Experts say not to expect too much from Black Friday deals

You may see stickers on Friday claiming to save hundreds on Black Friday. You may see TVs $200 off and laptops $100 off. But, WINK News Consumer reporter Andryanna Sheppard tells us whether you’re actually saving or not.

Experts say Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are not as promising as in years past.

The combination of ships stuck in our ports, along with the pandemic that seems never-ending, will impact everyone during the holiday shopping season. This means those anticipated Blak Friday deals won’t amount to much.

Julie Ramhold is a consumer analyst or DealNews.com. “We’re just kind of seeing weaker discounts overall. There are some categories that are slightly better compared to last year, but the supply chain disruptions,” Romhold said. “And the shipping delays have really messed things up for retailers, and they’re offering what they can.”

For example, a TCL 65-inch Roku SmartTV is $499 on Amazon. Amazon says it’s a steal, and you’ll save $300 if you buy it right now.

A website called CamelCamelCamel keeps track of Amazon’s prices. According to this website’s history, that TCL TV has never been $800. Within the past year, the most expensive that TV has been was $560, which was last month.

So, truthfully, if you buy it now, you’ll only save $60. A year ago, that same TCL TV only cost $429, $70 less than it does now.

Ramhold says this TV set is the perfect example of how tough of a year it’s been for retailers. “The discounts aren’t as good as what we expected to see, or there’s not as many of them as we might see in a so-called normal year,” she said.

Before shopping, Ramhold recommends that you go to a website and check the price history just as WINK News did. Compare last year’s Black Friday ads to this year’s to see if you’re actually saving.

Then, decide whether it’s worth putting that item on your list. “It’s best to temper your expectations,” said Ramhold.

One thing to steer clear of is a “Black Friday exclusive” product. Ramhold says it’s harder to price compare and find a history online for items like those. Also, these are often cheaper models with far fewer features than what you’re looking for.