We’re already seeing awesome holiday deals come in, and we’re expecting that trend to continue as we get closer to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday Week. Here are a few things you can do to be ready to take advantage of those deals, and get the biggest discounts possible.
If you were expecting this to be a guide for how to put together your Black Friday bug out bag, sorry, we’re bringing you all the deals from the comfort of your couch/table/bed/bath tub.
Sign Up for Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime, still the best deal in tech, somehow keeps getting better.
Don’t want Amazon Prime for whatever reason? We’ll put up another post to remind you when the right day is to sign up for a free trial that will carry you through the holiday shopping season.
Sign Up for Retailer Rewards Programs
Wherever you plan to shop, make sure you’re maximizing your discount. Programs like Best Buy’s Rewards, the Target REDCard, and the GAP Card give you additional discounts or rewards on whatever you buy, with no membership fees. Wherever you think you might shop, get yourself signed up beforehand.
Get a Rewards Credit Card
Update: Chase Freedom will be offering a massive 10% cash back on Amazon Nov. 23-Dec. 31, adding an effective additional 10% off on already lowest-ever prices.
Every time you buy something with cash, you’re losing money. Lifehacker recently ran a great Hive Five on the best rewards credit cards, with several of the ones we’re going to recommend on the list.
If you know you’re going to do a lot of shopping at a specific retailer, you may want to investigate cards with bonus cash back, but here are the obvious choices:
- Amazon Store Card - 5% on Amazon year-round (seriously)
- Amazon Visa - 3% back on Amazon purchases year round
- Chase Freedom - 5% back at Amazon and select department stores during certain quarters
- Discover - 5% back on holiday shopping, including Amazon, during certain quarters
- Citi Double Cash - 2% back on everything
I personally use all five of these cards, and have had nothing but positive experiences.
In addition to offering exclusive/early access deal to Prime Members, Amazon has also started offering exclusive deals to Amazon Visa cardholders and Amazon Store Card customers.
Follow Us and Start Shopping Now
You don’t need to wait until the day after Thanksgiving for great deals (or really the day before, but that’s a subject for another post). The great deals are already here, and we’ll be covering them every day on Kinja Deals, on our Twitter and Facebook, and on your favorite Gawker Media sites.
You can also bookmark our Black Friday and Cyber Monday posts right now.
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Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker.