My Guide to Black Friday

If you know me 'in real life' or if you follow me on Twitter then you will know that for a week in November I become obsessed with Black Friday and to date I have a 100% success rate in grabbing deals. I've lost track of all the questions I've had on it so far this year and we're only halfway through Tuesday.

Black Friday is traditionally a sale that takes place in America on the Friday after Thanksgiving. People queue for days in advance outside Target, Best Buy and other stores to get the deals. Sometimes shops have a special freebie for the first 100 people through the door. This could be a free digital camera, extra discounts or another kind of incentive. If you've not witnessed the phenomenon of Black Friday in America then I urge you watch some videos on YouTube.

Black Friday in the UK first became popular in 2010. There were £50 Xbox and Wii consoles on Amazon but the deals weren't widely known about. In 2011 it was mainstream knowledge and this year it's even bigger. The general concept is this - Amazon will advertise a deal (I'll use a TV as an example) by saying that at 2pm a TV will go on sale. You can click on that TV, like you would on any other Amazon product, and you'll get all the item specifics such as size, brand, reviews and current price. What you won't be able to see is the price of the Black Friday deal. That will only be revealed at 2pm and on the Black Friday section of the site there will be a timer underneath the TV counting down until the deal goes live. When it hits 2pm the price will be revealed and a 'add to basket' button will appear. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase you have 15 minutes to check out otherwise you lose the TV. If you're not fast enough to click the 'add to basket' button you might see a 'join waiting list' button. If you click this you will be put in a queue and if a TV becomes available, ie if somebody doesn't check out before the 15 minute window, then you will be given the option of buying it. If you're on the waiting list for something you must stay by your computer because a little window will appear and you have only a couple of minutes to say yes or no and then you have to check out. Once a deal is live there will be a stock bar underneath the item showing you how much stock is left. The deals are live for a short period of time and is usually under 3 hours. After that they disappear.

Black Friday offers are called 'lightening deals' for a reason. They disappear faster than lightening. If you want something you have to be ready. It's no good having a casual look through the offers, seeing something you want that goes up at 1pm and then going off to walk the dog because if you come back at 1.15pm the item will probably be gone. If you really want something you have to be at your computer watching the timer go down with your hand on the mouse poised and ready to hit the buy button.

There is no rhyme or reason behind which items sell out and which items don't. Yesterday a £6 dry dog shampoo which had £1.05 off the usual Amazon price completely sold out in under 30 seconds whereas a Lego Star Wars kit which usually retails for £60 and was on sale for £20 didn't get above 20% of stock being purchased. Last year the Lego offers were gone in under a minute. You might think that the item you want isn't going to be popular and that you can get away with being a few minutes late but today a brown bamboo lamp sold out in 10 seconds so don't underestimate what people are after. There's also no way to know how much something will be discounted. Yesterday I bought a Moshi Monster talking plush toy for £7.99. It usually retails on Amazon for £16 so it was a 50% saving but today a friend asked me to keep an eye on the Just Dance 4 video game and the discount was only 33%.

Every day there will be a mixture of products but you can pretty much guarantee that there will always be watches, jewellery, video games, kids toys, blu-ray/dvd, electronics and clothing. The majority of deals will be advertised throughout the day but occasionally one will appear without warning so it's worth taking a scroll through all the items at least once an hour to make sure you haven't missed anything. Most of the items will have a picture and a link to the product page but a small percentage will be cryptic clues. Last year there was a clue about garlic bread and the item was a Peter Kay dvd. This year there are barely any mystery items so far but they are in there so keep an eye out.

If you see something you want, research it. If you're thinking of buying a new razor and you see that at 4pm one will go on sale, use the time in between to have a look at it. Find out what people think about it by reading the reviews, check what it is being sold for elsewhere and then make up your mind. Have a maximum price in your head and when it goes live if it's under your limit you can buy it.

Team up with friends if you have to. This year I have exchanged lists and maximum prices with a friend and we have the authority to purchase the products on behalf of each other if we see them. Each morning we will be having a look through the deals for the day and making a note of what we're interested in and the time it goes on sale and updating each other on what to look out for. If you know somebody who is desperate for an item, offer to watch it for them. Today there was a Lego Woody from Toy Story clock going on sale and I knew two people on Twitter who were trying to get it. Unfortunately neither of them got it but I did so I was able to pay for it on behalf of one of them, use their address for delivery and they sent the money over by PayPal. I did the same thing yesterday with some One Direction headphones and some earrings.

Try to ignore the negative naysayers. Every year folk bleat on about the deals being rubbish but that's only because they haven't seen something they want to buy. If you're a parent and your kid has asked for Lego and you manage to get it for £20 instead of £60 then that is obviously a good deal. If your girlfriend has asked for jewellery and you can get a necklace for half price then again, it's obviously a good deal. Nobody is forced into buying anything from Black Friday. If you don't like it, sit down and shut up.

So, in summary:

Look through the items before 8am each day to see what will be on offer.
Research any items you like the look of and decide a maximum price you're willing to pay.
Be at your computer before the sale countdown on your chosen item runs out.
Click the 'add to basket' button as quickly as you can.
Check out before your 15 minutes runs out.
If you're on a waiting list, do not leave your computer.
Refresh your browser and scroll through all deals at least once an hour.
Help your friends!

Good luck!