Ready, set, shop! The 2014 holiday shopping season is here and the biggest shopping day of the year -- Black Friday, draws serious shoppers. Here are some great tips for a safe Black Friday:
Surviving the Shopping Lines Outside
- Dress warmly, but in layers so you don't overheat in the store.
- If you can't decide where to go, call and ask if they'll be offering anything to Black Friday shoppers waiting in line. Free hot drinks or a goodie bag could be the tie-breaker you're choosing between locations.
- Make friends with your neighbors in line - they might know about some great deals!
- Unless you're looking to score a big-ticket item like a laptop, there's no need to be in the front of the line. Arriving an hour early or so should be plenty of time.
- If it's a hot item you're after, call ahead and find out what time customers lined up outside last year and ask what time they suggest you arrive.
- Electronics stores like Best Buy and Fry's tend to have the longest (and earliest) lines. For more popular items, you can often find the same deal at a store like Target but with a smaller line.
- Every year, at least one crazed rush of shoppers makes headlines for mobbing a door when it opens. Don't be that headline; be safe and courteous to employees and other shoppers when entering the building.
Surviving the Shopping Lines Inside
- If you can, try to get your items quickly and efficiently so that you can get in line as soon as possible. For the first few minutes of a store's opening, the registers are a breeze. After that, the lines can get so long, they sometimes wrap around the entire store - particularly at Best Buy, Toys ‘R Us, and Wal-Mart.
- Don't hesitate to head to check out because you are choosing between items. Take them both with you and make your decision later - those few extra minutes could be the difference between a short and a long line.
- Wait politely to check out. Do not hold places in line for other shoppers and avoid pushing up against the people in front of you.
- Let people pass through the line when they are still shopping.
Keep It Classy, Black Friday
- Stick to your plan and do not allow your shopping to be derailed by grumpy shoppers.
- Shouting matches and fights over the last item often break out in stores. Remember that you do not have to participate. Just move on.
- Be polite. Let others around you in the aisles. Help someone who is looking for an item if you happen to know where it is.
- Be nice to employees. They're up just as early as you are. And remember - they may be the only thing between you and that last holiday "it" toy in the back.
- It won't be possible to get every item on your list. Don't let disappointment slow you down! Get excited about the deals you successfully track down.
- Have fun. If you're not having fun, you're not doing Black Friday right.
How to (Politely) Get What You Want
- Make your decisions before the doors open. While everyone else is deciding which dollar DVDs they want, you can speed-walk to electronics for that flat screen TV.
- Go to a store you know. If you're familiar with the layout, you're more likely to find items quickly. If not, visit ahead - a little research can go a long way.
- As you go through the store, watch where you are going. You can walk quickly through the store without actually bumping into anyone.
- For stores opening at 8:00pm on Thanksgiving, try visiting between midnight and 3am. Crowds will have died down and they may even be restocking deals.
- Take only what you need - nobody likes the person who scoops up all of one item to turn around and sell it somewhere else.
- If you don't see the item you are looking for, check go-back piles. Sometimes it takes a while for a product to return to the shelf after a customer changes their mind. Cash in on it!
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