Black Friday 2014: Buyer Beware, Some Deals Aren’t As Good As They Appear

The Black Friday 2014 deals are starting to roll out, but experts warn that the sales on electronics and housewares aren’t as good as they appear.

Within the last few weeks, Black Friday ads have leaked from Walmart, Sam’s Club, and a host of others. As always, there are slashed prices on video game systems and Apple products.

But GottaBeMobile points out that on closer inspection, these deals really aren’t that great at all. Many Black Friday retailers are actually using older, inflated prices as the baseline for the apparent sales.

“The early Walmart Black Friday 2014 ad shows an iPad mini for $199, which was an amazing deal in 2013, offering $100 off, but now it’s only $50 in savings on an old iPad,” the report noted. “Instead of showing the savings compared to the iPad mini at Apple which is $50, Walmart uses the old list price to show an extra $50 in savings.”

It’s hardly a new trick. Back in 2009, Gizmodo warned Black Friday shoppers to be wary that deals appearing too good to be true probably are.

In other words, many of these “deals” really aren’t deals at all. Often, Black Friday sale products are priced differently between stores, or they are priced at or above deals you can find elsewhere any day of the week. You might see a particularly juicy deal in a flyer on a big ticket item like an HDTV, only to discover that the store only had a few units to sell. The bottom line is that you need to do your homework, and this is a good place to start.

Shopping experts point out that the Black Friday 2014 deals that appear to be fantastic are actually sub-standard products. Many retailers create a special run of their electronics solely for sale on Black Friday.

Many other industry experts believe that Black Friday 2014 will be a much lighter year than in the past as more people stay home to take advantage of online sales and skip out on the big crowds.