[What things are you going to bring with you while waiting in line?]

My group usually brings a soccer ball for a little parking lot soccer :). One year we brought a cooler full of beer and entered Best Buy a wee bit tipsy. Unfortunately that was also the year that we were in immediately but had to spend nearly *FOUR HOURS* inside the store waiting to check out even though we had everything in hand nearly instantly. Sobering up in that line wasn't the most fun I've ever had on a Friday .

[Selling tickets for Black Friday items while in line]

Count me in as one of the 'ok to sell' people. This is assuming the person actually waited in line the entire time of course.

 

Is there REALLY anything worth buying a ticket for this year? I mean, come on...

No kidding! Considering how far computer and TV pricing has fallen over the last few years doorbusters simply aren't what they used to be. On BF in 2000 I bought a number of hard drives and after keeping what I needed I easily doubled my money on the others via eBay. Those days are long gone IMO and this year will be the first year I haven't waited all night since 2000. Besides every year the online sales get better and since the crowds at the stores seems to be getting nastier why bother?

[Save 20% on 1 item @ Kmart! Works on BF!!!]

KMART SUCKS! They wouldnt take coupon. They had a memo posted no home electronics. I argued saying a DS is not one & they were jerks.

You're saying they're jerks because they finally realized the error they made and corrected it? Sure it stinks we can't use the coupon any more but to be fair, when was the last time any of us were able to buy PS3's for 20% at *any* other retailer? I just wish I had found out about this weeks ago so I could have bought a system too .

[$199 PC vs $229 Laptop]

If I go to Best Buy 9 AM on Friday am I pretty much guaranteed NOT to get the $229 laptop? Would I have to start standing in line on Thanksgiving?

Since you've been a member of these boards for over a year, and have 100+ posts, I think it's safe to say that you're joking .

 

-Timothy

[What to do to pass the hours waiting outside.]

I have a question for the tent setter upper, what time do you pack up your camp?

It's been my experience that everything typically gets packed up around 2:30 to 3:30am since the line generally starts to condense a bit during that last hour or two. It may be a bit different up north where the cold is a factor.

 

-Timothy

[Vacuum help for BF! Please!]

STAY AWAY from Dirt Devils.

I sold vacuums door to door for nearly a year and I can say with full confidence that Dirt Devils are flat out the *worst* upright available. I always smiled inside when I found out people had one while doing a demo in their home. Everyone loved their's until I showed them all the dirt it left behind. That's the thing with vacuum cleaners. They all seem to to pick up the dirt since they leave vacuum marks, but some do a much better job than others.

 

You don't have to take my word for it though, take Consumer Reports instead. Since not everyone is CR subscriber I'll share their 11/2007 findings below. The picks are sorted best to worst and you'll notice there isn't a DD in the top 40 (maybe even 50 but I stopped counting ):

 

 

