Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Michelle said 8:51AM on 7-16-2008
I was looking for work. Placed my resume online. Within a few days a company contacted me stating they wanted to hire me to research and sell their products online. Of course I thought yeah right so they sent me to their company website where I called and e-mailed the company to see if indeed I received a job offer. I was told yes on phone and e-mail. They wanted me to sell Ipods on ebay. I said I don't sell anything unless I'm sure the product is really there and is what they state it is.
They sent me one of their ipods. New, in the box with a packing receipt. I called the company on the packing receipt. They had no record of the item. I called apple. They said it was registered to me. Still, something didn't jive.
I explained to apple why I was calling. They then placed me on hold, researched more and came back with the store name and number where the product came from. Not the company offering me a job.
I called that company where they told me that someone had tried to buy it with a stolen credit card. I explained that I indeed had it in hand. They said they had no record of the sale. Nor was it recorded/reported as stolen or purchased with a stolen credit card. Anyway, the company was called: Wholesale from Japan. The site is down now but when it was up and running it looked great.
I made a police report and that's that.
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dave said 1:50AM on 2-25-2009
hi
everyone is crying of scamers,but no one is actually ready is see an end to it, scam cannot stop, the webmasters will loose their customer,scammers are the highest consumers of internet isp,softwares ,credit card sites,
we can stop scam or at least give you a verifier, for all your doubtful correspondance, but the truth is the twentith_first century is a scam,if you think am not correct explain how madoff succeeded, where was the fbi,cia, when he was crooking his billions,
beside,scam is as old as prostitution,ask jacob, african actually look at scam as a means of repatrition of the proceed of the slave trade era,
Finally all the commentators know nothing about scam,and you can never know,even when you are scammed, you only know to the level where you were able to stop paying , ask the director of the brasilian bank, in the scam world the more you look the less you see, this is because technology changes everyday,and if you know what i know (cannot tell you that here on this public forum) scammer have access to the latest hitech and soft wares which you have no time to discover.
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John C. Billingsley, Jr. said 8:15AM on 4-26-2007
I receaved an E-mail from TrimDay offering a trial of this mirical weight loss pill free except for S/H I bit and been receiving $58.90 drafts on my credit card ever sense. They even had the nerve to say that they contributed to cancer reserch (W/e) which they charged to my credit card. I've reported them to the Fed's but they will look in to it. I've called their number to be put on termanel hold, went to their web site and found another scam, sent them E-Mail it comes back by mail Deamon.
I guess the only thang left is to cancel my credit card.
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Jackie said 9:54PM on 6-23-2008
i HAD THIS SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME i CALLED THE CREDIT CARD CO. AND THEY GOT IT CANCELLED FOR ME AND I THINK AT THAT TIME 3 MOS OF MY MONEY BACK TRY THAT FIRST GOOD LUCK.....
myqdx3 said 9:06AM on 4-26-2007
do you mean if u never opened the e-mail you are ok.
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willardmihok said 7:31PM on 7-29-2008
yes
do not, respond
mark as spam
M C said 9:26AM on 4-26-2007
Hey John, no need to cancel your card, just have your back issue you a new card. It should come back with 2 new numbers at the end. When the outfit tries to charge you once again, they have the old card number so the charge never goes through. I just experienced something similar with a card we have with our daughter. Asking for a new card did the trick.
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Chuck said 9:06AM on 4-26-2007
You don't have to live in Manhattan to be savy You just have to have a little street smarts and commen sense. Should I feel sorry for these people, who think they are getting something free for 30 days? Or believe a stock is cheap and will go through the roof. I just don't.
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Savvy said 9:50AM on 4-26-2007
I spend my time checking out these kinds of scams for clients. More adviced: Check the spelling and grammar on these sites. We're lucky that most spammers can't spell well and eventually make a error that will alert the reader that something isn't quite right.
That being said, I've seen scam-sites that are so perfectly copied that I wondered whether I'd ordered something and forgotten that I had. So I'm not surprised that many people get taken in. Particularly the elderly.
More Advice. Never open a website from the hyperlink in your email. Type it in from previous references. I'm surprised that legitimate companies still put their hyperlinks in for bill paying, statements etc. in emails knowing how many scammers are out there.
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Josyne said 9:38AM on 4-26-2007
I would just like to say "come on people" don't you have the sense to see that if you don't know who the emails are from DON'T OPEN THEM!!! That's why there is a delete button. I can't believe that people fall for crap like that. If you do then you deserve to be scammed. I mean don't you watch tv or read the papers??! There are warnings ALL the time, and shows on tv about them. So people wake up and hit the delete button!!
