Black Friday shoppers how did you do?

[Jey12]

Just wondering how everyone that braved the crowds last night did on their shopping ventures? Did your plans work out? Any crazy stories? How were the crowds?

I'll go first. Obviously.

I don't think comparing actual retail to savings is fair, so I'm going to use the sale prices available online. So any savings will be what I saved by going out instead of staying home and fighting the webpages. Those were super crowded and slow slow slow! I know because I did a little shopping on the Target and TRU sites before we left. It took 30 minutes to even place an order online, and I have a fast internet connection.

Target first. Was in line by 1030pm for the midnight opening. We were maybe 200 back in line? By 1045 there were at least 400 people behind us in line. I have great timing. Target hands down gets the award for best organized black friday. They were set and it was a controlled place to shop. Honestly I kept looking for the crowds to show up because I never saw that many people in one area. Even electronics. Shoppers were nice and in a good mood, employees were well trained, friendly and helpful. We bought 2 of their kinect systems because they came with a $50 Wipeout 2 game and no where else was offering that. So we picked up one for my brother as well. Bought a few clothing items, games and DVD's. Total savings over other places was $75, plus a $50 giftcard (from buying the xbox console the week before) and 5% off from using my Red card. Total savings is $140 after those are added in. Spent $215

Walmart. We got there around 2am. Missed all of the scheduled sales. No crowds at all, employees were nearing burn out but still friendly and helpful. Bought a printer, xbox game, 2 xbox controllers (that they price matched), pj's for the kiddo, socks, a wireless mouse and yarn. Saved $60. Spent $75.

ToysRus. First trip. Got there around 430am. Planning on hitting their 5am sale. No crowds, employees were still happy and friendly, shoppers were starting to be delusional. Bought the Imaginext Cars set, 2 Skylanders sets, 2 Blue Ray movies, 2 Disney NFL pillow and blanket sets, 2 My Princess and Me outfits for DD's American Girl doll and 2 items for the Toys for Tots box. Total savings $100. Spent $80.

ToysRus trip 2. Noticed the Butterscotch Pony by Fur Real was still there at 5am for $99, normally $199. Remembered it was selling currently on Ebay for $300! Went back and bought the pony. DD has one from 2 years ago and loves it! Saved $100 and spent $99. With a little bit of effort and if the stars align right on ebay I hopefully can make a $200 profit.

Total savings $300! Total spent $370! Factor in the horse and if it sells for $300 (wishful) that's a $200 profit and that will bring my savings to $500, and hopefully I can pull off a black friday by saving more than I spent! Now I'm sure my math is off somewhere, I have been up since 8am yesterday. Either way I think I didn't do too bad.

No crazy stories from me. All lines, shoppers and employees were pleasant and it was a fun and enjoyable experience as usual.

 

[Colleen27]

The crowds in the wee hours were much smaller this year, I guess because so many of the big-ticket doorbusters started at midnight. I don't mess with the super-crowded stores like Best Buy and Target and nothing is worth shopping on Thanksgiving to me, but there were a few things I wanted from other places.

I got DS's Xbox bundle from Best Buy online yesterday for the BF price of $199 - $100 saved on the top "wish" on his list.

Lowes was the disappointment of the year. They really need to start instituting limits on their bigger deals like other stores do - I was behind a guy who had 5 of the ladder I had come for (out of stock by 5:30am), 5 of the advertised drywall bench (also gone by 5:30), and 3 jobsite radios (same deal, none on the shelves at 5:30), and there was another man waiting near the register who had 4 or 5 of each item as well. I did get a half dozen very lovely pointsettias for my house for 99¢ each so I was still pleased with the stop.

JCPenney wasn't any more crowded than a typical Saturday afternoon. I wasn't really after anything there other than the Mickey snowglobe, but I did pick up a Muppets shirt for older DD, a pair of embroidered jeans for younger DD, and a Beavis & Butthead tee for DS. Spent $28, saved $40.

Joann Fabrics was my big score... Their annual flannel sale is unbeatable. I got a high-intensity lamp for my sewing table and about 70 yards of various fabrics for PJs, plus a 5 pack of replacement blades for my rotary cutter. Spent $123, saved $391!!

I made a few other little stops, Ulta for an orange hair streaker for the football game tonight (spent $10, saved $3), Game Stop for a game for DS's Xbox (spent $11, saved $10), Michaels for some 70% off holiday ribbon, but nothing else big this year.

 

[QVCshopper]

My sister and I went to Target. Very pleasant experience, incredibly organized. Long lines, yes, but they moved quickly. Anyway, got everything I wanted, plus the iPod Touch with the 10% coupon, 5% red card, and $40 gift card, as well as stuff for the kids we are sponsoring and Epic Mickey and Disney Universe for Wii. Also got a $100 camera that said it was usually $200 for my sister. Not really sure how much I saved, but we did well and had fun. We got in line a little after 11:30 and still found everything. The midnight opening was definitely more crowded than the 4am opening last year, and I'm really impressed with how well Target handled everything.