Kenmore (Sears) Progressive with Direct Drive 35922 CR Best Buy

Progressive with Direct Drive 35923 $300 $300 74. • • • • 21

Hoover WindTunnel 2 U8311-900 $250 69. • • • 21

Kenmore (Sears) Progressive with Direct Drive 36932

Progressive with Direct Drive 36933 $300 $300 69. • • • 22

Hoover WindTunnel 2 U8361-900 Surface Command

WindTunnel 2 U8351-900 Extra Reach $300,

WindTunnel 2 U8371-900 Complete $300 $320 69. • • 22

Eureka Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870 CR Best Buy

Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870GZ $150,

Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870HZ $150,

Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870J (Wal-Mart) $150,

Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870GZX (Costco) $150,

Boss Smart Vac Ultra 4870HZX (Costco) $150 $150 68. • • • 20

Electrolux Oxygen3 EL5035A $400 67. • • • 24

Kirby Sentria $1350 67. • • • • 25

Riccar SupraLite RSL3

Simplicity Freedom F3500 $350 $350 66. NA • • 9

Hoover Tempo Widepath U5140-900 CR Best Buy $60 65. • • • 16

Bissell Healthy Home 5770 $250 64. • • • 26

Dyson DC17 Absolute Animal $550 64. • 21

Oreck XL21-700 $750 63. • • 11

Hoover WindTunnel Bagless Self Propelled U6630-900

WindTunnel Bagless Self-Propelled U6634-900 $220 $250 63. • • 25

Hoover WindTunnel Self Propelled Ultra U6439-900

WindTunnell Self Propelled Ultra Turbo U6436-900 $215 $215 63. • • • 22

Riccar Radiance

Simplicity Synergy $900 $900 61. • • • • 21

Hoover WindTunnel Supreme U5458-900

WindTunnel Supreme U5468-900 $130 $130 61. • • • 17

Hoover EmPower U5262-910

EmPower U5265-900 $100,

EmPower U5269-900 $100 $100 61. • • 17

Hoover WindTunnel Bagless U5753-900

WindTunnel Bagless U5753-960 $160,

WindTunnel Bagless U5760-900 $160 $160 61. • 22

Hoover Savvy U8181-900

Savvy U8174-900 $200 $230 61. • • • • 20

Dyson DC15 The Ball All Floors

DC15 The Ball Animal $600 $500 61. • • 20

Dyson DC14 Complete

DC14 Full Kit $480,

DC14 Low Reach $460,

DC14 Full Access (Best Buy) $530,

DC14 All Floors $430 $570 61. • 19

Dyson DC07 All Floors

DC07 Full Gear $530,

DC07 Full Kit $430 $400 60. • 20

Aerus Lux Legacy $1000 59. • • • 17

Dyson DC18 Slim $470 59. • 16

Sebo Automatic X4 $700 58. • • • 18

Electrolux Intensity EL5020A $300 57. NA • • • 16

Bissell Lift-Off Revolution Turbo 3760-1

Lift-Off Revolution Pet 3760-2 $170,

Lift-Off Revolution Deluxe 3760-3 $190 $170 56. • • 23

Miele Powerhouse S184 $380 56. • • • 15

Dirt Devil Ultra Vision Turbo 87300 $100 55. • • 20

Bissell Momentum 3910-2 $100 54. • 18

Bissell Total Floors 3990-2 $160 54. • • 20

Eureka Boss 4D 5892AVZ

Boss 4D 5892BVZ $150 $150 53. • • • 24

Sanyo Performax SC-A116 $135 53. • • 16

Oreck XL Deluxe U3700HH $400 52. • • 10

Sanyo SC-H2000 $120 51. 18

Panasonic Performance Plus Platinum MC-V5241 $400 50. NA • 14

Hoover Elite Rewind U5507-900 $100 49. • • 18

Dirt Devil Reaction M110000 $170 47. • • 20

Dirt Devil Vibe M088915V $80 45. • • 17

Shark Infinity NV31 $250 43. • • • 20

Eureka Altima 2981

Altima 2991AVZ $80 $80 42. • 20

Koblenz U610-ZN $440 39. NA • • • 19

Eureka Optima 431BX $60 35. • 13

[So far... the deals suck...]

Now I can say it's OFFICIAL, due to the value of our precious American currency it doesn't buy diddly squat in Chinese goods anymore, even on BLACK FRIDAY.

Sigh . Here we go again... I said this in another thread but it's worth repeating since we seem to have so many armchair economist around here:

 

The dollar has been sliding for four years straight now so your implication of no deals due to the dollar simply isn't true. Moreover the electronics purchased for Black Friday this year were under contract by the stores and manufacturers many, many months ago. Do you really think Best Buy would wait until early October to work out a price with Toshiba, Sony, etc. to buy 10,000 laptops? That contract would have been ironed out, and paid for, long before the subprime fiasco ravaged Wall Street this past August. That's when the dollar really started to rack up the losses in case you don't know (about 5% versus the Euro so far)...

 

Not to be too negative, but I see a recession already starting.

