TazErase

My guess is Midnight may be too late for the desktop but it all depends on your location and how many people are there. Where I go 2 years ago by about 2pm Thursday anyone not on line at that time wasn't getting the laptop deals, last year the ad was so bad I could have gotten the laptops had I arrived at about 8pm since so few people bothered to get out of bed for the Best Buy doorbusters. My thought is this year is even worse than last year but it all depends on how populated your area is and what time they line up. As far as the Magellan, I personally like Garmin better, a lot of places have the 205 on sale which I bought last year and it is excellent.

Thank you..... I guess this means I can safely have turkey with the family this year, the worst Best Buy ad I've ever seen. I guess I'll break from my usual getting online and being one of the first on the line unless they come out with something spectacular in their "secret sale" which was also uninspiring last year. I think it was 1 laptop for $349 that wasn't even that powerful. Then again by the time any of these suppoesed ads come out, IF they do most of us WOULD have been on line already. Looks like I may just head to Staples at 7am and get the 1gb external hard drive for $69.99. That's the only thing worthwhile so far.

Another option is to just not post there ad even after it's released, lol. Not like anyone shops there any way.

HHhhhhmmmm, how much would ot cost to have you accidentally send me a flyer? :gdparanoid: lol

YUP.......... I've been to Walmart on BF too and you get carried in the direction of everyone else. There are so many people in the store no one can even move. Total chaos! For a multi-billion dollar company to pay $7000 to OSHA is a joke, it's not going to change a thing.

This store is not to far from me and I know a few people that were there on Black Friday. Not only did they trample the "greeter", they knocked over the paramedics trying to get in to save his life. ONE OF THE BEST REASONS NOT TO BRING KIDS WITH YOU ON BLACK FRIDAY! Then again, the Walmart where this happened is in an area not too far from NYC and is the closest Walmart to the city. It attracts some real low life people who don't care about anyone but themselves. I've been to the store numerous times when I lived in New York City and there are many rude people there, both employees and even more so the customers.

Usually the higher end electronics and hardest to find items are done by tickets. Unfortuneately where I am by the time they give out the tickets the employees got half of the tickets for themselves so I don't bother going for ticket items at Walmart. Since your aunt works there, ask her to get you the tickets you want, unless her store is more honest then mine. Limit 40 usually means only about 15 actually get to the customers. 20 go to the employees and 5 are reserved by the manager for herself and her family. Sounds like BS but I've personally seen it, and when I contacted corporate they didn't care and ignored me.

In most cases even when they are open 24 hours they keep the sale items covered until the sale begins. Not sure how it is by you but here they have maps to tell what sale items are located where. Unfortuneately you usually only get 1 or 2 of the sale items since you can't be at every pallet so I usually go to other stores first and then to Walmart. Besides, from past experience, the Walmart gives out the tickets (most of the higher end electronics are kept in Lay Away and you get a ticket to purchase the item) to their employees first before the public even gets the chance so I generally don't bother until I get my main sales out of the way.

Personally I think it is wrong. It should be FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!!! If you were the 21st person on line for a limit 20 item and then the people in front took them to sell even though they had no intention of buying it but to sell the ticket to someone behind you, you can't tell me you'd be ok with that. The 21st person on line arrives in most cases within a few hours of the first and long before the store opens. If they are there for a specific item and the people in front of them sell the ticket they are entitled to if it weren't for greed, you are ruining Black Friday for them. Not all of us here can be there in time to get our choice of anything we want. Luckily we aren't all in the same area or chances are I wouldn't be in the top 5 every year like I am at my store. Before you go selling tickets, just think if you were the one standing in line all night for an item only to see the ticket you should have gotten being sold to someone behind you. If you have no problem with that, go ahead and sell your ticket, but what goes around comes around, and maybe next year you'll be #21 on line and I hope it happens to you. Sorry if I seem to be so upset about this but as a human I care for those on line and feel they should have a fair shot based on when they arrive, not how much they have to pay to greedy people selling something that they got for free, and selling them to people that otherwise would not have been entitled.

Thanks We try our best, lol. Unfortuneately where I go we aren't allowed tents, bbq grills, etc since the mall owns the property. I still have our chairs, heaters, an laptops, as well as coffee, etc. By 8pm 2 years ago there were a few hundred on line. Last year only about 60 so it does vary based on how the sales are. I'm addicted though. I have no clue what I'm getting yet, but my goal is still to be in the top 10 at most. Last 3 years I was 5 or better but it keeps getting earlier and earlier as people try to beat my time from the year before, lol. Always fun getting your pic in the local newspaper and their online video of the news, lol.

Or since you are planning to go to BB any way, go to BB and see if they will match with the 10%, if not return it and go to Target.

