95 replies to this topic

[bigjimslade]

“This is Big Jim Slade, GottaDeal.com, Black Friday Live……”

It is that time of year again for our Black Friday LIVE webcasts. GottaDeal.com was the first and is the ONLY Black Friday website to offer a LIVE webcast to site visitors. You have made this very successful for us and have given us a lot of valuable feedback. Read closely so you won’t miss out!

Bookmark our new webcast site and tell your friends.......

Every year YOU have made our webcasts a great sucesses and they are growing.  We have created a new website to make things easy this year and streamlined.  Here you can view the webcast, answer triva and ask your Black Friday questions.  Please take a moment and bookmark the site.

 

http://www.blackfridaywebcast.com

 

 

Test Webcast – THIS WEEK 2013

 

We will be doing two test webcasts this week.  We will be testing the Livestream and Google Hangout platforms.  I will post dates and times in the next day or so.

Webcast Schedule

This is a peek at our webcast schedule for this year. Like anything it can change. The best way to keep up with our webcast schedule is several ways……

Sign Up for the GottaDeal.com Black Friday email list

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on our Livestream page

Check the GottaDeal.com forums daily

Like last year I will be posting an event listing for our webcasts on Facebook and on our broadcast page on Livestream. I will also post a thread on here and stick it each week.

Like in years past when a MAJOR ad is leaked we will do a webcast that evening IF the ad is posted BEFORE 2pm Central Time. If it is posted after 2pm Central then we will do a webcast the next day.

Below is a sample of the webcast schedule. Remember it can change for any reason so please like, follow and friend us on Facebook, Twitter, Livestream and all of our social media platforms.

Test Webcast The Week of Oct 6 2013

Oct - 19, 25

Nov -  2, 9, 16, 23

Black Friday Week – Nov 24

Black Friday Post Game Show – Nov 30

All webcasts will start at 7pm Central Time on Saturday. Below are the time zones. They will be updated and in every event notice.

UTC – 1:00AM Sunday
Eastern – 8:00PM
Central – 7:00PM
Mountain – 6:00PM
Pacific – 5:00PM
Alaska – 4:00PM
Aleutian Islands – 4:00PM
Hawaii – 3:00PM
Guam – 11:00AM

And for our friends in…..

Spain – 2:00AM Sunday
Japan – 10:00AM Sunday
Israel – 3:00AM Sunday
Antarctica South Pole – 12:00 Noon Sunday


I hope everyone can make our webcasts and that find value in them. Post any questions you may have. Have a great Black Friday season and see you on the air!

Edited by bigjimslade, Nov 10, 2013 - 10:16 am.
Updated Time Zone Chart

[bigjimslade]

I know this question will come up so I will go a head and address it.  Why are we starting late this year?

 

The main reason we are starting a little late this year is I dont want people to become bored with the webcasts.  The webcasts in October are not as exciting as the ones in Nov.  The ones in Oct are needed but not as many.  Last year I started to see the view numbers slipping toward the middle of Nov. 

 

Another reason it takes time to prepare for each show.  It takes around 10 hours a week to prepare a show.  I am not complaining at all.  If you are my friend on the books of faces (Facebook) then you will know I have been traveling a lot of my film studio has been growing a lot.  I am also going to school for a side career that none of you would ever guess.

 

I cant wait for another fun Black Friday season and if you have any ideas or comments for the webcast post them below!

[tinkrbel]

Looking forward to the shows, thanks for all you do!

[bclvr61889]

You guys do so much for us THANK YOU.

[Brad]

Feel free to start asking questions for the first webcast on the new site:

 

http://www.blackfridaywebcast.com

[Peppermint]

Will you be doing webcast on the days big ads break like last year?  Those were the best!

[bigjimslade]

Yes we will. 

 

Follow us on Facebook and check back here often.  When an ad breaks I will post a time when we will be on the air.

 

 

Will you be doing webcast on the days big ads break like last year?  Those were the best!

[vonnyb]

So excited to see things are about to start to get rolling! Thanks Big Jim and Brad!

[Needs a deal]

Excited!

[bpr]

Test SAT! (I logged into Livestream to make sure I had my password correct)

[stationchief]

Wasn't able to attend the test webcast this evening Was preparing for my California trip later tonite. Hope everything went well without too many technical difficulties and I'll be here next time calling in to say what's up

[nhughes]

Looking forward to this year's webcasts!

