mcwalker

It's getting close. Discounting the two outliers in August and September, most years the first ad is out between October 7 and 17. Where's the contest to guess the first ad and date?

Just sent you a PM. Happy to help out again this year.

I have increasingly been ordering key items online, but still like to go out for the "thrill" and get lesser items. I expect that trend to continue this year. Also, I will be on a long distance trip to Texas this year, will not be doing any shopping (online or in person) during the day or evening Thanksgiving, and do not expect to get out until around midnight, no mater when stores open, so it will be nice to have things shipped to home and to do some online shopping late Wednesday night.

Target has a great deal on the Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition graphing calculator-$84.99 Aug. 10-16. This has a color screen and is available in multiple colors. At my store the largest selection (colors) were in the Back to School / Stationary section, though they also had some black ones in the electronics where they are usually found. This is the best price I have seen on either version of the TI-84.

Hey, I'm still enjoying the summer! See you in the fall.

Kmart in Manhattan went today to 70% for all Christmas, except light sets are now 75% off. They still had a lot of variety. Selection of LED lights was limited, but they still have some.

Update: I finally received the missing item from Lowes on Dec. 20. Not sure what is going on with the Ninja blender from 1Sale. Rather poor communication.

Congratulations to the winners!

I agree with those who say the sales have been pretty good. In fact I would say the difference between Black Friday and other sales has been narrowed somewhat. It is always the case though that higher end items (like the 8.9" Kindle Fire HDX) and new items (Xbox One) don't get discounted much because people shopping for them tend to be less price sensitive and are focused more on features and quality (or just "new"). I was thinking about getting a set of "medium range" surround sound speakers--not a chance they would be on Black Friday sale and little chance of other significant sale. Same for the middle-higher end SLR camera I bought last year.

Did you shop the stores you thought you would shop, or did your plans change? I didn't get to a couple of planned stores, especially Kohls, which I have always shopped in the past.

I have had pretty good luck overall, this year and past. I am still having an issue with one item that was ommitted from a Lowes.com order, but they are supposedly sending it soon. 1Sale notified me that the Ninja blender I recently ordered (a Gottadeal daily deals listing on 12/9) should have indicated that it is factory refurbished and asked if I wanted to cancel the order. I asked them for some clarification last night rather than cancelling out right, but have not heard back yet.

I still have some supply, and used to have more, but I started backing off a bit last year figuring they would do it again (since you do have to pay tax and find a use for the vouchers they give within the time allowed). Would have liked to know how to get the visa gift card--missed that one.

Yes! I have looked for that one the past few years as well. Getting toward the end of my supply from last year. Decided to buy some at Radio Shack this year. Also, McAffee and Norton Antivirus 1 or 3 computers free after rebate, But was still cheap. Only Kaspersky for 1 computer was free AR.

The Cartwheel help center says that you no longer need Facebook to sign up, just an e-mail address. http://cartwheel.target.com/help-center?ref=tgt_adv_xasd0003&afid=34560&clkid=772119933&lnm=8-9651

I do this somewhat by plan. Buy at the best price I am aware of or the one that is immediately available to me (a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush), then find a better deal, or a different item later and return the first. Last year it was 3D Blue-ray player that I returned (both bought online within 24 hours. This year I have bought multiple "single-serve" blenders ultimately to choose one and return the rest.

I saw some similar things in stores where I shopped on Long Island. As Brad points out, the TVs have become so available at low prices that they are more likely to last through the weekend. As long as the stores sell them by Dec. 24, they will be happy. As you point out, much Black Friday shopping is absolutely about lowest price with less regard to features and even size. But the higher end stuff is more likely to sell in coming weeks to more discriminating buyers. On item I noticed in particular was the $388 HP laptop at Walmart with an AMD processor. I saw a pallet shortly after it had been opened well into the evening. It had no sign posted and people were snatching them up even though they were uncertain which laptop it was and what the price was, though there was some word of mouth. Later, I saw a number of them deposited throughout the store where people had apparently decided they didn't want them after all. (Also shows the "careful" deliberation that many people apply to a purchase costing hundreds of dollars.)

