... in past years they have sent letters saying we couldn't post their ad early, but that they'd send a final copy as soon as it was ready...

And of course now the server move has been postponed until Thursday night (not my idea, lol)

Yeah.... sorry about that We're moving to the Black Friday server cluster tomorrow night, so to prepare for that I deleted a bunch of old threads. These were primarily old/expired deals, contests, freebies, surveys, etc... that were at least a year old. This helped make the database a little smaller, which means less downtime tomorrow night and in December when we move back, and it should have a slight overall improvement as far as the performance of the site. So that explains your (and many others) drop in post count. I only do this once per year, so when you hit 5,000 again, it should stick :)

Also, since we always seem to get comments about just how hard it is to find/post deals, here are some tips/examples: Title: if you are posting a deal for a specific item, list the item, price and store. Examples: "KitchenAid 5-qt. Stand Mixer - $199.00 @ Kmart.com" or "Apple iPod Touch 16GB $289 shipped (Walmart)". Whatever format you want to do is fine, just try to have those 3 pieces of info in the title. If you are posting a deal for a sale or other general promotion (not just a specific item), just be descriptive and be sure to mention the store in the title. Examples: "Extra 30% off clearance at Old Navy until 11/1" or "Buy 1 Get 1 Free Video Games @ ToysRUs.com this week" Message: The main thing in the actual message is to include a link. If you are posting a deal for a specific item, paste a link to that item. If your deal is for a sale or a general offer, just post a link to the store's home page. Anything else you want to include besides the link is 'icing on the cake'. If you know how to post pics and want to include a pic, great. If you want to include information such as features, descriptions, list price, etc... that's great. But again, the link is the important part because anyone viewing your deal can see all the other info by just clicking on that link. If your deal requires the use of a coupon code, be sure to post those codes as well. We have hundreds of coupons here: http://www.gottadeal.com/Coupons so be sure to check that page to see if your deal can be made hotter with a coupon. Where to find deals: you can find deals to post anywhere. You might find something that is a great deal just browsing on a store's web site. You can find them on other deal forums or sites as well. Just be sure that you post a deal found elsewhere in your own words. We don't tolerate directly copying and pasting deal titles/posts directly from other sites. Borrowing deals is fine (they do it from us), just make sure you make it your own. Twitter is another good source for deals. Maybe some of our more prolific deal posters can add some of their tips for finding deals here too.

Mistake?

Yes. When the previous contest ended back on 9/5, I posted in that thread that while I wouldn't have the official thread for the new contest posted for a few weeks (needed some time to get the prizes figured out), any deals posted from that point forward would count towards the holiday contest. So the details were announced tonight, but any deals posted from 9/5 to today count (as long as they meet the other criteria).

I hope there aren't any ads until November. I'd love to go all of October without having to type up any ads

OK, we've done this one before and it's always been fun: simply reply to this thread with your guess for the date and store for the first ad to be posted on the Black Friday site. Only post one guess and if you edit your post more than 10 minutes after your initial post, your entry won't count, so make your best guess now! For help, view this chart for 2006-2009 dates: http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/images/dates.png I'll accept entries until Wednesday at 12:00pm ET. At that point I'll randomly select 5 people who posted their prediction and they'll win a Black Friday t-shirt. If anyone ends up being correct on both the date and store for the first ad, I'll send you a full GD prize pack with another GD shirt, reusable grocery bags and much more GD swag. If more than one person is correct, you all win prize packs. We'll use eastern time zone to determine which day a late-night ad is posted on. And while I've got your attention, check out our big Holiday Giveaway where you can win great prizes like an iPad, Kindle, Wii, KitchenAid mixer, Amazon.com shopping sprees, gift cards and much more. Over $2,500 in prizes and all you have to do to get an entry is post a deal here on the forum. Good luck to everyone!

Now you know why I never made comparison charts an official part of the BF site, lol. No way I had time for all that

GottaDeal.com 2010 Holiday Giveaway! POST DEALS & WIN AMAZING PRIZES! http://www.gottadeal.com/images/giveaway.png Introducing the GottaDeal.com 2010 Holiday Giveaway! We're giving away some great prizes this year and all you have to do to be eligible to win is to post deals here on the forum - it's that easy! Over the next few months, we are going to award giveaway entries to forum members who post qualifying deals in the Online Hot Deals forum. You can earn a maximum of 10 entries per day - one for each qualifying deal you post. See below for details about what makes a deal a "qualifying" deal. At the end of the contest period, we will randomly select 15 winners. The first winner chosen will be able to choose any of the prizes. The second winner chosen will have their choice of the remaining prizes, and so on... CONTEST PRIZES Apple iPad 16GB WiFi Edition Tablet $400 Amazon.com Shopping SpreeKitchenAid Artisan Series Stand MixerAmazon Kindle WiFi eBook ReaderApple iPod touch 8GB MP3/Video PlayerNintendo Wii Video Game SystemKeurig Elite Home Coffee Brewing System$100 Amazon.com Shopping SpreePandigital Digital Photo Frame Snow Globe$200 Gift Card to Your Choice of Store$150 Gift Card to Your Choice of Store$100 Gift Card to Your Choice of Store$50 Gift Card to Your Choice of StoreGottaDeal.com Deluxe Merchandise PackLimited Edition GottaDeal.com Snuggie OFFICIAL RULES Promotion period begins on September 6, 2010 at 12:00am ET and ends on December 12, 2010 at 10:00pm ET. All registered GottaDeal.com forum members are eligible to participate in this promotion, including moderators. Members found to have created multiple forum accounts to accumulate additional entries will be disqualified. You will receive one entry for each qualifying deal posted in the Online Hot Deals forum during the contest. List of partner stores may change during contest. Deals will count if the store is on the list when the deal is posted.Only your first 10 qualifying deal threads will earn you entries each day, although we appreciate extra deals. Each daily period starts at 12:00am and ends at 11:59pm ET, so time when you post your deals accordingly. Limit one prize per forum member. Once someone has been chosen as a winner, their remaining entries will be removed.Winners will be contacted via private message to claim their prize. Be sure to check your PMs after the contest ends. If a prize is not claimed within 28 days, it will be forfeited and likely used as a prize in the next contest. QUALIFYING DEALS In order for a deal thread to qualify for an entry for this promotion, it must satisfy ALL of the following criteria: 1. The thread's title must include the name of the retailer the deal is for. 2. The post must contain a link, even if it's just a link to the retailer's home page. 3. The deal must be from one of our partner retailers (see complete list here). 4. The deal must must be unique and not be a repost of a recently posted deal. We reserve the right to disqualify any deal for any reason. Besides these mandatory criteria, we also ask that you be as descriptive as possible in your thread title. Where possible, include an image in your post. If there is a specific method to get the deal, provide step-by-step instructions. If a coupon code is needed, be sure to include the code in your post. Please do not directly copy and paste deals from other sites - you may "borrow" the deal, but type the title and post in your own words. Directly copied posts may be disqualified. MORE HELPFUL HINTS Please search before posting a deal. Re-posted deals will be deleted.Make sure your deal is a legit deal and not just "filler" to earn an entry.Check the list of partner retailers - some major stores are not yet eligible.Combine deals if possible. Similar deals from same store may be merged.Please take the time to read this entire post - it will save you time. *** CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE QUALIFYING PARTNER RETAILERS ***