Sure things are slowing down, but we've still got a ways to go before we see two quarters of retraction. With every passing day though it seems the odds of that happening are increasing. Still, never underestimate the American consumer. Spending too much money has become part of the American culture and since roughly 2/3 of our economy is dependant on spending we just don't know how the chips will fall yet.

 

I've also been saying for a few days now, that many of these deals you DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR DOORBUSTERS and stand in line for.

 

This is certainly the case. Some of the deals I've seen on Buy.com and from other retailers during the last 6 months have been phenomenal. Simply checking the boards here and a few other places every Sunday will save you a lot of money throughout the year. Sure the TRU and Walmart ads may be a bit of a let down, but with $229 laptop combos at Best Buy I'll never understand how people claim there aren't any deals worth getting up for.

 

-Timothy

[What was the worst BF item you bought over the years]

I guess the worst deal for me was remembering to send in a rebate on a harddrive *ONE* day after the 30 day window. ~Doh!~ Another deal I've never really been happy about was purchasing an off brand 17" LCD a few years ago. The loss of picture quality (which wasn't that noticeable until I put it next to a major brand LCD) simply isn't worth saving an extra $50 or $100. Live and learn...

 

remember those "dvd" players where the dvd was about the size of a full size record/vinyl?

I'm assuming you're talking about laserdisc players. LD was popular on some level for quite a few years, however the price of the players keep them from going mainstream. Believe it or not there is still a small group of LD enthusiast out there.

 

-Timothy

[$199 PC vs $229 Laptop]

If you do get a laptop, get the $399 Sony instead of the $229 Toshiba if you can afford it. It's superior across the board and well worth the extra few dollars. The Toshiba is nearly obsolete already so unless money is extremely tight I would spend a few extra dollars more for the Sony. Afterall if you're looking to upgrade why buy the absolute slowest and cheapest computer currently available? $399 for a quality laptop is still a great deal...

 

-Timothy

[Internal Hard Drives?]

I know there's the WD 400gb at staples, but that has rebates involved, which I do not like,

I don't blame you one bit for not liking rebates, but if it's a Staples "Easy Rebate" then you have nothing to worry about. I've been playing the rebate game for about 6 years now and their Easy Rebate program is by far and away the best out there. After the purchase you go online and fill out a form with some information from the receipt, and then the check comes 2 to 3 weeks later. It's been that easy for me at least five times or more thus far. If it's a manufactuer's rebate though proceed with the normal caution . I've had to fight with manufactuer's clearing houses at least a half dozen times over the years. Thankfully the rebate game has really slowed down over the last year or so.

 

To answer your question though I don't recall seeing a larger internal SATA for sale anywhere. Hopefully someone else will chime in with more info.

 

-Timothy

[40" Samsung 1080P at BB]

Go see this TV in person. <snip> I laughed out loud when I saw the TV, the fact that it's listed as 1080p is some kind of cruel joke.

 

Truer words have never been spoken. Folks it's worth researching the TV and monitor models before pulling the trigger on BF. What's the point of saving $200 only to settle for a base model TV or some off brand with subpar clarity? In particular I've noticed over the last few years that the LCD computer monitors that they blow out are always off brands and models that they usually bring in for BF only. I foolishly bought their 17" LCD a few years ago (it's a MAG-Innovision) and the quality of the picture is noticeably different when it's next to a better LCD. I've since replaced that monitor with a much higher quality BenQ that only cost a few dollars more the next year through buy.com :^).

 

When it comes to buying something you're going to stare at for a great number of hours is it ever worth sacrificing quality to save a few bucks?

 

-Timothy

[Post Here what you'll be buying this BF at BB!]

I need the Western Digital 500 gb external hard drive. But... The nearest BB is 180 mile round trip. <snip> $99 is a great deal, but

Sure $100 is a good deal, but it's hardly a door buster. You can buy 500G harddrives right now for nearly that price. Here's one for $129 that has a $20 rebate on newegg.com bringing the price to $109. Saving $10 or $20 is hardly worth a 4 or 5 hour drive .

 

 

I plan on buying:

$199 desktop for a friend

$229 laptop for a friend

$399 laptop *For me if they let me buy two different laptops.

assorted dvd's

possibly a stick or two of RAM

Wii -- if they actually have any

[is it ethical? (reselling tickets for hot items)]

I don't know about you guys but last year was the first year I saw ticket selling on the levels that I did. People from the back were walking up and down the first 100 people offering $20 to $50 a ticket for various tickets. Would it really be wrong to sell them a ticket to an item you were on the fence about to start with? Sure we're all after one or two things specifically, but a lot of us wind up going for other door busters after hearing others in line talk about them all night.

 

I always go with a large group (5 to 8 of us) and we get all of the computer and camera doorbusters that we can. I'm typically buying for friends, family, coworkers, or church friends who aren't brave enough to endure the madness so I'm not a reseller. However this past year I resold two of the tickets from my group to people walking around offering to pay 'X' amount of dollars. Hours later I took my entire group out to Cracker Barrel with the money from the ticket sales and we ate like kings. In addition to buying all of the door busters we originally set out for we had a great time having breakfast afterward. Considering we had already given away one of our tickets for the cheap desktop to the nice ladies behind us (they nearly cried when they heard we got the last ticket) I didn't hesitate in the slightest to sell a couple of tickets to people who were nearly begging to buy them.

 

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this question and it will depend entirely in the eyes of the beholder. <snip> and I don't think we can fault those that try to make a quick buck from doing so.

 

Exactly. As someone who has waited in line all night at Best Buy for four years running I know exactly how disappointing it is not to get what you want. However if someone wants to wait in line for 15+ hours these days in hopes of selling their tickets for $50 to $100 then let them. My time is worth a lot more than that to me though so I'm going to keep most, if not all of the tickets that I get.

 

-Timothy

[Have a Happy BF everyone.....mine got here a week early!]

Wholesome 80's K-car goodness :). Congrats!

[$199.00 Desktop Computer]

this is a great deal i will be heading out to bb at 1 am do you guys thaink that is to late to be able to get a computer for 199$,,, i live in jacksonvile ,FL guys pls give me a good time to be there at i really want this computer !!

At 1am you'll probably be around number 250 in line. I've spent the last 4 years at Best Buy and each year I've gone earlier and yet I'm still further back in the line. This past year I was there at 5:30pm and was around 60th in line. My group got the last laptop and desktop doorbusters so we were lucky. This year we're going to drive past BB around 4:30/5:00 and if there are more than 50 people in line (which will probably be the case) then we're not going to bother. I simply refuse to miss Thanksgiving with my family so I'm not willing to arrive at noon.

 

I know it varies from location to location but IMO I think you need to be there around 2pm for the laptop and 3:30pm at the latest for the pc. Some here would probably advise you go even earlier. Hopefully this isn't bursting your bubble.

 

-Timothy

[Best Buy Black Friday Ticket System, FAQ and Sample Ticket]

As others have said, be prepared for disappointment if you plan on coming back hours later with your ticket. Like it or not a ticket simply isn't a guarantee if you're not there when the doors open. It would be great if it worked out like that, but it won't .

 

-Timothy

[Do You or Will You Do Reconnaissance On Wednesday Night?]

Since nearly all of the hot deals worth waiting 12 hours in line for are ticketed items, what's the point in recon on Wednesday? Most of the sale items that I've seen in the ads thus far that won't be ticketed, can be found on sale at other times for the same price or less in some cases. Sure knowing the layout of the store helps, but if you're familiar with the store already and are only after the extreme doorbusters like me then Wednesday night recon does very little.

 

Of course if you're going to wait in line all night for the sake of grabbing $5 dvd's and $25 flash drives then sure, recon away . Personally I've found that the number one thing that seems to help me every year is having the sale ads memorized. It's amazing how every year I'm either handed the wrong laptop, printer, or ________ even though I have the ticket in hand. Having the ads committed to memory has definitely saved me some time.