[BFQueenofNY]

Hey BigJim So what's your side career going to be...newscasting? I'm just wondering what I wouldn't guess..hmmm Thanks for all the hard work

[Brad]

We're getting a lot of questions about online Black Friday shopping. It's a little early to be able to give decent predictions as to when a store will put their items online or which particular items will be offered online.

But rest assured, we'll cover the online dales better than anyone. In a week or so we'll open our dedicated online BF sub-forum. We also will have our great online BF tracker again this year which will have sale start times, list of ad items you can order at the sale price and much more.

So for now I'm going to merge all the threads asking about this stuff into one main thread to keep the forum less cluttered.

 

UPDATE: ONLINE BLACK FRIDAY SUBFORUM IS NOW LIVE: http://forums.gottadeal.com/forum/75-online-black-friday-sales/

[bigjimslade]

I am thinking about doing a real webcast this Saturday.  What does everyone think?

[bestdj15]

im game for a webcast saturday big jim

[Needs a deal]

you can count me big jim!

[magickallight]

Saturday sounds good to me.

[TazErase]

I SO wish I could make more of these dates but this year my dad is in bad shape and I'm not even sure where or IF I will get to do BF. I will try to aim for the Nov. 9th webcast to join you guys on that one but the others will not be possible.

[tinkrbel]

sounds good BigJim.

 

Sorry to hear it Taz, hoping for the best for your family.

[jaymacfla]

I SO wish I could make more of these dates but this year my dad is in bad shape and I'm not even sure where or IF I will get to do BF. I will try to aim for the Nov. 9th webcast to join you guys on that one but the others will not be possible.

We will be pulling for you to get your dad the help he needs. You are always welcome here if you need to take a few days leave if you can.

We now have a few items to discuss, namely Walmart's big gambit, The strike, whether real or staged, and what best Buy will do if Walmart pulls out all of the stops.

[bigjimslade]

Just an reminder an update......we are using livestream this year so please bookmark the link and follow us on livestream!

 

https://new.livestream.com/gottadeal

[Jen08]

I have never done online shopping on Thanksgiving/Black friday only b/c I am in bed getting as much sleep as I can before I have to leave BF morning to head out to the mall.  I am contemplating trying to get a few deals on Thanksgiving online that night before I go to sleep but I have some questions about it.

 

1.  Are the websites you shop at running slow due to so much traffic online b/c of all the other people shopping?

 

2.  Can you go ahead and put the item you want in your "shopping cart" and then once 8pm or 12pm (whatever time the sale starts) hit check out and the price will automatically adjust?

 

3.  Is it even worth it?  Do you get much better deals online?

 

4.  Are the same sales they post in their ads the same online?

 

Sorry for so many questions but I will be a newby at shopping online for BF.  I have bought many things online but this is new to me.

 

I'm not going shopping on THanksgiving b/c I would much rather spend all my time with my family but my 8pm, we are home and I figured I might could snatch a few deals before I went to bed. 

[jgm8]

I have never done online shopping on Thanksgiving/Black friday only b/c I am in bed getting as much sleep as I can before I have to leave BF morning to head out to the mall.  I am contemplating trying to get a few deals on Thanksgiving online that night before I go to sleep but I have some questions about it.

 

1.  Are the websites you shop at running slow due to so much traffic online b/c of all the other people shopping?

 

2.  Can you go ahead and put the item you want in your "shopping cart" and then once 8pm or 12pm (whatever time the sale starts) hit check out and the price will automatically adjust?

 

3.  Is it even worth it?  Do you get much better deals online?

 

4.  Are the same sales they post in their ads the same online?

 

Sorry for so many questions but I will be a newby at shopping online for BF.  I have bought many things online but this is new to me.

 

I'm not going shopping on THanksgiving b/c I would much rather spend all my time with my family but my 8pm, we are home and I figured I might could snatch a few deals before I went to bed. 

 

Well...... There are tons of answers for every question I do a bunch of shopping online before I head out and while I wait in lines.

 

Most of the store sites are very slow. Last year, I used every available tablet and pc in my house. I logged into a seperate store on each and had a list of what needed to be ordered, the price and the time the sale started by each machine. Remember, just because the store opens at 8:00 doesn't mean the online sale starts at the same time. Most of them start Pacific time. I would also check with each store beforehand to see if the items will be online. Some are, some are not. Most of the sales are the same, but I have come across special flash sales. As for putting stuff in your cart before hand, that is just luck of the draw. It worked for Best Buy last year, but not the previous year. Is it worth it? It definately was for me. I was able to get everything I needed from Best Buy the last three years without having to enter the store, Lap tops, TV's, iTunes Gift Cards, Nook... It has saved me tons of time! I was even able to get many items that the guys in our family wanted for their spouses, but knew they would wait until the last minute and the items would be gone.

