Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday: What to Buy Each Day
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Your Money Matters from The Wall Street Journal. Welcome to Your Money Matters. I'm J.R. Whalen with Anne-Marie Fertoli in New York. Along with the season of giving, we're about to enter the season of doorbusters, where retailers announce steep discounts prompting consumers, in some cases, to camp out outside stores. But among three key dates on the calendar, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, how can consumers crack the code and find the best deal on the best day? Janice Lieberman is a consumer analyst with Deal News and she joins us here with some answers. So Janice, it seems like these blow the doors off the store promotions. They sneak up earlier and earlier in November. You could actually start at the start of Thanksgiving week or even earlier?
You can start now. I mean, you can start researching now. We believe from past history and from our analysis that the best day to buy is Thanksgiving Day, followed by Friday, Black Friday, and then Cyber Monday. But you can honestly start looking and researching and making lists now and detailing exactly the features and the components of what it is that you're looking for.
So when you say now, the middle of November is a good time to begin sort of mapping out what you think you want to buy and what the perfect gift might be.
This takes work.
Oh, yeah, I'm sure.
They're not giving it to you, okay? You have to get some legwork in there, and you have to do your research. deal alerts, which is awesome because we'll do the work for you. You put in what it is that you're looking for and it'll pop up when the best day is to buy. But aside from, you know, a specific iPhone or Dell computer, if you're just looking for clothing or gaming or, you know, there's small appliances, large appliances, now's the time to start thinking, do I really need it? What's the price point I want? Do I need all the bells and whistles? Do I need how they put everything together into a bundle or am I better off buying pieces? Know the model, you know, just because they're saying, you know, a side-by-side refrigerator is $750 reduced from $3,000.
Is this going to fit? Is this what you need? So it takes a lot of research, although it's worth it because the deals are huge. They definitely do discount. It's not just a hoax or a come on.
Janice, it sounds like this year there is a good reason to put down the turkey and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, finish up that meal, because you actually found a lot of good deals on Thanksgiving as opposed to Black Friday and even Cyber Monday. Is that different from then in years past?
Well, we have learned from last year for sure that Thanksgiving Day is the cheapest. Now, I'm not saying, you know, forego your company and, you know, start trudging to the stores. You can do a lot of it online. So definitely you can walk away from your table for a little bit or wait till dinner's over and start shopping. But we know that Thanksgiving Day, which is a little bit sad to me, is the cheapest day to get the deals.
It used to be the parade and then you get dressed to go to your aunt's house, your grandmother's house and meet and greet hors d'oeuvres and dinner and dessert and then shop. But on Thanksgiving Day, what sorts of items are really the best things to look out for?
We're seeing TVs this year. I mean, TVs are a great way to get you into the stores. 1080s were very big last year, but you can do just as well with a 4K. So just bypass that 1080 and go for the, you know, these. They may not be the brand names that you want, but they're definitely basic models that have everything you would want. And they are dirt cheap. I mean, you could probably pick one up for $200 for a 50-inch one. I mean, this is crazy prices. So they want you to get into the stores. You do have to be wary. Sometimes we'll see special edition Black Friday deals on various electronics that you'll never see again. So it's a little bit hard to price comparison shop on those items because you've never seen them before.
When should you start researching holiday deals ahead of Thanksgiving?
It doesn't mean they're a bad deal.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–3:54
2
When should you start researching holiday deals ahead of Thanksgiving?
3:54–4:06
3
Why does DealNews say Thanksgiving Day often has the cheapest deals?
4:06–11:58
4
Which items are best to buy on Thanksgiving (are TVs really the top deal)?
11:58–13:03
Speakers
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