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Kevin said 9:49AM on 4-26-2007
I open these e-mails and follow the links. I fill out the forms with false information and profanities. I figure it's the least I can do to waste their time.
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Donna said 9:52AM on 4-26-2007
Josyne...although I agree that everyone needs to be careful, saying they should not open emails from people they are not familiar with and that 'they deserve' to be scammed is a bit too much.
First of all, some of us use email for business. I do not know all the people who are emailing me. I am careful when the subject line is obviously spam, but when I get something from Ebay and I have just ordered something from Ebay...well you can be sure I am opening the email. What people need to learn is how to put their curser over the link and wait until the link address shows up. If the email states it is from Ebay, but the site address to the link is not to Ebay...report it as spam to spoof@Ebay.com....or where ever.
As far as people deserving to be scammed...does a person who walks down the street with a brief case or purse deserve to be robbed? Does a woman with a low cut shirt deserve to be verbally or physically attacked? Of course not. And people who are trusting do not deserve to be scammed. How about we spend more time educating instead of offending?
MHO...Donna
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Spicuplfe said 10:21AM on 4-26-2007
It's not right for you to say that a person deserves to be scammed!
I mean this world is crazy enough as it is without you making such comments. Keep in mind that this can happen to anyone regardless of whether you read the paper or not. These people are skilled at what they do, that's why it's called a SCAM. We should offer advice on how to catch these crimminals and not rejoice when it happens to good people who work hard to make their money.
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Zara said 11:32AM on 4-26-2007
i am agree with Spicuplfe.
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karen said 10:56AM on 4-26-2007
Here's another one I have seen on craigs list for pets. Someone offering a cute toy dog to rehome, usually a pedigree and when you respond they give a whole story about being from a foreign country and they only want you to pay the shipping fee, around $250 and they just want their "baby" to have a good home!
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Laura said 11:14AM on 4-26-2007
I agree that people dont deserve to be abused or scammed. I ws scammed. I ws selling my sons truck and the man sent me Bank of America cashiers cheques and postal money orders. The bank even put a hold on them until the cleared and the funds were available. I ended up paying my bank back 10,000 dollars back. Even tho the bank recieved the funds for the paper documents they came back stolen. I ended up responsible for ALL of the money to be paid back. Was that fair to me when the bank put a hold on it and recieved the funds and released them to me??? NO it wasnt. I still lost $10,000. Thank god he didnt get the truck tho.
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Marlene said 11:23AM on 4-26-2007
Trim Day Got me too! What a rip off! But i dont know where to report them! Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. thank you
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Kevin said 11:23AM on 4-26-2007
A good trick that I haven't seen anyone mention yet is this.....If you open a suspect e-mail that contains a link, put your pointer on the hyperlink and see what address that it gives. Chances are that it will not list the address of the legitimate company they are trying to dupe you into believing they are. Best thing is to not open and delete it but this is just an extra pointer to help make sure they dont take you.
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E. Doss said 11:46AM on 4-26-2007
I received an E-mail from
I received an E-mail from Paypal telling me that a guy named Steven Gora(behead@aol.com) had stated that I owed him money. First I do not have a paypal account, I do not know a Steven Gora and I certainly did not owe him any money. When I tried to contact AOLPayPal my inquiry went directly to AOL. I checked the member directory and there is a Steven Gora and there is a Behead @aol.com. I am beginning to distrust AOL. I could never get any kind or response from anybody.
Idid document everything I could find about Steven Goro and Behead. I am associated with a local police department and I have turned all of the information over to them.
a
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McK said 11:48AM on 4-26-2007
We actually scammed the scammers, sorta -
First the arrival of the laptop, huh? Then the charge, made while wife was in the air. The call,m get it off the card, call the police, but hey, there was an e-address. Wife makes new return address "hey, you sent to wrong address, where does this go..."
Bingo, two Nigerian names and would you believe Wisconsin. But that was just the beginning - we thought they go arrest them. But who had jurisdiction, where was the crime committed ... the police came over, looked it over ... left ... I called a few times, tried to get a TV show with affiiates in Wisconsin ... nada
So six months later, I said .. hey open it up. Let's see if it works. And it did. Too bad, now it's used goods, they'd have to re-test it, they'd lose all their profits gee whiz ...
Two years later my wife left ... but she left with the laptop. Thanks guys ... next time send me a Porsche please.
LMcK
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