How to bag the best deals this Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and avoid the duds

We’re just about to hit the time of year when sales events ramp up as people prepare for the holidays, and there’s no bigger event than the combined hullabaloo of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, sales generally start in the weeks beforehand, so hype is very much already beginning to build up.

If you’re hoping to get some good deals this year, you’ll probably be in luck, but it’s always worth considering how to get the most from a sale.

With Black Friday fast approaching on November 29 and Cyber Monday on December 2, these are the best tips to help you shop smartly and avoid the pitfall of fake deals.

Use a price tracker

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There’s one tip we’d love to shout from the rooftops when it comes to shopping online, and that’s to try check the pricing history of any item you’re interested in. This is particularly easy when Amazon is your choice of retailer – browser extensions and websites like Keepa or CamelCamelCamel are ideal for the task.

They’ll let you see how the price of a listing has fluctuated over time, which will instantly let you know whether what you’re looking at is a genuine discount compared to history, or whether it’s a concocted fake deal, manufactured by a price rise the previous week. That could save you from an expensive mistake.

Plan ahead

This might seem obvious and it’s not a very technical step, but we’d always advise people to know what they want before they go anywhere near a website offering a big sale. It’s way too easy to get sucked in by flashing banner ads and big discount labels, but the reality is that you’re only saving money if you’re making a purchase that you were planning to anyway.

For example, Black Friday is a genuinely great time to buy a new TV or another big bit of tech for your home, with plenty of brilliant deals floating around. However, it’s a good idea to decide on a display size and type (like a 55-inch OLED or a 75-inch miniLED, for example), so that you don’t end up with something either pricier than you intended, or worse than you realised, because you were engrossed by the idea of a 50% saving.

If you know what items you’re after, and stick to those, you’re much less likely to end up buying something you regret.

Stick to big retailers

Every retailer on the web will be vying for attention in the week leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but you might want to keep your scope a little tighter. After all, if you allow yourself down the rabbit hole too far, you could buy from a site with a rubbish returns policy, slow delivery, or a suspect record without realising it.

If you’ve never heard of the brand, be suspicious

Now more than ever, there are countless devices being sold through massive retailers under brand names that you’ve never heard of. If you’re browsing on Black Friday and see something enticing from a brand name that seems completely new to you, it pays to be suspicious.

The reality is that these are often low-quality goods sold under a revolving array of brand names to keep from being delisted, so it’s worth doing your research – you might discover the brand is actually legit and well-regarded, or you might find it wiser to spend more on a reputable brand instead.

Don’t forget to compare prices

While many big products will end up with matching prices across a range of retailers, that’s never guaranteed to be the case. If you see a great deal on something that you’ve wanted for ages, take a beat before checking out – you almost certainly won’t regret it.

A quick web search could find you a few other listings to compare it against, and you’d be surprised how often this might bring you a few extra pounds of savings as a bonus. It’s a win-win!