How to Prepare for Cyber Monday Deals

Skip the Black Friday lines and shop at home with these simple tips for homing in on the best deals.

Tempted by the rock-bottom prices in this year’s Black Friday ads, but not quite ambitious enough to endure cold, crowds and potential catastrophe for another $50 off a TV? Eat your turkey in peace. With a little ingenuity, most Internet-savvy shoppers can score deals even better than what Black Friday early birds will get, without so much as peeling themselves out of the recliner.

If you believe the National Retail Federation (NRF), the best online deals crop up on “Cyber Monday,” the first day of the work week following Black Friday when shoppers can mop up everything they missed on Black Friday, online. But that’s part myth and part reality. The organization shamelessly coined the term Cyber Monday in an attempt to create a shopping holiday from thin air. Oddly enough, online retailers actually followed suit with deals to milk the hype, and as a result, the day is actually beginning to live up to the artificial premise laid out for it. For instance, this year, 87 percent of retailers plan on offering some sort of promotion for the day, according to the NRF.

Whether you buy the hype or not, here’s how to get the best deals online this season, both around and on the fabled shopping holiday.

Hop On Early Sales

Don’t sit around waiting for Monday to roll around before you start hunting for deals. Online retailers have no displays to set up, paper ads to circulate, or doors to open. The deals begin whenever the next pallet of laptops, televisions or digital cameras rides into the warehouse on a forklift.

For instance, Amazon is running daily online specials the entire week of Thanksgiving. Monday’s crop included a netbook (now sold out) for $200 – the same type that Black Friday shoppers will be scrambling to get ahold of at stores like Office Depot. High-end audio manufacturer Aperion Audio is running its own holiday promos through November 30, including nearly $1,000 off on a high-end 5.1-channel surround sound system. And even boutique computer builder Cyberpower has hopped onboard the early train with a Thanksgiving sale that includes 10 percent off on select systems and a bundle of other kickbacks.

Where can you find these deals as they crop up? Turn to the same sites you can use to keep tabs on deals 365 days a year: FatWallet, SlickDeals and Ben’s Bargains. All three offer a finger on the pulse of deals as they crop up minute by minute, plus commentary from forum members on how bargains really stack up, opportunities for stacking offers (like using a coupon with a sale) and other advice.

Know Your Deal Sites

When Monday rolls around, the deals will begin to roll out fast and furious. And if they’re good, they’ll sell out as quickly as they appear. That’s why you need to be on top of your game.

The sites we mentioned above will all be valid resources, but a handful of other resources also kick into gear. For instance, one of the NRF’s propaganda arms, CyberMonday.com, will consolidate deals from over 550 member merchants with hourly specials through the day. Independent sites such as CyberMonday.net and CyberMonday.fm will do the same.

Check Directly with Retailers

Aggregating sites are great, but don’t forget to go straight to the horse’s mouth. For instance, if you’re looking for a Dell laptop, go to tell Dell.com. You had better believe whatever sales they run will be front and center on the main page. The same goes for other direct-to-consumer manufacturers and major retailers, like Amazon.com. A handful have already announced that they will do Cyber Monday sales, while keeping the exact items a secret. Walmart.com, for instance, will offer deals starting Cyber Monday and pushing straight through Dec. 4, and Target.com will offer daily deals for two weeks starting Nov. 29.