samisma Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 I figure every year I see a thread with this subject line so why not kick it off? By the time BF comes around I'll be huge and almost ready to pop. Being that last year I got in a bit of a scrap on BF and came home with some marks I'm going to play it safe and not go out BF shopping, but instead stick to online. I'm trying to train my new DH how to shop for deals, stick to a game plan, etc... So far I'm very nervous. So would someone be willing to train me how to shop online for BF? Is there a strategy needed? I'm thinking I'll only send him to the stores for the deals you can't get online. I just wish I could go out. I will probably go out later in the day when it's not so insane/crazed but I'm not overly excited about that.
tinkrbel Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 The most important thing for online shopping is being fully awake all night, knowing what you want and when that particular store sale goes live in your time zone. We usually post approximate times but (I believe) not everything goes live at the same time and sometimes it's a VERY long night. I overslept last year due to waiting for BB to go live, it should have gone at midnight but didn't. Bonus, Amazon had some amazing deals last year which I fully expect them to carry on this year but again it's a matter of reading the clue before hand, noting what you are or might be interested in and being online when it goes live.
mgmckny Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 Tinkerbel is correct, you have to plan an all nighter. For me, I'm fairly lucky this year, I have teen boys who don't have to have anything, they have wants but since they know my bonus is in March there is no gotta have anymore. Not like when they were little... I would like to find deals on itunes cards, etc although we may be changing wireless carriers as the signal here in the apartment sucks, have had bellsouth mobility/cingular/att forever but I feel a change acoming... just have to figure out if we want to take the hit on the efts or suck it up and move line by line... So I will be looking at phones probably. If you see a thread that deals with your hot items, stick to it and let us know so we can watch for things.. That's what I love about my Gottadeal friends.
tinkrbel Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 Just checked my BF Amazon link from last year and shows sales will start up November 21 so the monday week of Thanksgiving.
happysunshine28 Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 If you want something dont wait around to get other stuff in same order, they might get sold out while its in your cart.
bfaddict1977 Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 my advice is to bring PLENTY of snacks and drinks to eat for the lines. I was HUGE the last 2 bf's and it was hard cuz I hadn't eaten 2 yrs ago. Was laying down in line literally. Hopefully people have sympathy and let you in. Most don't though:(
shopping4my3son Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 I figure every year I see a thread with this subject line so why not kick it off? By the time BF comes around I'll be huge and almost ready to pop. Being that last year I got in a bit of a scrap on BF and came home with some marks I'm going to play it safe and not go out BF shopping, but instead stick to online. I'm trying to train my new DH how to shop for deals, stick to a game plan, etc... So far I'm very nervous. So would someone be willing to train me how to shop online for BF? Is there a strategy needed? I'm thinking I'll only send him to the stores for the deals you can't get online. I just wish I could go out. I will probably go out later in the day when it's not so insane/crazed but I'm not overly excited about that. First I want to say congrats!! I think the biggetst thing is checking what time zone the sales start and figuring out when you need to be online.
noehlp Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 Congrats on expecting! Great advice is given in this thread for shopping online for BF. As for yourself, shopping online for BF I would normally recommend a few pots of coffee starting the night before BF, but seeing as you will be pregnant, I do not think caffeine is a good idea. So sleep as much as you can on Thanksgiving Day, have snacks near your pc, buy a portable toilet (hey you WILL be pregnant and most women that are 'go' ALOT! You just may miss 'that' deal you really want while you are in the bathroom), possibly have some good cd's or online music channels bookmarked so you can jazz yourself awake, pull your credit card/s out a few hours before the sales go live and have it available at the pc, comfy slippers and a butt pillow may also help (sitting overnight for these sales hurts the rear). The week or two preceding BF, you will want to utilize GottaDeals BF Shopping Lists to help your DH if he will be risking the B&M shopping. Then make out a detailed list of where, when, item name/number, price, pictures cut from ad if you can (aren't men more visual? sorry guys ) - of stuff he 'has' to get; the more details the better chance he'll get the right things, or at least be able to ask for help.
tinkrbel Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 The week or two preceding BF, you will want to utilize GottaDeals BF Shopping Lists to help your DH if he will be risking the B&M shopping. Then make out a detailed list of where, when, item name/number, price, pictures cut from ad if you can (aren't men more visual? sorry guys ) - of stuff he 'has' to get; the more details the better chance he'll get the right things, or at least be able to ask for help.Good idea, I think we have a few people that buy the index cards on wire ring and paste ads to them w/notes listed in order by store and items wanted to make it easier visually. I think for price matching they take a binder with original copy of ads. While price matching may be easier on hubby you should be careful, I've seen posts advising Walmart removes competitor sale items to avoid PM'ing.
