Nate Dogg

Oh Lowes... where are you?

Better talk to them ahead of time. Be polite and bring donuts.

I say, except for the occasional bathroom break, make them stay in line the whole time. That is what we do. I got in line on a Monday one year (I always take my vacation that week whenever possible), then when the ad came out there was nothing we wanted so we broke camp. The people behind us were super upset since they came out days early because they thought we knew something they did not. It will always make a good story, though.

As someone who sold cars for years I think you are being too hard on car dealers. They want to sell you a car and you want to buy a car. Let them help you. That being said, many dealerships flood the floor with twice as many sales associates as they need so you will likely get someone who does not know what they are talking about. Last time I bought a car I had to go to several dealerships before I found a sales associate who knew more than I did about the cars. I was willing to let him make a little money off of me because it was worth it to talk to someone who knew what they were talking about. Car margins are extremely small. They do not make much money off of you. You can find the invoice for the vehicle you are looking for online. Most of the time the mark-up is less than 5%. Furniture stores the mark up is about 300% and many people do not bat an eye. The best advice I have is go in with information. Do your homework first. They will make you a good deal if you know what you want to pay. Know how much you want to pay for the vehicle, how much your car is worth, and know what kind of interest rate your bank is willing to give you. Finally, they can make a lot of money off of you after you bought the car. Extended warranties, gap insurance, and everything else they sell you in the business office has huge mark ups. Talk to your insurance agent about the cost of gap (you really want to get this) and try to negotiate everything else you want down 50%. Negotiate your car down to invoice (except Lincoln, they generally cannot go that low on a Lincoln). Finally, Black Friday is like any other day to car dealers. You will not get a better deal that day than you can get at the end of the month.

I had a very hard time getting this deal in store today on Skylanders. Certain traps would not ring up as part of the deal, also there was an adventure pack that did not ring up as part of the deal. Almost 40 minutes later they finally gave up arguing with me and gave me the correct prices. There argument was that the people who program their registers do not make mistakes. Now I remember why I quit shopping there. Also, beware of using Paypal to pay at Target. If you need to return it they will not refund your money, they will only give you a store credit. Went rounds with them last year over this issue.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/goprobe/2823748 lol

I have had my eye on something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/370807661850?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The one "must have" item for me last year was a Skylanders bed set for my son. I was obviously the first one there and found the one (of only 2 at the store) I wanted and put my hand in the handle so I could grab it and go without an issue. When the employee in charge (I think this was their first Black Friday) came over she told me I could not touch the items until it was time... I explained to her what was going to happen and how at the last minute there were going to be a ton of people with nothing to lose in that section and this was the smart thing to do to avoid fighting. Keep in mind I was the only person there at that time. After politely going back and forth I told her if I was wrong I would give her $20 so she agreed to let me do that. As People came up we explained the rules and everyone kept their cart out of the aisle and grabbed the handle of whatever it had of the item they wanted. Everything was great until about 5 minutes til... then the "nothing to lose" people came and crowded everyone in... but when the time came everyone grabbed the item(s) they had in hand and there were no issues. Everyone that came early got what they wanted and I got to keep my $20. As long as you remain calm you can negotiate deals like that with the employees as long as you can show them it will actually make their job easier. Sometimes you have to get a manager involved, but not typically. Honestly, the thing that sucked most about last year was I was able to get everything on my Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C list so I spent way too much money.

1. BB, although I will probably end up at Wal-Mart because of the toys, etc. 2. Both... I am also hoping they have a few early sales like they did last year. 3. The trend seems to be 2 hours earlier than last year, so my guess will be 4:00 PM Thanksgiving

I am still kicking myself for not getting the ipad mini at Wal-Mart last year. I hope they have something similar this year.

My strategy really has not changed. I have an idea of the items I am going to purchase. If I see them for what I think they will be on Black Friday I will pick them up early. If not I will wait. I will also periodically browse the sites and stop in the stores to see if there are any deals I cannot live without. This year I lucked out... my ToysRus lost track of some clearance inventory until it was already 90% off and I happened to be there when they brought it out on to the floor. I got $1000 worth of stuff for $100.

I agree, it doesn't feel like Christmas without Wal-Mart threatening to take legal action. That was the true meaning of Christmas. On an unrelated note... I just noticed you can "report" your own post. Made me laugh.

