Black Friday Sales Start Dates at Amazon, Walmart, and More

Black Friday officially kicks off on November 29th, but if you plan to make that the only day you buy gifts this holiday season, you’re missing out. Several prominent retailers, including Best Buy and Target, have already started rolling out their holiday discounts online and in-store. Both retailers are offering price protection through most of the holiday shopping season as well, so if you buy early and the same item drops to a lower price, you can retroactively get that better deal.

Whether you take advantage of the slew of early holiday deals or hold off until the day after Thanksgiving, it’s important to know how every major retailer is handling the shopping event this year. If you plan to spend some cash, here are the schedules and expectations for Amazon, Walmart, and all the major retailers we know of.

Amazon has yet to announce a full Black Friday playbook, but it does have a landing page full of holiday deals, which the retailer may update and convert into its main hub for Black Friday — as well as Cyber Monday later on. There aren’t a ton of noteworthy early deals, at least in terms of tech, but Amazon is currently discounting a few pairs of Beats headphones. This includes the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Studio Pro, which are on sale for $99.99 ($100 off) and $169.99 ($180 off), respectively.

Just be aware that Amazon does not offer price matching, so price “protection” for many Amazon shoppers means buying the item at the lower price point and returning the original — which, unfortunately, is pretty wasteful.

Black Friday has already kicked off to some degree at Best Buy, with the retailer offering various specials via its “Holiday Savings” event, which runs through November 7th. That being said, the first wave of early “doorbuster” Black Friday deals will go live on Friday, November 8th, with new doorbuster deals to follow every Friday until November 20th. They’re open to everybody, though those who subscribe to either My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total will get access every Thursday before they’re widely available.

Best Buy’s main Black Friday event, which will feature returning doorbusters and new deals, is then slated to start on November 21st (yes, that’s a full eight days for a singular “Black Friday Sale”). Best Buy’s Cyber Monday promo will kick off on Sunday, December 1st, meaning Best Buy is essentially running sales throughout the entire month of November.

Best Buy shoppers also get price protection, ensuring that if you purchase a qualifying item and it goes on to receive a bigger discount between November 1st and December 31st, you can request a refund for the difference through January 14th. As with some of the Black Friday promos, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed in with your My Best Buy account while browsing to ensure you’re getting the lowest price.

Apple Watches are popular items that usually receive deep discounts around Black Friday. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Like Best Buy, Target has launched a “Deal of the Day” holiday promo, which runs through December 24th for members of its free Target Circle program. Target will also host an Early Black Friday Sale, which will kick off on November 7th and last through November 9th.

Each Sunday in November, Target will also drop new deals at brick-and-mortar stores and online, which you can preview a week ahead of time using Target’s weekly circular. Target says it will be offering the best prices throughout the holiday season; however, the retailer also has a holiday price-match policy in place if it happens to offer a better deal on an item through December 24th. Keep in mind that you may need to return to the store for a price match on an item purchased there or call Target’s guest services for online purchases.

Walmart plans to start rolling out its Black Friday deals in multiple waves. The first begins online at 12PM ET on Monday, November 11th, for paying Walmart Plus subscribers (or 5PM ET for everybody else). An in-store sale will follow on November 15th at 6AM local time.

The second wave begins online at 12PM ET on Monday, November 25th, for Walmart Plus members or 5PM ET for everybody else. An in-store sale will follow on Black Friday proper (November 29th) at 6AM local time.