--- title: Black Friday: 7 Ways to Get the Best Shopping Deals description: Black Friday may be the biggest shopping day of the year, but scoring the best deals takes considerable effort. canonical: https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-22T18:23:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:57.075Z og:title: 7 Expert Ways to Win the Best Black Friday Shopping Deals og:description: It's all about strategy og:url: https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94483d8844d0c77/6988af7a0a4a2215e79cc23e/black-friday-shopping-tips.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5120 og:image:height: 2880 og:image:alt: Colourful shopping bags placed on white platform, elevated view og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Expert Ways to Win the Best Black Friday Shopping Deals twitter:description: It's all about strategy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94483d8844d0c77/6988af7a0a4a2215e79cc23e/black-friday-shopping-tips.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Expert Ways to Win the Best Black Friday Shopping Deals > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Claire Stern / InStyle](https://time.com/author/instyle/) ## Claire Stern / InStyle Contributor Nov 22, 2016 6:23 PM UTC  Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Getty Images by [Claire Stern / InStyle](https://time.com/author/instyle/) ## Claire Stern / InStyle Contributor Nov 22, 2016 6:23 PM UTC [Black Friday](http://www.instyle.com/holidays-occasions/black-friday) may be the biggest shopping day of the year, but scoring the best deals takes considerable effort. So if you’re planning on scooping up the bulk of your holiday gifts the day after Thanksgiving, you’ll want to think strategically before you enter the bullpen. With that in mind, we tapped Sara Skirboll, shopping and trends expert at digital savings site [RetailMeNot](https://www.retailmenot.com/), for her pro tips. Below, she drops seven nuggets of retail wisdom besides arriving early. ### 1\. Sign up for retailers’ newsletters and follow them on social media. Some retailers will have flash sales for a select number of hours. Sign up for their newsletters and follow them on Twitter and Instagram so you’ll be the first to know about any special sales and exclusive promo codes. ### 2\. Set a budget. Make a list of who you’re shopping for, what they want, and how much you’re planning to spend on each so you don’t go off the rails in the midst of your spree. After you determine your budget, Skirboll recommends purchasing a gift card with the amount you intend to spend on gifts and leaving your credit card at home so you won’t be tempted to overspend. ### 3\. Employ a two-step shopping appriach. According to Skirboll, a little-known trick to score even more savings is twofold: Purchase a discount gift card for the retailer you plan to shop with and get savings of 10 percent or more, then combine the card with a promo code or digital rebate at checkout. Macy’s, Best Buy, and JCPenney have some of the best deals. **_Read more:_**[ _W_](http://www.instyle.com/fashion/shop-turtleneck-dress-pairings)[_hy You’ll Want to Layer a Turtleneck Under All Your Dresses_](http://www.instyle.com/fashion/shop-turtleneck-dress-pairings) ### 4\. Do your research. Before you hit the ground running, comb the interwebs for what’s on your shopping list in case they exist at a lower price somewhere else. ### 5\. Shop from the back of the store first. That way, you avoid the hordes of people and work your way toward the checkout line and exit. ### 6\. Prioritize electronics. “Electronics will sell out the fastest on Black Friday,” says Skirboll. “So if you see a good deal on TVs—specifically OLED and 4Ks—computers or phones, pick it up immediately.” Conversely, hold off on purchasing toys and golf clubs, because you’ll see the most drastic discounts in the days leading up to Christmas. **_Read more:_**[ _23 Retailers to Shop the Best Plus-Size Jeans_](http://www.instyle.com/fashion/best-plus-size-jeans-women) ### 7\. Make sure your cell phone is charged. As mobile shopping becomes increasingly common, more customers are using their smartphones in-store to complete their purchases and redeem extra savings. Make sure you’re not in the red. Or keep [a battery pack on you](http://www.mophie.com/). _This_ [_article_](http://www.instyle.com/holidays-occasions/black-friday/black-friday-expert-shopping-tips) _originally appeared on_[ _InStyle.com_](http://www.instyle.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/"},"headline":"7 Expert Ways to Win the Best Black Friday Shopping Deals","datePublished":"2016-11-22T18:23:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:57.075Z","description":"It's all about strategy","url":"https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94483d8844d0c77/6988af7a0a4a2215e79cc23e/black-friday-shopping-tips.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Claire Stern / InStyle"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94483d8844d0c77/6988af7a0a4a2215e79cc23e/black-friday-shopping-tips.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Colourful shopping bags placed on white platform, elevated view","caption":"Colourful shopping bags placed on white platform, elevated view","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4580427/black-friday-shopping-advice/","name":"7 Expert Ways to Win the Best Black Friday Shopping Deals"}}]}] ```