Black Friday Shopping - How Early?

I find that there are better sales closer to Christmas when the stores are trying to squeeze out that last bit of Christmas business. Don't get sucked into the hysteria. There are also plenty of deals online with free shipping.

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. My time is worth more than saving a few bucks.
I'd just order O. online for what I consider to be a decent price.
If it's not a "Black Friday deal" it'll be a "Last Minute deal"...don't let corporations jerk you around!
Good luck.

Odds are you won't get it. Try online.

If you do go I would.........
Get someone or few people to go with and rotate standing in line.

Have one person working shopping cart if you need one or bring own shopping bag.

Find out where they will have them. It is not always in electronics. Get the persons name who told you.

Get there early. Bring a snack.

It's crazy! Good luck!

Our culture is so obsessed with shopping. I'd rather pay the $50 or so that I'd save on an iPod and stay with my family on Thanksgiving. Seriously, what are we teaching our kids?????!!!!

For what it's worth Apple products almost never go on sale.

Honestly, I will never stand in line for a black friday deal again. I went one year because I was used to getting up at 4:45 for the gym. The gym was closed and I was up so I thought, why not. I went to the nearest store and waited in line for it to open at 5:00, just to see what deals I could get. It was a mad house. There was not one thing genuinely worth the struggle I saw people going through. You might save $30 on that iPod, which to me wouldn't be worth it. I value my sanity and dignity far too much to ever go through that again, and I didn't even have an agenda. It would be far worse if I had one. And you can pretty much kiss your Thanksgiving goodbye if that's when you're planning to do this. JMO

We did Black Friday 1 time just for the fun of it because of all the hype about it and I will NEVER , EVER do that again. Nothing is worth it.

I saw more people fighting over things, being extremely rude and obnoxious, police were everywhere keeping crowd control......it was crazy.

It was worse than when we went through Hurricane Hugo and saw people fighting for gas and a loaf of bread.

It is something I will never do again. Best of luck if you get into that type of thing. I'd prefer to spend the extra $50 to avoid the scene and see how people act.

I did Black Friday once. Never again, no matter how good the deals are.

How about...not at all?
You can probably find it on the web for cheaper.

The whole black Friday thing has always grossed me out. Now that it starts on Thanksgiving I am even more surprised people still go.

I buy all electronics online and get great deals, try cyber Monday. Look at the advice below, sounds like you can get a better deal right now and save your Thanksgiving for family and gratitude as it is meant to be.

Sometimes I think people use Black Friday like a badge of honor or some sort of contest. I really just don't get it.

I have never, and will never shop black Friday. Partly because of stories about the aftermath on the news, and also every year, people camp out two days in advance at Best Buy and Toys R Us. Madness!

Black Friday is way over-hyped. Except for a few very limited quanity items the sales are not worth the hassle.
Sorry to say but I do not encourage anyone to shop on Black Friday. My daughter works at an IHOP on the mall grounds here. It's the biggest mall in Wisconsin and it is crazy busy during the holidays. My daughter has to be at work at midnight Thanksgiving night to serve the hoards of Black Friday shoppers. My kids and I have nice memories of Thanksgiving weekend being a family holiday. My daughter's son will only remember his mom being crazy tired and a bit crabby and frazzled because Black Friday has become so over hyped.
Now K-Mart is staying open on Thanksgiving. I will now boycott K-Mart. In my opinion boycott all Black Friday shopping and spend the time with your kids.

I see you are in my neck of the woods (Naperville). Black Friday isn't TOO terrible on the west side of I-355. Honestly though, for an iPod Touch your best bet might be to go to Meijer (I-355 and Boughton Rd) on Thanksgiving (yes, they are open). I haven't seen their black Friday ad yet, but usually they have the best Apple deal around, and it's better on Thanksgiving than it is on Black Friday. The store isn't too crowded on Thanksgiving. Good luck! I hope you get a great deal!

I don't leave the house.

