Just the Tip:
Black Friday falls on Nov. 27 in 2026 and Cyber Monday on Nov. 30, but holiday deals now start in October and run into December. Put a price tracker on each item on your list, and buy when it drops to its recent low, even if that comes before either day.
Philadelphia police gave the day after Thanksgiving its Black Friday name in the early 1960s, for the shopping crowds and traffic jams it brought downtown. The National Retail Federation coined Cyber Monday in 2005, after noticing that people kept shopping online from work the following Monday.
Neither is a single day of deals anymore. Amazon’s Prime Day event in October now brings discounts across U.S. retailers, Adobe says. Walmart’s Early Black Friday Deals run Nov. 12 to 15, and its Cyber Monday deals last through Dec. 2. Adobe’s 2026 forecast puts the top online discounts at 14% in early November, 21% in the days just before Thanksgiving, and 30% over the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. December’s top discounts should fall back to 10% to 15%.
Adobe also expects Black Friday to bring the season’s best deals on TVs, toys, apparel, appliances, and furniture, Cyber Monday the deepest discounts on electronics and computers, and Thanksgiving the best deals on sporting goods. Those are forecasts for whole categories, though. Say the TV you want hits its lowest price of the season in mid-November. Black Friday can’t beat that price, and the sale that offered it may be over by then.
Buying early doesn’t lock you in. Walmart takes back most items bought from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 until Jan. 31, so you can return a mid-November purchase there and buy it again if Black Friday beats its price. At a store with a price adjustment policy, you can ask for the difference back instead.
Gifts you mail have deadlines of their own. For delivery before Christmas within the lower 48 states, USPS recommends sending them by Dec. 17 for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail, Dec. 18 for Priority Mail, and Dec. 19 for Priority Mail Express.
Set a price alert at each item’s recent low now, so you hear the day the price gets there, whether that’s mid-November or Cyber Monday.
For a tracker that covers the stores on your list, see the best price comparison websites.
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