 

-Timothy

[employee BF question]

<snip>(For example, we had 23 DVD players and 5 were held by management for employees with the winning raffle tickets). <snip>

Personally, I think that's more than fair. Associates are often the store's best customers.

 

I couldn't agree more RLP! Sure a lot of people are going to whine about it but give me a break. Employees at these places typically make next to nothing so let them have a deal or two for crying out loud.

[My new HP laptop from BB is no longer perfect...]

I'm at home and I don't have my exact numbers on me, but all are $100 for one year, and the 3 yr plan is based on purchase price. I think the 3 yr plan is around $250. I realize that's a lot for what you paid for the laptop itself, but you also need to consider what the regular price of the machine is and the hassles you'll save by having Geek Squad fix any problems (and no overseas tech support calls ).

 

Also, you are correct - you do have 14 days to buy the plan after purchase (but 14 days means 14 days, not 15).

 

If those prices are correct, or pretty close, then I'm surprised. That's what extended warranties cost 4 years ago at BB when laptops averaged well over $1000. With prices falling dramatically over the last two years I don't see how anyone can justify a warranty that cost more than half, or even the full price, of the original purchase. Rest assured you'll be able to buy a laptop BF next year for $199 or less ;^). Of course if you are buying a top of the line laptop, then that's a different story...

[All is NOT fair in Black Friday at Best Buy!]

Folks if you get in line at BB and are more than 40 back, you should *count* on one or two of the top deals being gone. There's really no reason to get upset about them running out if you're further back than that. Realistically how many should they sell at little to no profit? Even if they had 50 or 100 of the $250 laptops they would have been purchased by the first 300 in line so you still would have hundreds of disappointed people.

 

I can safely say that this past year will definitely be my last for BB (it was my 3rd in a row). We got there at 5pm and were around 40th in line at that point. Thankfully we got the last vouchers for the laptops and the $180 emachines computer so we got what we came for. Even though I've always enjoyed waiting with my wife and some friends every year, we just aren't willing to throw away Thanksgiving next year by getting in line at noon for deals that just don't seem to be what they once were.

 

Why exactly do people want to wait a full day or more for these deals? There are actually deals like this through the year in various places but they go unseen. A celeron processor is not that great to begin with, but those that will not be pushing the computer hard will get ok use out of it. All through this year I have seen good deals all over the place for celeron computers but hardly any buyers.

 

Well said. If you check the forums here and are on buy.com's e-mail list then you see great deals all of the time. The savings on these subpar computers really aren't that fantastic by comparison. That Toshiba came can't even burn dvd's and 256MB of RAM barely cuts it these days. [edit -- it came with 512MB of RAM although 128 of that is shared w/ the video card]

 

FWIW, if you really want something bad enough show up at 4:30 and offer the people at the front of the line silly money for their vouchers. There were at least a dozen or so people that came up to us trying to buy our vouchers and after hearing offers at $50 a voucher we decided we could do without a couple of items :).

[what time do you get in line]

Depends on the store and what you're standing in line for. If its a HOT item, I would expect 10pm on Turkey Day.

When I got to Best Buy last year at 10:45, I was around 80th in line. Realistically I'll probably have to get there by 8pm this year to have a shot at the $250 laptop. See you guys in line .

[Staples - How busy is it at 6am?]

I made the mistake of going 3 hours early to Staples a couple years ago and was by myself in line for at least an hour and a half. Staples always seems to be a bit more organized on Black Friday, but perhaps that's just because they don't get quite as many people. Either way I've been a big fan of their's since they started their Easy Rebate program. I've probably sent in for at least 20 or more rebates through Staples and have yet to have a problem .

 

Of course, this year I'll be camping out with all the other nuts in the BB line for the $250 laptop. I just hope 8 or 9pm is going to be early enough ;^).