The end-of-year shopping sales have only just begun with Singles’ Day on 11 November. You can now look forward to Black Friday, happening this Friday on November 29. This popular shopping holiday which originated from the US holds a smorgasbord of amazing deals and discounts from your favourite American online retailers. It includes the likes of Amazon, Ulta Beauty and independent online stores.
In fact, it’s such a huge affair, even local and regional online retailers like Zalora, Lazada and Alibaba are getting in on it.
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How did Black Friday originate?
The term Black Friday was created in the 1960s by the Philadelphia Police Department. It was coined to describe the chaos created by overcrowded sidewalks and massive traffic jams due to downtown shoppers taking advantage of the first holiday sales. In the 1980s, it took on a more positive association.
The idea was that stores were “in the red” or making a loss from January to November and that they transitioned to being “in the black” or making a profit during the holiday season. In 2005, Cyber Monday was conceived as the online counterpart to the brick-and-mortar Black Friday, when stores extended their sales period online over the weekend to include Monday.
But let’s cut to the chase – here are 11 tips and tricks you need to know in order to survive this shopping extravaganza that’s about to hit your world very soon:
It seems like a no-brainer, but you’ll be surprised how often people end up scrambling when they shop online because they’re unsure of what sizes will fit them. Knowing your basic measurements will save you a bit of grief when shopping for clothes, shoes and the like.
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Amplify your deals by shopping on sites that give you money back on purchases, such as Shopback and Ebates. Some even let you earn reward points, which you can redeem when you shop even more.
Want to know what your favourite brands are offering for Black Friday? Check out their social media profiles, from Facebook to Instagram, as they usually update them with the latest offerings and exclusive deals. You may even get your hands on exclusive promo codes!
Black Friday originated from the US. So, do take note of the time differences if you’re looking to stock up your stash from the US-based websites.
Check the starting time of sales — 12 midnight in Los Angeles on 29 Nov is 4pm in Singapore on 29 Nov. Great excuse for a tea break, we say! On the other hand, 12 midnight in New York would be 1pm local time, so you may want to stay in for lunch break.
The first hour of sales is the busiest. Items go out of stock fast so checking out fast means you have a higher chance of getting everything you want.
This is so you can log in and place items in your shopping cart before the sales begin. Those items will not be saved if you are not logged in. Certain sites will save your shopping cart items for up to three days, so you can spread out your browsing time.
Putting all your items into your shopping cart an hour or so before the sale starts means that once the clock strikes 12 you can check out immediately.
Retail sites will send customers catalogues and special promotion codes the week before Black Friday. Subscribe to the mailing lists to get the latest updates on when the sales will start, what items will be on sale and how much discounts you can get. Following your favourite merchants on social media will also help keep you up to date.
Credit card companies sometimes offer promotions to coincide with Black Friday. You can subscribe to their mailing lists to get notifications on rebates.
Packages entering Singapore are subject to seven per cent GST if the items exceed $400 in value. So if you plan on spending more than $400 at a single site, you should split up your orders to avoid the GST charge.
Some sites offer free international shipping for purchases exceeding a specified amount. For instance, Amazon offers free shipping to Singapore for orders above $125. The offer does not apply to items larger than 45.72cm x 35.56cm x 20.32cm or over 9.07kg.
For sites that ship only to an American address, use a third-party shipping service such as ComGateway, vPost or Borderlinx. These services provide you with a US address to ship your order to and they will then ship your item to Singapore. ComGateway lets you keep your packages there for about two months, so you can accumulate your smaller purchases into one package for cheaper shipping.
Some websites have been popping up with lists of Black Friday deals and discount links from stores. However, some sites are out to get your personal details such as your e-mail address or credit card information.
As a precaution, go directly to the store’s website or reputable sites listing Black Friday deals such as blackfriday.com, dealnews.com and cybermonday.com.
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If you miss out on a Black Friday bargain, you can still get good deals on Cyber Monday, as many retailers will be extending their sales all through Dec 2. All the best!
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Text: Atika Lim and Elizabeth Liew
This post was updated on November 28, 2019.