BBB Offers Tips for Navigating Black Friday Sales

“Black Friday” is right around the corner and according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) survey, this year American consumers plan to spend an average of $935.58 during the holiday shopping season.

Retailers are gearing up for the big day, especially the “big box” stores that sell name brand appliances, housewares, electronics, and other popular gift items. Newspapers are stuffed with sale flyers, commercials are promoting “doorbuster” deals, and online ads promise the best bargains.

Better Business Bureau offers these tips to make your Black Friday shopping experience productive… and maybe even enjoyable:

Do your research. Read product reviews, check out bbb.org for Business Profiles, look at the sales flyers and ads, compare prices, look for early promotions and “flash sales.” For more tips on holiday shopping, visit BBB’s 2016 Holiday Helper.

Read the fine print. Some stores only honor sale ads during a certain time frame, or on certain days. Some stores may only allow you to purchase one item, particularly large, popular and/or deeply discounted products.

Know the advertiser. Some of the best deals are only available online, but be careful. It’s easy for a fake site to mimic a famous retailer’s website, so make sure you are shopping with a legitimate site. Check out bbb.org to read more about stores or websites unfamiliar to you.

Sign-up for email alerts. Many stores release their best Black Friday deals to people who have signed up to receive their emails. Just make sure it’s the real business and not a scammer.

Ask for gift receipts and save warranty information. A gift receipt can be tucked into a gift item or card so that the recipient can return or exchange a gift if it’s not just right. Be sure to pass along any information about returns, exchanges, repairs, and warranties to the person who will use the item.

For more information you can trust, visit us at bbb.org/boston or like us on Facebook.

ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses and brands they can trust. In 2015, people turned to BBB more than 172 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 5.3 million businesses, all available for free at bbb.org.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as home to its national and international programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation. BBB Serving Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont was founded in 1920.

Paula Fleming is Chief Marketing & Sales Officer for Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT. Find Paula on Google+.