Black Friday is one of the best sales events of the year, offering flash discounts that you won’t often find at any other time.
This is historically one of the biggest one-day sales of the year for all the savvy shoppers and deal hunters. It may have originated in the US, but this shopping frenzy is now everywhere, and now it takes place for a much longer period than it used to.
In recent years, including 2023, retailers have offered Black Friday deals throughout the month of November and that’s no different for 2024. Here are the sales already live in the UK and US.
UK Black Friday sales
US Black Friday sales
However, the original Black Friday is still the time when all these deals culminate. That essentially means you’ve got plenty of opportunities to bag yourself a bargain on the tech you’ve been keeping an eye on throughout the year, with many of the deals unbeaten year-round. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t buy something you see on sale at other times, but for big purchases, such as a new TV, phone or other tech, it can pay for hang on and see if it’s cheaper on Black Friday.
In this article, we answer all your questions and make predictions on what to expect, so you’re fully prepared to snap up the best Black Friday deals on laptops, phones, Apple devices, and anything else you’ve been waiting to get your hands on as they appear.
Also, don’t fret if you don’t manage to find a deal that you want on Black Friday – there is always another chance. Specifically, it’s Cyber Monday, the Monday after Black Friday, and traditionally a deals day that promises the best discounts on all things tech.
When is Black Friday 2024?
Black Friday 2024 is on 29 November, with Cyber Monday falling on 2 December this year.
It’s easy to remember when these two savvy-shopper days are taking place. Black Friday is always first, and it’s the day after Thanksgiving in the US. Cyber Monday, of course, comes right after the weekend. Thanksgiving itself is always the fourth Thursday of November. Once you remember that, you’ll never be caught out on your Black Friday planning.
When will the early Black Friday deals start?
The days of waiting until Black Friday itself are long behind us.
Some retailers kick off their sales as early as October, so you can get discounts way before the day itself.
However, we typically see the biggest offers the week of Black Friday, which begins on Monday 25 November 2024. Sometimes it can even be beneficial to buy before the Friday, as some retailers run out of stock.
Amazon has announced a week of Black Friday deals will begin 21 November, although early deals are live already.
Many tech deals then continue to run throughout the weekend, with the final day being Cyber Monday. So, if you’ve got your eye on Christmas presents, start looking throughout October.
Sales inevitably run throughout November. See near the top of the article for links to the sale which are already live.
Be sure to sign up for Tech Advisor’s deals newsletter so you can keep up with the best Black Friday 2024 deals all across the web as they begin to appear! You can never be too keen, right?
Are Black Friday deals any good?
As the event has evolved over the years, just about everyone is wise to the tricks some retailers play. Whether it’s subtly inflating the pre-sale price to make discounts look bigger, or showing a regularly available price as a special deal, there are lots of reasons to have your wits about you when bargain hunting.
We keep track of prices all year around, and only highlight genuine deals. And we’ll tell you if we’ve seen it cheaper before, so you’re fully informed before you make a purchase.
You can check prices yourself, too. There are lots of useful websites such as Price Spy and CamelCamelCamel which show the price history of a specific product so you can see if you’re really getting a good deal or not.
You should also be aware of deals that look too good to be true: it’s important to check out the credentials of a retailer you’ve never heard of that’s selling the gadget you want for a super-low price.
Of course, just because a TV was £10 / $10 cheaper two months ago doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one in a Black Friday sale if you need a new TV. There’s no guarantee you’ll get it cheaper if you wait longer: the trend is that prices are rising because of increased manufacturing costs, distribution costs and the price of energy.
But what we’re saying is that not all Black Friday deals are good deals. However, those you’ll find right here and elsewhere on the site are the ones we have researched and can recommend.
Sometimes it’s worth paying a little more than the absolute cheapest price, too. For example, in the UK, John Lewis may not be the cheapest, but you might get a longer warranty than if you bought it from a rival retailer.
Take advantage of price matching
Many retailers, such as Currys in the UK offer price-matching against rivals, whether online or in-store. Others will do this too, and this can be a benefit if you prefer to buy things from a bricks-and-mortar store and not order online.
One of the worries is that you see an early deal, buy it and then find the price drops further on Black Friday. Currys is again one example of a retailer that promises deals won’t have lower prices on Black Friday itself. Keep track of Black Friday deals at Currys here.
While Amazon doesn’t have a price-matching policy, it does have a strong returns policy. You can return most new and unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. You also have the statutory right to cancel an order within 14 days of delivery.
If you find your purchase has a lower price just days later, you can always cancel your first order and buy the same item at the lower price and send the original purchase back (if you’ve received it already). Again, be sure it’s unopened, unused and undamaged.
If you’re wondering why the deals have started so early, it prevents frenzied crowds from gathering in stores and shopping centres, although this isn’t nearly as much of an issue as it was a few years back.
What to expect from Black Friday 2024
We at Tech Advisor cover Black Friday every year, along with other flash sales such as Amazon Prime Day. Therefore, we can make some solid predictions about what to expect from Black Friday 2024.
For mobile and tablets, we typically see the most major discounts on some of the most popular Android devices. Samsung nearly always offers big savings, from its budget A Series to even its most recently launched models such as the Z Flip 6.
Google also typically goes big on Black Friday, often bundling phones with chargers – we’ve also seen Samsung phones selling with free Amazon gift cards in the US.
Often, some of the best deals are on phones that were released the year before. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S23 had huge savings during Amazon’s summer Prime Day sale. So, if you’ve got your eye on a new model, it may be worth looking out for 2023 smartphones as well as the latest ones.
If you’re on the lookout for an Apple product, then the Apple Watches are the most likely to receive a discount on Black Friday. Again, we’ve also seen big discounts on smartwatches from Google and Samsung.
On the home tech front, electric toothbrushes are some of the most popular deals on Black Friday – and almost always get big discounts. This Prime Day, we also saw some impressive discounts on air fryers, including Ninja’s latest models.
Vacuum cleaners from Shark and Dyson also tend to get big savings, with some of the most impressive coming from robot vacuums, especially iRobot and Ecovacs.
Amazon often offers bundles on its own products such as the Echo Dot and Ring doorbell.
Many streaming platforms offer big discounts around Black Friday. We’ve seen repeated deals on Disney+, Now, Hulu, Max and Paramount+. However, Netflix doesn’t really offer savings for this flash sale.
When the time comes, we’ll be keeping an eye on the best Black Friday tech deals and also offering detailed coverage of the best Black Friday offers.
And if you’re an Apple fan, see the best Black Friday Apple deals on our sister site Macworld.
Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor
As Tech Advisor's Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She's also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she's written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.