The Toys R Us ad says they will have Apple iPod Touch 16GB 5th Generation for $229. You can get that for $214 right now at Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

I have had some success with ToyRUs and Black Friday deals. I have sent my husband out to get a present for the kids a couple of years. These weren't hot items, like a touch, though. And he definitely didn't wait outside the store or anything.
I also saw the Touch in the Black Friday ad, and I didn't think it was that great of a deal for a 5th generation touch with that amount of storage-even with the $50 gift card.
My advice is to check the Apple store online for a refurbished Touch. These usually have the same warranty as a new one, and I have always had good success with refurbished devices. You will save yourself some time and angst. I think the Apple store also runs a Black Friday ad, so you might want to keep your eyes peeled for that.
Hope this helps!

Check out what Jill K said---I didn't check the Toys R Us ad, but I did just look at Best Buy and they DO have it for $214.99 right now! I might get that, myself. Thanks Jill. Most helpful answer this question received!

I think by about 2pm, there'd already be a line for a 5pm opening. ESPECIALLY for tech gifts. And that's simply too early to leave for a special holiday like Thanksgiving! 2 Thanksgivings ago, I did leave at 11:30pm, about 3 hours after my children were in bed and my husband was heading to bed. I kissed him goodnight, he handed me a thermos of hot chocolate, and I had a good time with my friends. Some like Black Friday, some don't. But that's not what this question was about.

I'll be working on those days. I say days because whilst to the general public Black Friday is just the day after Thanksgiving to those of us in the industry it is multiple days. I'll actually have to be escorted into work by either the PD or local security due to the craziness of some people.

I've never shopped a Black Friday sale outside of the comfort of my home. Good luck landing the deal you're after without becoming part of the madness that is Black Friday.

I went to Toys R Us for black Friday about 7 years ago. It was a madhouse. The line just to check OUT was over 2 hours long. I have never gone back there again.
I do Friday morning at about 5:30am or 6. I don't usually buy the big item things like a TV, DVD, or anything else very expensive. I usually am circling towels, ninjas, and some bed sheets. :)
L.

To be very honest, we are not Thanksgiving people. My family and my husband;s family never really celebrated. We went on Thanksgiving last year, because we (naively) thought not many people would be there. People were EVERYWHERE. We did not wait in any lines, because we weren't getting anything that required lines. The lines for electronics were insane. People must have been already lined up for hours. I just don't think you can avoid crowds that weekend. I had never done black Friday before, and I will never again.

There will be plenty of online deals. I'm sure you can get one for the same price somewhere online. Just keep an eye on all deals as it gets closer.

I would not do it! They usually only have a few of these sale items. So many places on line to get an iPod touch because they have been around for a while. Not really a must have item for everyone.

Of course, if you like shopping I chaos I guess you can give Toys R Us a shot. For me, I would rather spend a fe we tea dollars than become part of the statistics.

I look for Cyber Monday deals. My couch. Every website that might offer the product. No crowds. Often just as good a deal. Often the super sale items are limited quantity and you could spend all day in line and not get one.

The only time I do Black Friday is in the evening, when the madness has dissipated. And even that I haven't done in several years.

I went to KMart one Thanksgiving morning early...like 5am with two friends. I'll never do it again. I take my kids out on Black Friday to get toys for Toys for Tots...and an occasional toy for them at that point if I find an amazing deal. But it's not terribly enjoyable.

We do Cyber Monday more often and the deals are great. We got our refrigerator that way in 2010 and got more than 50% off. It was sold out online but out local Best Buy gave us the same deal by me going in to the store.

How early? Thanksgiving a Day is too early. How dare folk applaud merchandisers by going shopping on that day! And we wonder why family values are being destroyed...

Good for you for not shopping on Thanksgiving.

In general, I would say an hour before the store opens. Be sure to read the ad carefully, many of these doorbuster ads are a gimmick. One year hubby went to Dick's he was the 2nd person in the door, and the kayak he wanted to purchase was sold out, when each store was suppose to have a minimum of 3 in stock.

Consider checking on line for the same deal at Toys R Us.. I did this a few years ago and nailed 2 Zunes. They were hard to find in the stores but easily on line for that sale price.