We should have this year's thread posted soon...

When they can't show a price until you go through checkout, there is usually something legally preventing them, such as a minimum advertised price set by a manufacturer. They can't show a price lower than $XX, so they make you actually go through the checkout process to show the price, which is somehow OK, lol.

Flat-screen TV prices to plunge for holiday season http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/23/technology/lcd_tv_prices/index.htm

Info is here: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?182523-Dates-Ads-Were-Posted-(2006-2009)-amp-Ad-Item-Lists-(2003-2009)

Just a reminder that we have a big thread in the online deals sub-forum where you can find out the latest coupons (and post any new codes that you find). That threads is especially handy as Black Friday gets closer and the deals from Kohl's get better... View that thread here: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?150164-Official-Kohls.com-Kohl-s-Online-Coupon-Code-Discussion-Thread

Here are the dates (according to our records) when various ads were posted during the past 5 years: http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/images/dates.png 2010 Ads # 10/7 - Half Price Books # 10/18 - Harbor Freight # 10/22 - True Value # 10/26 - Ace Hardware # 10/28 - Freds # 11/3 - Gander Mountain # 11/4 - Bass Pro Shops # 11/4 - Kohl's # 11/5 - Sears # 11/6 - Walgreens # 11/7 - CVS Pharmacy # 11/7 - Macy's # 11/7 - Express # 11/8 - Tanger Outlets # 11/8 - Lowe's # 11/9 - AAFES # 11/9 - Target # 11/10 - RadioShack # 11/10 - RiteAid # 11/11 - Michael's # 11/11 - Toys R Us # 11/11 - Hastings # 11/11 - JCPenney # 11/11 - Costco # 11/11 - Sam's Club # 11/11 - Meijer # 11/12 - Best Buy # 11/13 - BJ's Wholesale # 11/14 - Menard's # 11/14 - Office Depot # 11/14 - AJ Wright # 11/15 - Big Lots # 11/15 - OfficeMax # 11/15 - Shopko # 11/15 - Walmart # 11/15 - Staples # 11/15 - Tractor Supply # 11/15 - Navy Exchange # 11/15 - Modell's # 11/16 - Kmart # 11/16 - JoAnn Fabric # 11/16 - Pep Boys # 11/17 - Cabela's # 11/17 - Dick's Sporting Goods # 11/17 - hhgregg # 11/18 - PetSmart # 11/18 - Burlington Coat Factory # 11/19 - Sports Authority # 11/19 - GameStop # 11/20 - Guitar Center And here are links to text lists of the items in the ads (at least the ones in our database) dating back to 2003: http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2003.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2004.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2005.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2006.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2007.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2008.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2009.txt http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/2010.txt

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Our Walmart affiliate rep let me know today that I'd be once again hearing from our good friends at their legal rep's office about their BF ad very soon, lol. As with the past 2 years, they won't let us post the ad until 11/21 (the Sunday before BF). Before you get too upset (and make your annual pledge never shop at WM again ), don't be surprised if they let us post it earlier than that, basically as soon as it is first leaked. Say what you want about them, but the last 2 years they realized that they shouldn't punish sites that play by the rules when the ad is available elsewhere and have let us post it within a day or so of it being first leaked.

finally a new free shipping coupon. http://www.gottadeal.com/Coupons/Store/Kohlscom

There you all go - anyone who volunteered to help with the database stuff for the BF ads should contact SC about helping him as well. I've received so many responses that the majority of those who have volunteered simply won't be needed because there is only so much work and so many ads that we need help with, so if you want to help out, SC has another opportunity for you. And to those of you who claim all the deals get posted before you can, I don't believe that for a second We have very few deals posted on here compared to other sites. So go steal those deals if you have to! Keep in mind that our big holiday giveaway which will be announced very soon always involves posting deals, so if you want to increase your chances, learn how to find and post deals!

Great response so far. If only we could get as many volunteers to post deals here on the forum on a regular basis.... (hint hint)