When is Black Friday 2018 and what are the best deals?

Black Friday is here! Well, sort of. Every year Black Friday becomes a bigger and more divisive event.

In 2017 Black Friday became a whole two weeks longer than before, extending in advance of, and long after, its official date. Now, for Black Friday 2018, the sales started from 1 November and Amazon has officially kicked off its Black Friday sales from 16 November.

The actual Black Friday isn’t until 23 November, but now with a week of sales taking place on Amazon ahead of the big day, you can expect deals to ramp up everywhere. It’s believed that Amazon’s deals will extend well into Christmas, so other retailers are also likely to follow suit.

Last year, Amazon started its sales early with Black Friday deals on the 13 November, in which the new Amazon Echo went on sale for just £69.99 and the Echo Dot was a steal at £34.99. Argos, AO, John Lewis, Currys PC World similarly got involved ahead of time with some great bargains. This year, though, the deals have already started for many of these retailers, and it’s likely we’ll see them extend all the way until Christmas.

READ NEXT: Top 10 Black Friday tips

If you’re new to Black Friday shopping, or a veteran, it’s best to keep yourself up-to-date on all relevant and necessary information, to make your experience an easy and pain-free one.

When is the Black Friday sale 2018?

The official Black Friday 2018 event is due to take place on 23 November, with Cyber Monday falling on the Monday after (26 November). You’ll also find some cracking deals over the weekend, too – referred to as Cyber Weekend.

However, the deals aren’t just restricted to that weekend. This year’s deals are running for the entirety of November, although Amazon is only officially holding Black Friday sales from the 16 to 25 November, deals will last well into Christmas.

What is Black Friday?

Just like Boxing Day and Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday is one of the most exciting shopping days of the year – especially if you love a good bargain. Many retailers will try to outprice each other, often knocking tech and other products down by up to 70% to grab the attention of Christmas shoppers and general bargain-hunters. For many retailers, Black Friday is now the single biggest day for sales throughout the entire year, taking the top spot from the post-Christmas January sales and other major shopping events. It’s absolutely stuffed with bargains and we’ll be helping you find the best ones.

As Black Friday continues to get bigger every year, so do the deals. Black Friday has always been associated with rock-bottom discounts on laptops, TVs and other tech, so it’s the perfect time to upgrade or pick up a Christmas present for someone special. But that’s not all you can expect: we’re looking forward to discounts on everything from power tools and mobile phone contracts to fitness equipment and kitchen appliances this year. Basically, you’ll find great deals on pretty much everything during Black Friday and the period leading up to it, so if there’s something you’re looking to buy, it’s worth waiting to see if it gets discounted in the sales.

Where did Black Friday come from?

Most sources agree that Black Friday’s name came about thanks to the Philadelphia Police Department. Having seen the enormous traffic jams, violence and outright mayhem of the first sale events, it was dubbed Black Friday – and that depressing name has stuck ever since.

While the day after Thanksgiving has always been a huge shopping event in the US, the ever-growing craze of Black Friday hasn’t abated and Black Friday 2018 is sure to see more shops mobbed, websites taken offline and friends and family falling out over stock shortages.

While Black Friday originates from the US it has well and truly made its way overseas in the last few years, for purely consumerist reasons. In the UK, Black Friday is still a little bit tamer, but it’s certainly gaining traction with Black Friday sales hitting the likes of AO, Amazon, Asda, Morrisons, Tesco Direct, John Lewis and Currys PC World over the last few years.

How big is Black Friday?

Black Friday is now very popular in the UK and its popularity has only been growing year on year. Digital consultancy Salmon estimated that the UK spent £810 million during Black Friday last year, and it should tip well over £1 billion this year. While we might not know the full range of Black Friday deals – they’ll be announced closer to the date – we are still expecting the biggest sale event yet with some particularly juicy offers on some of the best games of 2018, along with the best laptops, smartwatches and smartphones.

Black Friday top tips

For starters, we’d recommend signing up to Amazon Prime. Members can usually benefit from specific Amazon deals, so it’s well worth signing up to Prime if you’re not already. And if Prime Day was anything to go by, there will certainly be some deals worth signing up for. Membership for Amazon Prime costs £7.99 a month, but they offer a one-month free trial. And if you’re a student you’ll get a six-month free trial and half-price membership – bargain.

If you’re on the hunt for a bargain, you’ll need to keep your wits about you. Sales events are the perfect time for retailers to shift old stock quickly. While we know it’s tempting to impulse buy as soon as you see a deal, it’s worth digging a little deeper. Checking customer reviews will let you know if the product is any good and also how old it is. After all, you don’t want to splash out on an outdated or low-quality piece of tech.

Check out all our reviews on Alphr to ensure that product that’s 60% reduced isn’t just cheap because it’s rubbish.

Retailers often sneakily mark up products’ RRPs to make deals look better than they actually are, too. Tools like CamelCamelCamel are great for investigating Amazon’s sale prices, so you can be sure you’re getting a great bargain. Simply enter the product name into the search bar and it’ll give you a full price history. You can also save extra money by making use of voucher code sites for some great bundles or bargains.

But don’t worry. Over the next few months, we’ll be telling you more about Black Friday, and once it’s upon us, we’ll also be finding you the best deals on all the tech and gadgets you might want. Stay tuned!

Image: Powhusku – Flickr