You know you are a good parent when your 7 year old child is asking "how many days until Black Friday?" I am also hoping to catch Skylander's Trap Team on sale on Black Friday... preferably the Dark Edition. We bought Swap Force on the release date and I was kicking myself on Black Friday when it was 1/2 off. I have been buying the store exclusive characters to make sure I get them, but have yet to buy the game. Buy the way... if you really hate someone buy their young kid a Skylander starter pack. The older ones are not that much and it will end up costing their parents hundreds to thousands of dollars. My mother in law did that to us and we are now in for several thousand dollars.

We are in line on Thanksgiving, anyway, so I kind of like the earlier opening times. I thought 6:00 was reasonable... gives people time to spend with their families while also giving people something to do other than watching football. Looks like this year the trend might be to move things to 4:00. That will mean employees will need to be there around 2:00 which will ruin many Thanksgiving gatherings. I remember when Kmart tried to open early on Thanksgiving several years ago. That did not go very well for them. It is hard to say where the sweet spot will be. At what time will the need to get good deals intersect with the desire to spend time with family.

I was in a Wal-Mart that did that with DVD's... It was a nightmare. 3 hours in line to go through the "DVD/Video Game" line. Granted there were more titles available because of the long line, but people were not in a hurry and would spend several minutes looking at each DVD to decide if they wanted it. I prefer the free for all... I normally get to the DVD's and Video Games last, but there are normally a few left that I want.

I also like to have the ads... for some reason I always see something new in the print edition.

My tire size was in Wal-Mart one year... I was about 6 months away from needing new tires, but it was such a great deal I bought the tires and when they eventually did need replaced I brought them back to the store with the receipt and they mounted and balanced them for me.

Oddly enough Santa always brings me the exact things we buy for "far away" relatives.

We were almost a part of a riot one year. There were a couple of guys that line jumped and then everyone started doing it... Police got called and they were going to empty the parking lot. Luckily I was able to reason with the store manager because he did not want to have to explain to his superiors how he did not have any sales until 2 hours after they opened. He threw the original line jumpers off the property and threatened everyone else they would also be ejected. That was the only time I actually feared injury.

Please be careful using PayPal, though. There was a store that I bought something from and it came in damaged so I sent it back and bought it locally instead. The store did not refund my money, but rather issued me a store credit. After disputing the charge PayPal said a store credit was a valid form of refund and I still have the store credit to this day. It is not always these odd little stores that do that, though. Even target will only issue you a store credit if you pay with PayPal. After the second time dealing with that I quit using PayPal unless I absolutely needed the security.

Last year they did tickets when they ran out and you had it shipped to the store. Worked out great for us.

We did it every year for a while... The kids would brag to their friends to watch for them on television because they just expected it to happen. One of the news anchors gave me his personal cell phone number so he could be the first to cover it every year because he knew we would be the first. The first year I was quite unprepared and that was a very cold 12 hours. After that we had tents and heaters and the last year even had a generator. In recent years, though, the deals have been somewhat lacking and Wal-Mart lets you wait inside, so it has been unnecessary. I thought about getting some sponsors and doing it for old times sake... maybe getting out on Sunday or Monday, but can't really justify it any more.

I hate how the line shrinks and everyone packs in so tight right before the stores open. Still, though, line breakers make that a necessity. I also hate the people who are taking their times going through the main aisles on their phones or talking to someone else who is moving just as slow. Finally I get irritated with the employees who just do not understand what is about to happen and get angry with you for positioning yourself in a place where you make sure you get the deal. All in all, though, I have a blast. Especially since my son and I can enjoy it together now.

For me it was in the 1980's... Big Lots was giving away stuffed dogs and we were waiting in line... I was just a kid so I did not understand why they would give me a toy for free... but I sure was happy to have it. It seemed like every year I had to get there earlier and earlier. When my son and I went on out first boy scout campout and I woke him up the next morning he asked me if it was time to go shopping, because Black Friday was the only time we went camping with just the 2 of us. Now he is getting older and we are counting down the days together. I think he likes Black Friday better than Christmas.

I check the site almost daily... always lots of great deals. I quit camping out a couple years ago, but still have a lot of friends and family ask me about where to get certain items. Going to this site sure is better than the days where I would wait in the gas station for the Thanksgiving paper to arrive. I remember one year waiting 5 hours just to get the ads. Boy how times change.