 

[mward73]

We didn't do the midnight shopping, but hit CVS and Michaels last night. Went about 2 hours after opening and got what we wanted with no crowds.

Got a good night's sleep, then...
Walked into Target about 7:30am. No one was there - the place was practically empty. Still TONS of stuff. We got everything we wanted (included doing some of my grocery shopping haha). They still had some of their Doorbuster 40" tv's sitting around. No one really seemed to be interested in them - a few people wandering around DVDs when we were browsing there. A few people in the toy aisles.

Went to Five Below next. Was busier than Target, but it's a much smaller store. Just went for a Pittsburgh Steelers gnome for DH and a game for DS. Got those and hit Hallmark. People in there, but again, small store. No lines anywhere. Went to Walgreens and were the only ones in there. Got a couple of things and left. Went to Giant and got the rest of the groceries - we were the only ones in there, too.

Home by 9am. No wait to check out at any of the stores
Spent the most money in Target - around $100.

 

[mistysue]

My plan was to go to Target around 3-4am, but I spent Thanksgiving with a stomach flu so I slept in and got there at 6:30. (that is my sleeping in)
It felt like a normal afternoon, but there were big displays all over. About 2/3 of the items on my Christmas list happened to be on sale there today, so for me it was a big day and they still had everything in stock. One of the employees I spoke to said it was crazy earlier, so I'm glad I waited to go seeing as how there were even multiple registers with nobody checking out.

I got one of the $99 panasonic dual screen dvd players for the car, a giant cardboard Mater to color, the 7 pack of cars, Cars 2, DD and I got boots, two vacuums, a griddle and misc other little things. As an added bonus, my store just started selling Disney gift cards and I had a 5% prescription bonus card to use... so I bought all the Disney gift cards they had.

I'm almost done with Christmas now. I was sad they didn't have any $12 slippers for DH, but it's not that great of a sale that it will matter.

 

[TwinPrincessMama]

I went out last night. Toy R Us when I got there at 9:40 had a line around the building (so pasts TRU and past REI and both of those are big stores) Decided to Pass. Only wanted 3 DVD (and found one for cheaper @ Walmart).

Got to walmart 9:45. Grabbed what I wanted. Had to ask about the juniors apparel as they were totally separate from the women and children (that were in the same area). Go in line and waited about 30 minutes because I picked the line that only fed into 1 checkout (vs 2). Woman behind me had a Wii (for $99) said she got there same time I did.

Macy's (needed microwave). Got there about 11:30. Got in line outside. Should have stayed in the car because the line wasn't enforced. Went directly upstairs to homegoods. The lights weren't even on. The associates were looking for things by flashlight. The doorbusters were all in one sections and I checked out really quickly by going to the christmas decoration register right next to the doorbusters vs the one in the middle of kitchen supplies. Got in line behind 2 separate people who didn't understand mail-in rebates and didn't buy their vacuum. Total time 18 minutes.

Drove back over to the area with all the stores. Target. Got there about 12:30. Looked like there was a long line at the register. Went back to grab the sheets (needed 4 sets). Not in love with the colors I got but they're sheets and I'm gonna be asleep. Decided I really didn't care about looking for the 1 DVD. Check out line had no more people than a regular day at Target (so maybe 3-4). Out in 15 minutes.

Felt sick by this point so I decided to come home and skip Old Navy. Also skipped the 4-6am stores (Penney's, Sears, Kmart, 5 Below) Might go back later today. Only need clothes from those places so I'm not as worried. Most of the clothes deals are also Saturday.

 

[TwinPrincessMama]

As an added bonus, my store just started selling Disney gift cards and I had a 5% prescription bonus card to use... so I bought all the Disney gift cards they had.

Disney gift cards? Like gc to disney store or gc to target with disney characters on them?

 

[hopemax]

I did great this year. Target didn't have anything I needed, I don't do Best Buy, and Walmart only had a printer. I knew the printers stick around, so I didn't go at midnight with the masses. I woke up at 3 AM, drove around the corner to Walmart by 3:15. Got my printer, no line.

Drove to Penny's. Had 20 min to store opening, but they started 5 min early. Got my snowglobe, and the $40 luggage which was the only thing I needed and back to the car by 4:05.

Drove to Kohls got the kitchen item and frames I wanted. Only 2 people in line to check out. Drove across the street to Home Depot, but I had 5 min to wait until they opened at 5. Grabbed my 3 items, and I was out in 5 min.

So my next stop, was supposed to be Staples, but I had almost an hour, so I added in an unexpected Kmart stop. I got some of the 200ct LED C3's. They had a register open in the garden area, and I was the 2nd person in line. There was a slight hiccup, while the cashier had to run and get one of those security tag removal things because the 1st person had some clothes. But I was still able to get over to Staples by 5:30.

