Black Friday is coming. Or is it Black Thursday? Monday? Did these sales start already?
If you're asking yourself any of these questions, you're not alone. A quick search online shows you Home Depot’s sales have already begun. Sears is starting Nov. 20 and Amazon is offering bargains “all day, every day.”
Experts say all this confusion could actually cost you.
“Retailers are banking on the fact that we just don’t have the time to be tracking prices month by month, week by week. We're busy especially around the holidays,” said Barnoosh Torabi, of NerdWallet.com.
Despite popular opinion, Black Friday is really only one day, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best day for deals. A new study by Adobe finds that the largest single-day price drop is expected the Sunday to Monday before Thanksgiving.
All Thanksgiving week, most items will be discounted 20 percent, but the best online deals are on Thanksgiving Day itself. That’s when you can expect an average discount of 24 percent.
“People are very conscious about saving money and they are looking for sales,” said Dede Pilpel, of Avon. “The thing you have to remember is there is always a sale.”
For that reason, Pilpel says she will not be waiting in the wee hours for the early bird specials. Others, like retail worker Donna Dudanowicz of New Britain, say they don’t have a choice.
“My opinion it is the customers fault. If there was no customers, all the stores would be closed,” said Dudanowicz.
It seems those days are long gone and the sales continue to creep up earlier each year.
