Canadian Finance Blog

Take Advantage of American Black Friday Sales

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 02:00 AM PST

Black Friday sales are one of the few reasons I am jealous of Americans. For those that don’t know, Black Friday is an event the Friday after Thanksgiving in America (the last Thursday of November), which has basically come down to ridiculous sales at a wide variety of retail shops. Being America, sometimes it gets a little too extreme, and people end up stranded, injured, or dead. However, being Canadian citizens, we do not have this blessed sales frenzy, we instead have Boxing Day. Black Friday just makes more sense to me because then you can do all your shopping before Christmas, get your presents for cheap, and then be done your holiday shopping by December 1st. Boxing Day, on the other hand, comes after you’ve just gotten most of the things you wanted anyways. I guess you could spend your holiday money picking up the things you didn’t get, but ever since I moved away from home I’ve found I’ve spent most of the 23-27th travelling and being with family, not pushing through crowds at the mall.

Thankfully, there is a way that we can take advantage of the Black Friday deals. The first, and most obvious way, is to travel down the United States of America. Perhaps you have family or friends down there that you wanted to visit anyways. Why not line it up around American Thanksgiving? If you stay down the states for 48 hours you are allowed to bring back quite a bit of merchandise without having to pay duty on your retu rn. If you stay for a week, that limit is raised to $700. To maximize your potential savings while down there, check out the Black Friday ad sites, such as bfads.net, to find the exact item you were looking for, so that you know where to get it. Check the retailer’s website to learn of opening times, and expect to have to show up an hour (or day) early in order to guarantee the purchase of the specialty item.

Does all that traveling, hunting, and line standing not sound like fun to you? Luckily, there’s an even better way for us to enjoy the Black Friday sales – online. A lot of online retailers, as well as retail stores with an online presence, will also be having great sales available online to anyone with a credit card from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. While there will be some restrictions for Canadian citizens providing Canadian shipping addresses, a lot of the merchandise available online can be shipped up to Canada. Here’s what to check for when doing Black Friday shopping online.

Start Time

When does the sale start? Some retailers will start the sale on Thursday at midnight. Find out what that means for your location and time zone. If there are limited items available, it might be worth staying up late to get that great deal.

Shipping Availability

Does the item ship to Canada? Some items have restrictions. Most electronics, for example, will not ship to Canada.

Shipping Cost

How much will it cost to get the item shipped to Canada?

Mail in Rebates

If you think you are getting a good deal because there is a mail in rebate, be sure to check the fine print on the rebate before you purchase. Some rebates will only be good if the address provided is one in the United States.

So, do you embrace or ignore the Black Friday shopping sales? How do you take advantage of them?

Take Advantage of American Black Friday Sales originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on November 24, 2010.