The staff outside Staples was great. The manager had all the tickets and announced them and distributed them through the line, and explained where to go to get them. Once inside, another small hiccup when the person I asked where the iHome would be wasn't sure. I eventually found them myself, got the printer paper, some skull candy earbuds. The only thing I wanted to take a look at but couldn't find was the Photoshop elements premiere software. Just an empty shelf, and I never saw anyone with it. Again, only 2 people in line when I got in line. Last year, the line took 45 min!

I decided to hit another Kohls for more frames, hit the bank for more cash, and then headed into the LEGO store. Only got 10%, another 2 person deep line. I was out by 7:30. Stopped by McDonalds on the way home, and make it home by 8AM.

Honestly, it was the easiest and least stressful BF I've had.

 

[java]

Feel successful.

At midnight hit Target and got everything on my list- spent $171 and saved $163 so almost half off and it was all things that were on someone's list.

Came home and slept a bit- (an hour)
then back up and hit the mall. Shopped Macy's (got a Guess pleather coat for ds for $65, a shirt and a sweater(saved 60% on those 40% on the jacket)

Vera bradley- not much of what I needed on sale- bought one backpack that took me to the $100 limit(even though it was only $99) so I got the free bag they were handing out a cute tote in the pattern that DD loves! so while not great savings got the free bag.

Went to Gamestop- got Rayman for $40 ($20 off list) and then some other Playstation game that is a "best of" for $15 that ds wanted.

Sephora for my $10 stila and then bought another of the $10 and then a nail polish by opi (not on sale but super cute)

hmmm where else- oh got a pair of sweats at Abercrombie 50% off.

Then spied the deal my mall was running - spend $150 get a $20 amex gift card. Since I had dh with me we qualified for 2 almost exactly!

So I feel like I did a big dent in my shopping, got the big ticket items I needed. And saved some serious money. Stuck to my list.

 

[StephMK]

DD17 & I went out about 10:45 last night. Got to Walmart & it was a zoo. Tons of people & huge line that snaked down front aisle. We needed a map to find the DVDs in the produce section. They were out of a few but we found all of the Lord of the Rings & one of the Twilight series. We spent $11 and only waited in a line behind one person in a 20 or less line. $11+ spent.

On to Kohl's at 11:30. The line was crazy. We waited in the car til 10 minutes before opening. Took a while but very orderly. We had our list & headed off. Got everything we want & found a rack of clearanced out sandals & flip flops. DD & I got 3 pairs. Worst part was waiting in line but I knew to expect that at Kohls. MIL gave me her $10 off midnight to 4 coupon and I had 15% off. We spent $117, will get $10 rebate on the blender & $30 to spend later.

At this point, we decided to skip Target. Went to Herberger's for boots, found the 2 pairs we wanted & waited in a huge line.

Done & home by 2. Got everything on our list except for a few movies. I would have liked to try for the 8g ipod but bought it on the pre-BF sale w/coupon & TD at Target so I feel ok w/that price.

Not sure if we'll do it again but it went smoothly & it was fun to get what we wanted.

 

[ehough]

I did well! Got to Target at 11:45. Lines were long but it was cold so we waited a bit to stand in line, and we weren't going for electronics so it was ok. I got 2 Leapster Explorer games for $14.99 each, 2 pairs of kid slippers for $5 each, 2 3-packs of kid underwear for $4 each, a $15 sweater for me, a $5 t shirt for DH, and a game of Cootie for $3.99. Nothing major, but good deals!

ETA: I also shopped kohls.com and got a big cardboard spaceship (for DD's Star Wars party), a Christmas dress and a Christmas sweater for $50 shipped.

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I did ok- nothing really huge, but I had fun.

For some reason, we decided to go to Walmart for a bit until heading over to Target; we just wanted to grab a few movies. HUGE mistake. Once we were in, we couldn't get out. It was a total mob. We left without anything, after fighting our way to the exit, and headed over to Target early.

We were probably around 250th people in line, and we got in line around 10:30, maybe? It was really well organized- SO much better than Walmart had been. I got the first season of Glee for $13, which was probably my best deal, since it's usually $45. My sister's friend got a digital picture frame that was a great deal, and she got a few movies, too. As we were leaving Target, we saw that people were still waiting in line to get in! I was really glad we headed over when we did.

We went to Kohl's next- no problem getting in, but we waited in line for 2 and a half hours. We thought about leaving a few times, but I had a knife block that was originally $100 on sale for $50 with a $20 mail-in-rebate, and I needed to get it for someone on my list.

After that, we came home for an hour than hit up the mall. No really good deals for us there- just 25-50% off some of the stores(American Eagle, Hollister), but nothing we really wanted or needed. I got a few gifts, but that was about it.

