By Kate Harvey
Content Manager | Pou Whakahaere Ihirangi
Tis the season for our email inboxes to be absolutely chocka with offers from stores as we get closer to Black Friday. Retailers are all competing for our attention and dollars, and it’s easy to get swept up in the hype of it when you don’t have a strategy.
Here’s how you can prepare to emerge from the shopping event with some deals you’re proud of, rather than debt you regret.
1. Make a shopping list
The best kind of deal is the one you get on something you really do need to buy. Take some time to think about what you’ve been wanting and what you’ll have to buy leading up to Christmas.
Get specific. Rather than just knowing you need a toy for a child in your family, decide now which exact toy you want to get them. Then when it gets to the end of the week, you can simply search the internet to see which store is offering it for the best price.
And, of course, if you’re a member you can check out our test results to make sure you’re buying a quality product. Our product comparison pages make it easy to ensure you’re buying from a brand that’s reliable and that the product you’re considering performed well in our lab.
2. Consult the budget
It can be easy to think you’ll miss out if you don’t do some serious shopping on Black Friday. But there’ll be other sales leading up to Christmas and of course there’s the Boxing Day sales.
Spend a bit of time over the weekend looking at what you’re really able to spend in the coming week. You don’t want to go into the Christmas and summer holiday period with credit card or buy-now-pay-later debt hanging over you.
3. Do your price homework
A little bit of research now will help you know whether you’re really getting a good deal in the sales.
We like to use price comparison sites PriceMe and PriceSpy to do this. Not only will you be able to see later in the week which store is selling the product you want at the cheapest price, but right now you can check what it’s been selling for lately.
Sometimes you’ll find that a Black Friday price is more than what the product’s been available for earlier in the year – so you’ll know it might be worth holding out for another sale, later on.
4. Know your retailer’s rules
If you’ve got an idea what online stores you’ll be visiting over the coming week, read their info pages to make sure you really want to buy from them.
For example, if you’re thinking of buying from a clothing store, does it allow you to return the item for a refund if it arrives and doesn’t fit? If the store isn’t based in New Zealand and you’re buying for Christmas, will your delivery show up in time?
Who wants the hassle of dealing with customer service teams when life gets busy in the lead-up to Christmas. It’s better to know now how it’s likely to go.
5. Get savvy with the tricks shops use
Earlier this week we published an article about the tricks and traps online stores might be using this Black Friday. It’s a reminder to go into the sales savvy of how shops will be trying to pressure you to add to your cart. If you know what they’re up to, you can brush off their tricks and spend wisely.
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