Amazon and other online retailers have basically rendered the excitement around the holiday tradition “Black Friday” more into “Beige Friday” as those crazy sales start long before with most stores being open late Thanksgiving day. So far T.J. Max and Marshalls are running commercials proudly stating that they’re closed on Thanksgiving as ‘some things have more value,’ meaning that they don’t want to pay overtime/holiday pay plus they know everyone will be running to Wal-mart, Target, Game Stop among other places anyway. Right off the bat, here’s where you can find all those Amazon Black Friday deals, along with Cyber Monday deals in one place before we get started. This way, if you are jonesing for those deals, you can click right on over and come back to see what we have to say about them later.
Amazon has long made a compelling case that the best shopping experience happens from the comfort of your own home. Now as Black Friday approaches, it is also hoping to tempt you to stay away from the inevitable crowds of main street shoppers. But are the deals good enough to let you put your feet up?
The big news is that Amazon started its Black Friday sales Saturday and will run them right through to Black Friday on November 27th. They will also include spontaneous ‘Lightning Deals’ (lasting only a few hours or even minutes) and app-only offers. So let’s break down what we know so far.
Amazon Star Buys
Typically some of the best and most straightforward Amazon offers come off its own range of products. These are the top picks:
- $99.99 Kindle Paperwhite (regular price starts at $119)
$30 off Kindle and Kindle for Kids Bundle
$34.99 Fire 7-inch tablet (regularly $50)
$84.99 Fire Kids Edition (regularly $100) - $25 off Amazon Fire TV (regularly $100)
- $15 off Amazon Fire TV Stick (regularly $40) and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote
Elsewhere these offers also stand out:
- $99 Jawbone Up3 (regularly $150)
- $49 off Sonos 2-Room Streaming Music Starter Set (regularly $398)
- $79.99 Vizio 38-inch 2.1 home theater sound bar (regularly $180)
- 50 percent off on Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition Over-Ear Headphones in Black
- 50 percent off Sony“>Sony Extra Bass Bluetooth Headphones
- 40 percent off on a Polk Audio Omni S2 wireless speaker
- 25 percent off Denon Heos 1 wireless speakers
- 20 percent off on select Samsung Galaxy tablets
- 40 percent off select Acer desktops, monitors, Chromebooks and tablets
- 70 percent off select SanDisk SNDK -1.35% memory cards and USB flash drives
Amazon Solid Deals
Elsewhere you’ll find some decent discounts in the gaming sector:
- $50 off an Xbox One
- $50 off the PlayStation 4 Uncharted bundle
- $20 off Need for Speed
- $30 off Rock Band 4 wireless guitar bundle
- $25 off Metal Gear Solid V
Like last year, Amazon is also going big on TVs with up to 45% off select Samsung and LG TVs, including:
- Samsung 32-inch 1080p LED TV for $177.99
- Samsung 75-inch 1080p Smart LED TV for less than $2,000
- LG 49-inch 1080p LED TV for less than $370
- Hisense 55-inch 4K Smart LED TV, $448 (app-only deal)
- TCL 55-inch Roku Smart LED TV for $348
- TCL 32-inch Roku Smart LED TV for $125
- Acer Home Theater Projector, $299.99
Amazon’s Treat With Caution
Everybody always does, this; they have a sale price so crazy low, you just can’t resist. Then you take it home and realize that you’ve bought a brand you have never heard of, and it winds up dying just as quickly as the “Black Friday” tradition is. In typical Amazon style, the company also has a wide array of offer which sound great on paper but are currently too generic to be able to endorse without reservation. Keep your eyes open and be sure to do your homework:
- “A top-selling” 60-inch 4K LED TV for $799.99
- Unnamed 50-inch 1080p LED TV, $149.99 (app-only deal)
- “A top-selling” mobile printer for less than $100
- Asus 15-inch laptop, $129
- $100 off an Intel“>Intel INTC +0.00% Dell 2-in-1 Laptop
Finally, given its flexibility as a wholly online retailer, Amazon has stated that more deals will appear daily between 3 pm PST and 11 pm starting Thanksgiving day and going through to December 9th. These will include 10 ‘Deals of the Day’ that will appear at midnight on Thanksgiving and there will be 10 more at midnight on Black Friday.
Best Deals Elsewhere:
The Black Friday deals are still coming in, and TVs are leading the pack in big bargains.
The catch is that they’ll go fast, both in-store and online. And in one high-profile case, the deal may only be offered via a mobile app.
Dealnews picks a no-name, 50-inch flat-screen TV selling for a rock-bottom $150 on Amazon on Nov. 26, as its overall top deal.
The site says this is the cheapest 50-inch TV it’s ever seen; $240 had been the previous ceiling. It also beats every other Black Friday deal it’s seen for a similar size HDTV.
However, don’t look for this if you’re shopping on the computer. Amazon will only offer the TV via its mobile app, says Dealnews. “We’d never seen this before,” says Benjamin Glaser, features editor for Dealnews. “But as Amazon goes, so goes the industry. You may see other retailers throwing in mobile-only deals this week too.”
Most deals mentioned here are only available Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week. A Toshiba HDTV that’s just one inch smaller will also sell for $150 in limited quantities at Best Buy.
And if you want to go big, a 70-inch Vizio TV will sell for $898 at Walmart. Dealnewssays this is $300 less than the previous low for a 70-inch model. A search for 70-inch Vizio TVs on Bestbuy.com shows a range of models currently from $1,365 to $2,789.
While most of the deals have been announced, Glaser expects further price-chopping to begin Thursday. “You’ll see retailers price match and undercut each other with live updates,” he said.
Other Black Friday bargains:
— Streaming media players from Roku and Amazon are being offered for doorbuster prices. The entry-level Roku, which normally sells for $50, is being discounted to $20 at HHGregg, while Amazon’s Fire TV streaming player, normally $99, is discounted to $75 on the company’s website.
— Smartphones: Consumers want to buy phones as gifts, but get hung up on the cost (the iPhone 6S starts at $650) and springing for a wireless contract. This year, Wal-Mart is offering a $250 gift card for the iPhone 6S, bringing the effective cost down to $400. And Staples trumps the iPhone with $500 in credits for the Samsung Galaxy S6, with Verizon service, which Dealnews says is the equivalent of a $500 rebate.
“We weren’t expecting any deals on smartphones,” says Glaser. “So this is a big surprise.”
— Tablets: Target is offering a $150 gift card with the $499 purchase of the Apple iPad Air 2, bringing the effective price to $349, while Meijer has a $125 store credit for the $350 iPad Mini 4. The lowest priced bargain tablet has to be Amazon’s 7″ Fire tablet, selling for just $35.