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Tips for surviving Black Friday
Nov 26, 2009 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Before you leave home in the predawn hours of this big shopping day, with visions of deals on TV sets and leather jackets, Droids and Dance Around Doras in your trunk, make sure you're equipped with more than your credit card, caffeine and comfy shoes.
Make a list of what you're buying and for whom; it will keep you on track. This is not a day for browsing.
Check prices online (so you can spot bargains.)
Know opening hours. Many stores are opening at midnight or in the wee hours.
Avoid peak hours. The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs says the big waves will be 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 8 a.m. to noon -- except perhaps at Sawgrass Mills. Last year it was mobbed from midnight to 4 a.m.
Find it? Grab it. Inventory is low this year, and hot items say sell out.
If you're going to lose sleep to shop, be sure the savings are worth it, says Dan de Grandpre, editor-in-chief of dealnews.com, which gathers and reviews deals all year long. "I hope you're saving a lot of money, and not just on one clothing item, but 20," he said.
An alternative approach: Stay home and reserve what you want to buy online. Many companies will let you pick up the item in the store later, when crowds have thinned.
If you do buy online, be sure the company is legit, says Miami attorney Luis Salazar of Greenberg Traurig. Discerning between scam shopping websites and real ones can be difficult, he says, because crooks have become so sophisticated.
"You can't trust yourself to eyeball it," he said. Imposter sites may even have the padlock in the lower right corner of the screen -- supposedly indicating that our personal information is protected.
If you get an e-mail offer that seems too good to pass up, go to the store website and find the deal there rather than clicking through the links in the message to avoid getting snared in a phishing scam, Salazar said.
And when you're shopping online, it actually may be best to pull out the plastic.
"Use a credit card instead of a debit account -- or anything that would tie into your bank account," he said. "A typical credit card fraud limit is $50. If they get your debit card, the bank can say we're not going to reimburse you."
To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.herald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Miami Herald Distributed by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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