BLACK Friday is upon us and navigating the mega sales event can be a minefield – but Martin Lewis has revealed his top money-saving tips.
The annual sales day started in America and sees retailers offer discounts across thousands of products.
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But the mania around the event can see customers make rash purchases meaning they’re not actually getting the best deal.
Savvy shoppers have revealed how to pick up the best bargains on the day, including this woman.
And an ex-supermarket worker has lifted the lid on what shops don’t tell you ahead of Black Friday.
Now, money saving expert Martin Lewis has offered his top pieces of advice to ensure customers aren’t left out of pocket in the latest episode of his podcast.
Only buy it if you were already going to
Black Friday is designed to get customers hyped up, but Martin said controlling yourself and not giving in to your impulses was his top tip to save on money.
He said: “As I’ve said before. My big Black Friday memo – if you were going to buy it anyway, and it’s half price, great you’ve saved 50%.
“If you weren’t going to buy it, but do it only because it’s half price, boo, you’ve wasted 100%.
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“Make a list of the things that you need, and try not to be drawn to buy on impulse when you see something that’s discounted and you think it’s a good deal if you wouldn’t have bought it anyway.”
You might get a better discount before Black Friday
Black Friday isn’t always the best time to get the best price for a product and you might get a better offer beforehand.
Of course, this won’t apply to all products, but sometimes it’s cheaper to buy it in the run up to the sales event.
Martin said: “Now, we have done some research on this, my team and I, but there’s also some other research out there.
“The first stat I’ll give you is that in 2021 price comparison website Pricebuy found that 22% of the goods it checked were cheaper in the run up to Black Friday than on Black Friday itself.
“So clearly what you do have to do is monitor your prices in advance and that will help you tell the duds from the deal.”
Compare prices and use price-tracker websites
Price comparison websites can be really helpful if you want to check what something costs across a range of retailers.
They’re not only useful on huge sales days, but if you’re looking to save on your weekly food shop too.
In the podcast Martin recommended price comparison site Price Buy to help you find the best deal on a product.
Plus, he suggested using price tracker websites, such as camelcamelcamel, which shows you how much something has sold for on Amazon across a specific time frame.
He said: “Amazon often lists the discount, but that doesn’t mean six months ago it wasn’t an even bigger discount.
“So you can see in reality how the price on many things that you’re buying has actually moved.
“So you can check out whether it’s actually a bargain or a bit of blag to try and get you to buy.”
And if you want to track a specific product, Martin recommended Love Sales.
On the website you can enter how much you want to pay for a specific item, and if and when it reaches that price, you get an email telling you.
“It’s really useful for individual items, that one at the moment, and especially in the run up to Black Friday,” he said.
Fill up your shopping basket, then leave it
Martin said often retailers will try and entice you back in with discount codes if you’ve put items into your online shopping basket and then leave it without paying.
He said: “Another way to get yourself a discount at the moment, is go online to a store where you’ve got an account.
“Put in what you want to buy, put it in the shopping basket and then walk away.
“Just leave that shopping basket. Abandon it with the stuff in.
“And then, often, not always, and it depends on their marketing strategy at the time, you will be sent an additional code to try and sweeten you to come back and buy what’s in that basket.”
How to get free delivery
Websites will often deliver your entire shopping basket for free if you spend over a certain amount.
But the amount will vary depending on where you’re buying from. Usually when you go to pay for the product it will tell you what the minimum spend is to get free delivery.
Martin said: “The free delivery if you’re ordering online is £50 at John Lewis, £40 at ASOS or Matalan.
“So if you’re just below it, try and find an item that will take you over that threshold. Often that item will cost less than paying for the delivery.”
Haggle
It might seem impossible to do online, but Martin said you can sometimes haggle to get prices down.
“You can try haggling online via the online chat box, and people have reported discount codes for Nike, Curry and Dysons, if you give it a try,” he said.
“If you start talking to those people and asking them if it’s possible to reduce the price for one reason or another.”
Aldi has launched its first ever Black Friday deal, offering customers up to 50% off.
Meanwhile, we reveal the full list of retailers not doing Black Friday deals.
