TazErase

Bringing any child under about 10 is CRAZY unless you are familiar with BF and supervising very carefully. 2 years ago while waiting on line at Best Buy for the entire day, 4 hrs before the store opened a 15yr old was playing in the parking lot. Well, she wound up breaking her leg and her mom got back JUST in time for them to start giving out the tickets. Even older children if not properly supervised get bored and try finding ways to release energy and that's before you even get into the store. I don't recommend any child under 10 unless you have experience and are able to supervise them and keep them safe. My younger kids will join me on the line for a little while so they could do "the Black Friday thing" but that's only when someone is bringing me coffee and they are never there in the final 3 or 4 hrs before the store opens. My son will be 7 this year and is harassing me to take him with me. I personally think he's too young and will wait at least another year or 2 before he does the real BF thing, but I have taken him later in the day to less crowded stores so he thinks he went shopping on BF like the rest of the adults, lol.

I try to carry as little as possible to keep my hands free to grab the items I need. I carry the sales circular for the store, and a printed out sheet for each store.

Without a doubt....... WALMART. They gave out tickets for the laptops, however of the 40 available, almost half the tickets (18 that I know of) were given to Walmart employees. Even the manager got in on the scamming and in addition to hers, she put another aside for her son to pick up. I have NEVER, and will NEVER go to Walmart for a ticketed item sale in the electronics department. i'd rather stand on line for 24hrs outside in the cold for a guarantee at Best Buy then to be scammed by employees getting half of the sale items before the customers even get the oppourtunity.

I agree, 10 is a good age. My first stop is usually all night at Best Buy. She has been going since about 10 and loves it. When we get to BB she gets on line while I run and get the other items so once I'm ready I can pick up the doorbusters and be out usually in about 20 minutes or so and head to the next store. She has a cell phone should we get seperated and usually we will each have a section to cover when we enter. Our BF team has been steadily growing over the years so we can often hit most stores in about 15-20 minutes by going in and all picking a section and a few items to grab for everyone in our group.

It depends a lot on numerous factors. 1) Age..... first of all trying to do BF with a carriage is impossible, so you have to watch the child, hold them with 1 hard which makes it difficult to get the items, and you are putting them in danger of being stepped on. 2) Where...... if you are outside all night, depending on where you live, there is a good chance they will be cold. I have been taking my oldest with me for a few years, but my son who will be 7 in November is dying to go, but I refuse to let him yet. I have taken him to 1 or 2 stores at about 10am just so he sees what it's like, but not interfere with my camping or slowing me down. Personally I do not recommend taking kids under at least 10, and that's only if you are experienced and aware of what to expect. It drives me nuts seeing parents with toddlers in the stores at 5am with kids crying because they are tired.

For many years the BB i went to would allow 1 of each ticket per customer, including multiple laptops as long as it wasn't the same doorbuster. About 3 years ago they changed it to 1 TYPE of each, if you get laptop A you can not get laptop B unless you have another person with you, and they often put a limit on how old the person they give the ticket to has to be.

My wife thought I was crazy, I have since converted her and she goes with me. Same with my sister and a number of other people. My mom stays home with my kids and my sister's kids so she's one I have no intention of converting, lol. My in-laws used to think I was crazy too until my sister-in-law joined my team a few times, now they realize why I do it. My other sister hasn't quite gotten the hint yet though, she once again invited us to dinner on Thanksgiving.

For the past few years the deals have been getting worse and worse and more retailers are trying to spread the deals throughout the month on November rather than putting it all into 1 day. The best deals will still be on Black Friday, however if last year is any indication expect a lot of the items to be on sale for the BF price a few days before BF. Last year I needed a new GPS and after having seen all the BF sales I bought it on the Monday before BF since I knew that it was the best deal and for the same price on BF. There will be some "extreme deals" in very limited quantity but not the great deals we are used to seeing 4 or 5 years ago. I'm addicted to BF so I'll be shopping someplace. For many years I was always on line at Best Buy but with no Circuit City to compete, the deals last year were so weak I didn't even bother with Best Buy.

I often feel like I'm the local "Black Friday Trainer" as my group gets larger each year and I teach the ropes to new people. It's not at all crazy to bring first-timers with you, remeber there was a time YOU were doing for the first time as well. A few simple rules I would warn them 1) BF is NOT a day to drag the kids with them, get a babysitter. It irritates the crap out of me seeing adults with babies trying to run around the stores and they are only going to get hurt. 2) know what you want, get in, get the item, get on line, get out. 3) if you are planning to stay on a line outside all night warn them to expect the temperatures. It's not too bad standing out in 50 degree weather for an hour or 2, but when you do it all night and as you get tired your body wants to slow down and you will get colder. Be prepared for the worst and have spare blankets, coffee, heaters, etc. 4) keep in touch and have everyone's cell phone numbers. Another advantage to going in a group is if more than 1 person wants the same item have 1 member of the party pickup a second and have 1 stand in the line, etc. What started out years ago as me going by myself has grown to about 10 of us working together sometimes even in different stores. I often have at least 1 newbie with me each year and it has worked out great as long as they know you will not put up with them slowing you down.

Jaymacfla... for the most part the ticketing info is based on knowledge of past practices. 3 years ago Best Buy used to allow as many laptops as you wanted, but only 1 of each deal. Now they have started limiting it per ITEM TYPE, for example if you want the ticket for the $500 laptop, you can't get the ticket for the $400 laptop as well. Personally I think it is better that way for the people that arrive a little later since I often saw a family of 5 leaving with 3 laptops each and selling most of them for a profit and the people on line for 20hrs don't get any of the sale laptops. I just hope they have good deals this year, last year was so bad it was the first time in about 10 years I didn't even step foot in Best Buy.