[Brad]

Pretty much all the questions you answer change from store-to-store and year-to-year. For example, Walmart usually had most of their ad items online every year, then last year they decided to only have a very small amount. Some stores are better able to handle the traffic. Others, aren't. Same with if you can keep items in your cart ahead of time. Some stores let you, others won't. And just because it worked last year doesn't mean it'll work this year.

 

The deals start Wednesday night (sometimes even Tuesday night). As always, we'll have complete coverage, our Online Tracker which shows times when sales are supposed to start, etc...

[Jen08]

Pretty much all the questions you answer change from store-to-store and year-to-year. For example, Walmart usually had most of their ad items online every year, then last year they decided to only have a very small amount. Some stores are better able to handle the traffic. Others, aren't. Same with if you can keep items in your cart ahead of time. Some stores let you, others won't. And just because it worked last year doesn't mean it'll work this year.

 

The deals start Wednesday night (sometimes even Tuesday night). As always, we'll have complete coverage, our Online Tracker which shows times when sales are supposed to start, etc...

 

 

Thanks alot! I'll be sure to be checking in to see what all y'all have posted then to see when I need to start my online shopping. 

Well...... There are tons of answers for every question I do a bunch of shopping online before I head out and while I wait in lines.

 

Most of the store sites are very slow. Last year, I used every available tablet and pc in my house. I logged into a seperate store on each and had a list of what needed to be ordered, the price and the time the sale started by each machine. Remember, just because the store opens at 8:00 doesn't mean the online sale starts at the same time. Most of them start Pacific time. I would also check with each store beforehand to see if the items will be online. Some are, some are not. Most of the sales are the same, but I have come across special flash sales. As for putting stuff in your cart before hand, that is just luck of the draw. It worked for Best Buy last year, but not the previous year. Is it worth it? It definately was for me. I was able to get everything I needed from Best Buy the last three years without having to enter the store, Lap tops, TV's, iTunes Gift Cards, Nook... It has saved me tons of time! I was even able to get many items that the guys in our family wanted for their spouses, but knew they would wait until the last minute and the items would be gone.

 

 

Thanks for answering all my questions.  It seems like there might be more strategic planning needed for online then there is when I actually go out and shop. LOL!  Atleast it does to me since I will be new at it.  Going out and dealing with the crowds and trying to get to each store seems easier to me only b/c I've been doing it so long.  Maybe I'll really enjoy the online shopping this year and will start doing more of that than going to the actual stores in the coming years.  Thats a BIG maybe though....I love being out at the stores with everyone and getting in the Christmas spirit. LOL! 

[tinkrbel]

You have to watch for certain stores whose website stock isn't kept up to date, I'm sure others can chime in on who they are. BF has turned into an all week thing for me between catching Amazon deals and being up whenever each stores deals go live.

 

I don't think I've been stung by the backordered then cancelled issue but I think BB had some issues last year or the year before as did Target on some item they had a misprint on but were going to honor via web only.

 

I have all but given up on Walmarts website (until well after I've returned from BF shopping) after the fiasco of not being able to log into my account then eventually logging in only to have cart emptied then restock it only for multiples to show up and then disappear altogether when I tried to login again no more than a couple minutes later with the "remember me option selected.

 

I've had pretty good luck with BB, RadioShack and Target online.

 

GOOD TIPS for BF Web Shopping:

 

Have an established account for each site you might purchase from

Know your login info

Ensure your Credit Card is up to date

Make sure your address is up to date

If it all possible write down item numbers and bookmark the pages for each if available beforehand- some ads have them

 

And finally, if you plan to go nuts, notify your Credit Card company so you're not the poor sod stuck (in line) processing a fraud call wasting your and everyone else's time.

[tdanette]

Walmart was a nightmare when it came time to check out last year iirc. I usually go with Amazon for must-haves, the rest I chance when I go out.

[Kimmisue]

I do all my Kohl's shopping online. If I remember correctly they start BF prices on Thanksgiving. I have not had a problem with their website & have been able to get everything I wanted. 

[freesia39]

I do all my Kohl's shopping online. If I remember correctly they start BF prices on Thanksgiving. I have not had a problem with their website & have been able to get everything I wanted. 

Actually I think they started on Tuesday night last year.