As expected, I did not like the earlier hours. Although I agree with many that this has diminished Black Friday, it is much more important I think that it has significantly diminished Thanksgiving, an American tradition nearly 400 years old. Until now both our people and our business leaders placed sufficient value in it not to consider significant business activity or shopping on the day. That has clearly fallen by the wayside. So why didn't I boycott it? I am an avid Black Friday shopper both because I like to get some of the best deals of the year, and because I can enjoy both a day with family completely free of shopping and a day of frenzied shopping (the excitement of it). Boycotting as a protest against the store hours in this case is simply ineffective. I also think that appealing to individual companies not to open early is ineffective because they are losing sales if their competitors are open and they aren't. In that vein, I place the largest blame for this trend on two stores in particular: K-Mart, which has been opening all day Thanksgiving for a few years and Walmart which has been leading the rest by opening earlier than most others. It is interesting I think that both of these focus on the lower end of the market and are not known for the best treatment of their employees. Ultimately, I think the answer is legislation to protect Thanksgiving by restricting the sale of unnecessary items on Thanksgiving. This needs to be done on at least a state by state basis (not town by town). Although I think members of both parties could support the idea, and retailers might not stand in the way as if prevents their competitors from getting an advantage over them, but I am not holding my breath for this one to happen. In my case, my family is not focused on Black Friday and my wife and family in New York tend to celebrate Thanksgiving with an evening meal. (Growing up and later visiting my parents, we had Thanksgiving lunch around 2 PM, but stayed away from shopping all weekend. As long as stores don't open until midnight or later allows people to celebrate Thanksgiving the way they wish, not tailored to what the whims of the retailers. As a result, I was both late to start shopping (in order to spend more time with the gathered family and friends), but also was disappointed when I finally did leave in order not to miss some of the earlier deals. On a separate issue, the move to online availability of the deals and increased focus on having stock to sell at great prices rather than just a few "teasers" that are only available to a few people were good things. Many on GottaDeal have commented that the deals are not as good. It is probably true that the super deals that were intentionally limited to only a few people are diminshed, but I think there are now very many excellent "best of year" deals that are available in quantities that many more of us can obtain (without camping out). Like a lot of you regular GottaDealers, I have a good idea "how to do Black Friday" and I spend a considerable amount of time planning for it. And while I have been pretty successful and satisfied with my purchases, I always have the feeling that I have not prepared enough and that my loose plans always seem to fall apart a bit. So I always think, I know how to do this--I will get it "right" next year. So I will see all of you regulars right here on GottaDeal by October 2014 to prepare to have my "Best Black Friday Ever" (sounds like marketing talk) in 2014!

Bought three different NYC papers--No Walmart ad in any of them because there aren't any in the Five Boros (but I shop on Long Island) I and only got the first and last page of Kohls ad in one paper.

The best laid plans are laid waste by the deluge of BF activities! I just hope that Target comes through with the key order I placed in the wee hours!

Final update for the maps is on the first post. Thursday: Mostly lake effect snow around the Great Lakes, but smaller area than in previous forecasts. Gusty winds in the morning in New York City will require Macy's to keep some balloons out of the parade and others lower to the ground. (That is where I will be tomorrow morning.) Just a bit of rain/snow around the Sierras in California, but the "coast is clear" of rain Thursday. It will be Cool to COLD for much of the country. Friday: the snow in the northeast backs off (but Buffalo and Erie snowy as "always"). Rain for the southern California coast and around Seattle (but they are used to it). This is the final update. Everyone have fun out there and stay warm!

I don't think so, that seems to be separate.

Walmart has on their site a supplemental 2 page (1 sheet front and back) "Black Friday Weekend" ad that appears to have been added to their main BF ad. It is marked as part of the Part 3 Event starting at 8 AM Friday. It includes some repeats of Items in the main ad and some additional food items. It also appears to make a correction to the main ad. In the main ad the Keurig K40 Elite Brewing System comes with a $10 Walmart Gift Card. In the supplement it comes with a $20 Gift Card, for the same price $98. When I click to check the details on the item in the main ad (where it says $10), it also says $20 gift card. I believe this is the best offer on the K40. It also says $20 on the linked item page. The supplement also adds the following items not in the main ad: - iTunes Gift Cards 3 x $10 Card Pack for $25 - Rayovac AA Batteries 40-Count for $7 These items have been added to the Item list and the K40 listing updated.

I think the linking (meaning online at BF price) will get busy between midnight tonight and early morning Thursday.

Absolutely. Anyone planning to line up early should check out your local 5-day forecast and even take a look at the hourly info on weather.com. And I am sure I don't have to tell anyone here (unlike that lady who looked uprepared with her lawn chair and umbrella), that you will be a lot colder sitting around than you are walking. So, unless you are in south Florida, dress extra warm!

All items added to the Item List now. And that is all of the Surprise Door Busters reveled on the store map. I also checked a store map in Dallas and find the same items there, so I assume this is nationwide.