I live in the NE. In NYC if you are not online at Best Buy by Wednesday night usually you will not get the best deals. Outside of NYC it is usually easier but Best Buys located in malls however often have "Mall Rules" and will not allow people to stay if they arrive too early and will threaten them with arrest for trespassing. If the Best Buy you wish to go to is in a mall you may want to contact the mall, HOWEVER, don't expect them to go completely by what they say as far as when they allow people to line up. I have tried that approach and was told no sooner than 3am Friday, yet I am always there long before that and would get none of the sale items. If you are close to the store I would recommend drive past every few hours starting early Thursday, and possibly even late Wednesday night. In most cases the first few to arrive trickle in but during the day, especially after they finish their Thanksgiving dinners,they fill the lines up REALLY FAST. To get the good deals at Best Buy DO NOT expect to arrive in the evening Thursday especially if you want any of the limited items. The first items to go are always the cheap laptops and then some of the higher end laptops. To get them expect to arrive no later than 10am Thursday, although that depends exactly which store you intend to go to. The further from any major cities the better.

As with any other BF deal, what is it worth to you? If you want it bad enough be one of the first on line. Not sure how many will be looking for that item though. Usually laptops and other electronics are first to go. This is my first year doing KMart but I`m used to Best Buy and wonLt be able to sleep so I`ll be hitting whichever my top priority is Thursday night even though no one has the lines like BB and I`ll defineately be first...... and for once I`ll get to eat with my family on Thanksgiving. lol

I rarely ever do Walmart but it's on my list this year, after I go to KMart (of all places I've never done KMart on BF before, lol). Best Buy was my first place for the past 12 years as well but if they want to have crappy sales I guess it's time to break tradition

Same here. In the past I never tell or hint which BB I'll be at, or what time. I have been top 10 on line for the past 12 years. I will however tell that Best Buy IS NOT one of the stores I even plan to shop this year. Nothing I need there for a price worth spending over 24hrs (or more) on line for. The few decent items they have on sale I can either price match it at Walmart buy at Staples for a very good price, not exact but still not worth standing on line all night in the cold.

Most of the doorbusters are not available online, however they did have a few items they added in last year such as an HP laptop for $329, yet they had it online cyber Monday for $279

After about 13 years of being in the top 10 at Best Buy this year not only will I not be on line all night, I don't have any intentions of even going there later in the day. There is the 1.5TB hard drive I was considering but I'm not going to wait all night for that when Walmart, Staples, and a few others have a 1TB on sale. Getting on line Wednesday night or early Thursday was a long time thing and it hurts that it has come to an end but the Best Buy sales this year suck

I still have the eMachine from last year ($299) and from the year before ($199) and both are working great. My mom did however have an HP she bought about a year ago die on her twice already. By the time most eMachines die the technology is outdated any way. I have a dell from 3 years ago that I spent about 7 times more on, yet I'm using my eMachine for $299 and retired the Dell because it is outdated. When you look for a computer it is cheaper to replace now than to upgrade. Trust me, I used to upgrade every year until it became cheaper to just replace them, oh, and stock up on external hard drives, lol. Can never have enough hard drive space. I would have gotten the 1.5tb in BB but I'm not standing on line just for them, I'm going to get the 1tb in Staples, no lines, plenty in stock. Then again the HD isn't usually a ticketed item but they will be gone unless you are near the front of the line.

That is probably the hottest item in BB this year. I'd say to be safe line up Wednesday night but it depends on where you are and when they start lining up at that location.

I have been doing recon for the past week. In the past I did most of my recon tryig to see what Best Buys line policy and ticket policy is, but this year I am going to be starting at other stores and not bothering with Best Buy, it creates a lot of new recon in order to see how other stores do their tickets and lines.

I've offered to let them see my copy a few times and they couldn't understand how zi had a copy before the store did, lol.

lol Same thing happens to me all the time. I'll go in and check on some of the items I'm interested in to make sure the specs are what I want... a salesperson offers to help me and I'll tell him why I'm there, they always either don't know what's in the ad or try convincing me NO ONE knows what's in the ad until only a few days before and any ad I saw is wrong. Oh.... and I refer them to GOTTADEAL.COM so they can see the ad for their store... (yes I seriously do refer them to the site, lol)

Yup, with the crappy ads this year I may just fix up one of my older computers rather than buy a new one. Not any good deals on laptops or desktops yet, and most of the good ads are available.

This could be the only way to get me in the store, although, by the time they post the ad, if they even bother, I would normally have been on line at BB had they had any good deals. This year after seeing the ad I'll be about 60 miles away having turkey, something I haven't been able to do since 1996 when I first started lining up early for BF at BB.

So disappointed for the first time in 12 years I will probably not even bother going to BB. I have been one of the first on line since 1996 and always got the items of my choice but there are no items this year worth standing on line for over 24hrs like I always have in the past. A tradition that was only broken due to a very weak sales ad, worst I have ever seen by BB.

Yup I saw that too but Staples has a 1TB for $69.99 without the long lines and they always have plenty in stock. The BB ad is the worst I ever saw. Last year the line was only 30% of what it was the year before, my guess is this year it will be half what it was last year, and for the first time in 12 years I won't be on line at BB. A few decent deals but nothing worth my missing Thanksgiving and being on line early. My family wasn't even planning on me joining the family but with ads this bad I'll be having turkey Thursday evening, then maybe going to Staples or Sears to line up even though they don't usually have lines, but I HAVE to be on line somewhere all night, it's been a tradition...... only BB obviously must be doing so well they don't need customers this year.