I wouldn't count on it. Last year the BB was ad was the worst I ever saw, but the fact that there were so many less people on line last year maybe they got the hint............ nah, doubt it!! Seriously though, last year at the store I go to there was only about 35% of what was on line the year before. I wouldn't be too shocked to see some cheap laptops ($250 range) but with limit 10 just to get people in for a bait and switch. Only 10 would be available, so if 100 people THINK they can get it they make the money on the others they sell at regular prices because people aren't going to go home empty handed after waiting on line all night. I know when they had the $229 laptops 2 years ago there were about 250 people in line thinking they had a chance. Limit 20, I don't think it got past the 25th person on line, lol. Excellent computer too, still running strong.

If you're unsure, once it opens you can find and ask the manager. A little early recon never hurts!

Didn't hear anything. I'm a platinum reward member (usually make my platinum status on Black Friday) and they have some special platinum only sales as well but I was not told anything about this date YET.

lol, I usually get a big bone for the dogs and maybe a little something for the cat. We have 6 lizards and a bird, we don't get presents for the lizards though, lol. The parrot is new so we might, especially since it hears all the kids and calls my wife "ma" lol

Don't forget "Who Stuck the Stump" by Bob Rivers, lol. My kids LOVE hearing that song every year. For those that don't know it, it is Christmas from the position of the angel stuck up on the top of the Christmas tree complaining about the tree being stuck up his rump, lol. Very cute song, a must-have for anyone with kids on Christmas.

Usually goes up the first weekend after Thanksgiving and comes down either the weekend after Christmas or sometimes New Years. Depends in part of how dry it's getting since a very dry tree is more of a fire hazzard.

The best way to play it off is if they don't believe in Santa he won't bring them any presents. I don't think Santa is ruined but it may take a little inguinuity to find ways around it. For 1 thing if they go in the closet again Santa is watching and will put them on the naughty list. If at all possible try to exchange the bat cave he saw for something else. Easier said then done if that's something he is really looking forward to. If not you could give him a present you intended to give him from you and your husband and exchange the bat cave and give it from you and something intended to be from you make from Santa. I have 4 kids so I know a little about how to get them to believe in it once they find out but it takes a little work sometimes. Mine will be 4, 6, 10, and 11 this Christmas.

Same here. I keep track of everything and how much I spend on each child. I always make sure all the totals for the kids add up to within $5 or less so none of them ever feel I spent more on one of the others, lol. I often have to pick up a few $1 or $2 items near the end to balance them out properly but there have never been any complaints. The worst is when something doesn't work and I have to return it and the item is no longer available and because I bought it on Black Friday I return a $40 toy that I paid about $15 for at the time and the $15 toys after Christmas are junk.

My oldest is 11 and she knows the truth. I told her when she was 9 since I saw my nephew and niece getting teased in school because at 11 they stil swore Santa was real. I did however warn her if she tells her younger siblings that momy and daddy are really Santa she will loses the gift that Santa usually brings her. This is her second Christmas knowing the truth and she has never hinted to the others about knowing the truth, in fact she helps keep them believing it. Especially for a boy though if it goes on for too long they will get teased and it could cause problems, but that is a decision that needs to be made on an individual basis and no one can really tell you when you should tell your child.

I hide them in a box in the attic, or a non-see-through tote.

We have special paper that Santa uses. The shiny paper is what Santa uses while we wrap the rest in more traditional Christmas wrapping paper. We then hide the shiny paper in the back of the attic so they don't accidentally find it.

My family has always done 1 from Santa and the rest from mommy and daddy. Everyone has different reasons and does it differently so it really has to do with what you prefer. The reason we do it this way is let Santa get some credit, but with my wife and I doing all the work we want the kids to understand that we get most of the presents, but we can also email Santa to tell him what they want, and if they don't behave we can tell Santa not to bring them any presents, although we have never not had something from Santa for the kids.

I could work Black Friday and make about $60 per hour but I save on average $2000 every year, so the $500 I give up by not working pays off 4X more by shopping on Black Friday. It's not just a need, it has become an obsession and even if there weren't really good sales I'd be online the night before out of the love of the hunt.

I've seen people selling tickets and nothing has ever been done to them but I don't see it as being fair. Last year I got my tickets and someone needed one of them, I gave it to them for free. Karma has a way of returning, I was then given a ticket for a better item (my daughter forgot to grab one of the tickets I wanted) so it worked out better since I lost the cheaper model and got the better one after all. I think the ticket I gave away was for the HP laptop for $349, I was able to get the $479 Toshiba (2 of them) instead and they have been doing very well for my wife and I, where the HP was a much weaker model.