I was glad that I got the deals I got, though- I'd been watching for a great deal on Glee for a while

ETA: I forgot to add that I hit Michael's before heading to the mall. I saved $10, which was great for me! I stocked up on chain and jump rings since I use them like crazy.

 

[Swimalie]

We didn't do the midnight shopping, but hit CVS and Michaels last night. Went about 2 hours after opening and got what we wanted with no crowds.

Got a good night's sleep, then...
Walked into Target about 7:30am. No one was there - the place was practically empty. Still TONS of stuff. We got everything we wanted (included doing some of my grocery shopping haha). They still had some of their Doorbuster 40" tv's sitting around. No one really seemed to be interested in them - a few people wandering around DVDs when we were browsing there. A few people in the toy aisles.

Went to Five Below next. Was busier than Target, but it's a much smaller store. Just went for a Pittsburgh Steelers gnome for DH and a game for DS. Got those and hit Hallmark. People in there, but again, small store. No lines anywhere. Went to Walgreens and were the only ones in there. Got a couple of things and left. Went to Giant and got the rest of the groceries - we were the only ones in there, too.

Sounds like you were at my shopping center. All those stores are in the same place. I went to Target at 7am on my way to swim. I got the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar for $37 and Agent P slippers for half off. Used my red card and saved over $2 with it. I didn't go anywhere else but to the pool.

 

[goofyredraider]

Mine has gone great! I haven't left my house ! I found everything I needed online for the most part, with free shipping.

I may hit up Walmart in a bit...not sure.

 

[Aliceacc]

Holister and Aeropostale were both half price for anything in the store, though I didn't see anything I wanted at Aeropostale. Justice was 40% offI had 15% off at Kohls, and I think 10% off at Macys. I had a $20 Justice Gift card, a $25 Target, and a $10 Bath and Body Works (lots of stuffing stockers there.)

I got 2/ 3 church gifts (somehow I forgot to get a pair of jeans for an 8 year old boy, though I did get him a Battleship game.) I picked up a Chutes and Ladders for school (one of the teachers runs a Toys for Tots drive in memory of his late daughter) for $3.99.

I''m not totally done, but I'm in really good shape for Christmas.

I left the house at 3, and was home by 9.
I hit:

Kohls
Old Navy
Walmart
Target
Hollister
Justice
Bath and Body Works
Toyr R Us (small, temporary store in the mall)
Macys
JC Penneys
B Dalton books

 

[Schmoodle]

DH did great! He got me the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and keyboard, which are selling for $550 - 600 for $350 at Best Buy. It is a birthday present so I get to play with it right away. He's never done Black Friday and hates crowds, so I thought he'd turn around and come home as soon as he saw the line, and he said he almost did. But he stuck it out and said he was impressed with how well they handled things, and how smoothly it went.

I also ordered DS the Assassin's Creed Revelations game from Best Buy online for their Black Friday price of $34.99 ($60 on Amazon) and free shipping.

We didn't get a lot, but we did okay!

 

[DISdreamin']

Woke up around 7am and decided to try Target for the 8gb iPod. I had the 10% off coupon and got the Red card for an additional 5% off. Picked up The Blind Side for $3.99 for myself! I was able to use the gift card from the iPods right away, and so I also picked up a couple iPads as well, with the $75 gc and 5% off for the card

 

[pandamom]

Started with ordering ipod 8g and razor scooter from target online yesterday morning. Got $40 gift card bonus and think I saved about $20 on the scooter. I went to Old Navy yesterday around 3pm for their Gobblepalooza. I bought 5 pairs of jeans, 2 sweatpants and a hoodie for dd13 and 2 shirts for dh for under $100 (items were on sale and they let me split my order to use 2 $10 off $50 coupons). Total savings $140. At around 6pm I went on the TRU website and the 5am door buster items I wanted were already on sale and the site was working fine. Bought star wars remote control millenium falcon, skelanimals train case and 2 club penguin items (not on sale). Saved $40 plus shipping. Ordered $200 in wilderness lodge gift cards today and got bonus $20 in cards.

Nothing great but I'm happy.

 

[Planogirl]

I did real well but my items weren't huge. I was after video games and movies mostly.

Target and Best Buy were both very organized and easy to shop at. I checked out Macy's but saw nothing of interest and the mall had no stores open where I wanted anything either. I did check the Disney Store but saw nothing I really needed. Kohl's was way too crowded for me so I came home after that.

It was fun.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I did good so far.
Went to the mall at 4:30. Did well at Hollister, Disney Store, Hot Topic and a few other stores. The Walking Company had Uggs with no sales tax so that saved about $15.00.
I ordered the IPod at Target and a camera at Best Buy yesterday.

Heading out to B.J.'s, Kohls and Target after lunch.

It's a fun day!!