Daisimae

I believe the earlier opening times are, in part, a portion of the retailer's multi-faceted attempt to reduce congestion, frenzy and folks camping out all night, which can lead to problems as we all have seen. That said, those earlier times didn't affect me as much as others as we live in MA and not close enough to the NH or CT border to make it worth my while to leave the state. I did benefit from online sales starting earlier. The online sales were great for me because everything I would have gone out earlier to get, including Doorbusters, we're available online Thursday at great prices. I stayed up late to be at the sites when the prices changed over and already had my cart full and ready to go when this happened. Due to those online sales I was able to saunter out about 4pm on Friday to pick up some in store only items at Staples. Staples here is always very civilized even at opening. The store was nearly empty went I got there. My items were still there. Checkout took less than five minutes. That was a VERY civilized experience. The result of the shopping period is: I already have my first Kohl's order. The second was done as soon as their cyber monad sales started. Tuesday we will be visited by every major delivery service, in addition to a Staples courier. All will have multiple boxes for us. I will spend a portion of Tuesday night doing rebates and I will have a nice Staples Rewards balance later this month. All of this with no camping, no freezing, no shoving, no pushing or frustration. The combination of rewards and rebate and coupons I used saved us a lot and will put a good percentage of what I spent back in my pocket. I'm only anticipating one return and am interested to see what else Amazon will offer this month. This was all very good. I'd like every BF weekend to be like this!

I'm not one to return things, but I am this time with Roku 2. This wasn't an impulse buy. I planned to buy it from Office Depot since they had it on sale BF. I placed my order soon after the sale went live Thursday. However, I found it for $10 less on Amazon. OD won't PM Amazon so I canceled the first order and ordered from Amazon. I still hate to return/cancel. I've learned my lesson for the future...wait for Amazon!

I would't worry about not being able to see your order online, as long as you got a confirmation in your email. I placed a few orders and they aren't on the site yet but my cards have been authorized.

I just placed an order.

Staples, Walgreens, and K-Mart (I can't believe I K-Mart made the list.)

Thanks to this site I've converted from a B&M BF shopper to an ONLINE BF shopper. I shop online during the year, but, all the time I've been here I didn't get that I could get most of the same deals online as I have in-store. I was just too sick to go out this year. Thank you for posting all the deals and showing me the way. I will never camp out in front of a store all night again! I'm also going to stick around for deals during the year too.

Yup, I just got the confirmation. I can't believe I got to stay warm this year. P.S. I can't get back on the the site now either.

It's open and I'm done! Good night!!

Staples got a stronger lock. Refreshing isn't working.

Yes

The most civilized BF experiences I have ever had have all been at Staples. This year has been extremely civilized. I shopped on-line. (Notice the past tense. LOL)

I agree. I won't be buying anything with a rebate either. Don't know if it will be honored if the rebate company goes out-of-business. I'm happy the things I'm going after don't have them.

Thanks to you both from me too!

This is the one I am waiting for! Here are the directions to submit it! http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=116245

Thank you! I've been posting for a few years and lurked for a year before that. I didn't post much this year. I usually start visiting in September. This year I'm going to stick around for the rest of the year.

No camping this year. There was nothing that was worth it. We didn't need alot. I spent about $200. Everything I bought was at 40% to 50% off. I got most of it online.

They are closed til 6am.

I'm underwhelmed by all the non-sale pricing. My plans have totally changed. I'm not shopping at my usual haunts. I am buying is considerably less than I usually do.

Actually, I was glad CC did the Vonage promotion. We already have broadband phone thru Verizon. I wanted to switch to Vonage, but, was waiitng for someone to do a promotion like this. After the rebates, it will not cost us anything extra and we actually got extra money to spend on BF.

It was in the small print in the ad. It was also on my receipt for Vonage that printed out of the register.

You can cancel, but, they will charge you for your GC.

Sounds about right. I was first in line at my CC. I noticed the time on my receipt when I was doing my rebates. It was 7:18am.

You better believe I do. My CC rebates are in four sealed envelopes ready to be mailed bright and early on Monday am. I also have copies of everything here. I just submitted my Staples rebate online. If retailers are going to dangle a carrot on a stick, I bite!

I have a 12 ft tarp.

Staples here, but I'd also like to see Circuit City.