Mursilis Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Being that last year I got in a bit of a scrap on BF and came home with some marks I'm going to play it safe and not go out BF shopping, but instead stick to online. Do tell!
onemill Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Staying up is only one thing...possibly using more than one computer is a necessity. Some of the sites get bogged down and they move really slowly when everyone is online trying to order. Better to be able to order from two companies at once. My laptop had trouble with the Toys R Us site last year. I used my desk top while the TRU order as processing. Try to get some sleep though...You don't want to tire yourself out and go into labor for some deals.
aleighc1 Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 No advice for you, but thought I'd let you know you're in good company! I'm due November 26th, so there is no way I'll be going out. (based on all my previous pregnancies, there is a good chance that we'll have a newborn baby girl by Thanksgiving. If somehow I make it to my due date though, there is absolutely no way I would go shopping as all the stores are in the opposite direction of my hospital and I labor/deliver FAST! :) ) I'll be sticking to online shopping only, and if there's a really good in-store only deal, I'll make my hubby go
chris1921 Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Congrats on expecting! We have a group of people shop every year for BF. What we've found works best is a spreadsheet for each store. It may be a good idea to make one out for DH so that he knows exactly what he's going after at each store. I always put name, item #, price and quantity on the spreadsheet so no one gets confused. We each take a copy of the sales ads, also. As for the online shopping, I've never done any of my shopping online, but should I try it, all the above mentioned ideas are great!
TazErase Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 OK, I'm going to give a HUGE hint to those that feel they have to keep refreshing every 5 seconds for the update... There is an add-on that will automatically refresh for you, and when there is a chance it will send you an audio alert letting you know there was a change to what you're watching, such as a price update. Get Firefox (Mozilla.com) and then pick ADD-ONS from the drop down menu and get C4C (check for change). It will automatically refresh your page every few seconds (you choose how often it refreshes). As soon as the price changes in you cart it will play and audio alert letting you know it changed. To pick what you want to check for change you need to highlight the price, then right click to set refresh rates. Guaranteed you will not miss when the update changes, and if the volume is loud enough, even if you fall asleep it will let you know when it changed so you can make your purchase.
tinkrbel Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 Get Firefox (Mozilla.com) and then pick ADD-ONS from the drop down menu and get C4C (check for change). It will automatically refresh your page every few seconds (you choose how often it refreshes).Thanks, Will have to try this.
TazErase Posted September 24, 2011 Posted September 24, 2011 Thanks, Will have to try this.It works great, you can change refresh rate from 1 sec to a few hours (although a few hours and you will miss the deals, lol). You will have to highlight and then left-click after highlighting it to set it. You can change the refresh rate speeds in the options.
samisma Posted October 3, 2011 Author Posted October 3, 2011 Do tell!Last year I had scored a brand new xbox at a great price before black friday so I got to walmart quite a few hours early and was waiting near their games that were very nicely priced. I was the first one there. It ended up being a group of 5 of us who waited by that stack for a few hours. Next to our stack were the tv's that others were waiting near us. When the plastic was removed I immediately grabbed the games I wanted for DH and my nephews. As I had them a woman (who had extremely long fake nails) decided she wanted what I had and so she smashed me into the display and tried to pin me to it to snatch the games out of my hands. Luckily someone from the group of 5 saw her and pulled her off of me. But I went home with some deep gashes on my face from her nails. I then went on with my shopping in the children's dept to get some clothes for dd. I ran into her again in that area where she tried to yank them out of my shopping cart. I was done all of my BF shopping by 4am, and when my husband woke at 7am it was quite a shock to him as I had my face gashed up as well as a fat lip and a black eye. All over some video games. Now I know a rational person would've given up the games. But I didn't feel I should have to as I had gotten there 4 hours before she had and I knew I couldn't afford to pay full price for all those games. DH however was not altogether thrilled with the appearance, but I also refused to give him the full story as to what the fight was over since they were his presents. This year I'm not going for games so it might not be as bad. We're not living in the city this year so it might not be as bad for that reason as well. I'm just not willing to take the chance of getting near trampled and getting bruised again given the fact that I will be close to my due date by then. I am just hoping that walmart and babies r us have their deals online. I remember in 2006 I got in line and waited overnight to score that diaper deal at babies r us and left with 3 shopping carts full of diapers and a cart full of baby food because of the combination of the sale prices and my coupons. I had no issues there. I might might might be willing to make the trek to the babies r us on the outskirts if they have a good deal like that again!
tinkrbel Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 I am just hoping that walmart and babies r us have their deals online.The last time I saw diapers in a BF ad it was babiesrus/noname brand an in store only..which worked fine for me because SIL would not dream of using anything but Pampers.
red_72_1999 Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 The year I was preg. with my daughter my due date was Thanksgiving Day. I went Black Friday Shopping saw my nurse and my doctor shopping they were asking why I was shopping. I said I hoping this helps her to come and it didnt was 10 days later before she decided to show up. But I will always remember that black friday.
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