Black Friday tips...

Edwin · Nov 25, 2015

Since the Day is almost upon us, does anyone have any tips to share?

Here are a few to kick us off.

AMAZON-SPECIFIC

1. If you've got your eye on an Amazon bargain, use Camel Camel Camel to check if the price is really a long-term bargain, or if it's just a lower-than-recent price. Camel Camel Camel will give you the price history of most items (though not Kindle ebooks)
http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/

2. Again, for Amazon (which is, after all, by far the largest retailer) don't assume they always have the best price - shop around!

3. If you're an Amazon Prime member, make sure you're logged in when you're browsing as you'll be able to access some lightning deals before they're opened up to all-comers

GENERAL

1. If you're not yet a member, join Top Cashback.
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/gk001 (my referral link)
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ (direct link)

They have over 4,000 merchant-partners that they offer cashback on, and the amounts can be substantial (the offers vary over time). For example, Laterooms and Lastminute frequently offer 10%+ cashback.

What this means is that as long as you start your shopping from the relevant Top Cashback merchant via the "Get Cashback" link, and don't leave the etailer, your purchase should get tracked and you'll earn cashback on it.

This costs you nothing at all. Basically, Top Cashback are acting like a super affiliate - they kick back some of the commish they would otherwise have made on the sale.

You can get cash back on just about everything, from physical goods (Currys/PC World, AO.com, Very, Next etc.) through to services (even new domain registrations, and hosting packages) and stuff like utilities, broadband, insurance etc.

When it comes to being paid (which can take several months) you can either get paid through BACS or in some cases as Amazon vouchers, Tesco Clubcard points etc.

There's a limit of £50/year if you take payment in Tesco Clubcard points (the rest will be paid in other ways) but that's worth £200 if you choose 4-for-1 offers like Pizza Express vouchers, or £100 when Tesco do their double points sale.

So far this year, I've gained over £300 from Top Cashback by shopping just as I always have - but always starting the shopping sessions over on their site.

2. Once you've joined Top Cashback, join Quidco
http://www.quidco.com/

They've got a very similar setup, and a few merchants offer better cashback deals via Quidco than Top Cashback (though most are the same or lower)

3. Keep a very close eye on HotUkDeals for some of the best bargains. Black Friday deals go "hot" on the site very quickly, and the best offers have hotness levels in the 1,000+ range. It's a double-edged sword, because once the deals make it onto HotUkDeals and other similar sites the stock can be exhausted in minutes.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/

4. Keep an eye on MoneySavingExpert and their Black Friday Deals section
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-alert-service

ChrisMM · Nov 25, 2015

Great post.

+1 on HotUKDeals, its a great way to find the real bargains both on and offline as the community scout out the deals - as opposed to the official promos pushed by the merchants.

It is easy to fall into the trap of buying stuff you dont really "need" though. Everyone loves a bargain.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Edwin · Nov 25, 2015

One more tip: don't wait until tomorrow if you already have a specific retailer in mind.

For example, M&S started their Black Friday deals earlier today with offers of 30%-50% off certain ranges
http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/offers/black-friday

(That's the kind of stuff you can also find on HotUkDeals, but as I say if you have favourites keep an eye on them directly)

Oh, and if you want to make sure that cashback tracks properly, use different browsers for browsing and shopping (and make sure the "shopping browser" doesn't have Adblocker type extensions - in other words, it has to accept all cookies)

That way, you will be sure that the "last click" of any shopping session gets recorded as originating from the cashback site rather than say a search engine or your browser address bar.

I use Firefox for browsing, IE for shopping. Doesn't matter which pair of browsers you choose as long as you consistently use one only for actual shopping transactions. Do ALL your product comparison searches, price checks etc. in a completely different browser first!

accelerator · Nov 25, 2015

Edwin said:
One more tip: don't wait until tomorrow if you already have a specific retailer in mind.

It's Wednesday today, don't you mean don't wait until Friday rather than tomorrow?

nick-harper · Nov 25, 2015

Shamless Plug.

You could post any good offers you find on the site in my signature and earn cashback every time they sell. If you want to buy it then add it as an offer, then buy it and you get cashback for adding the offer, and for buying it. Then post it on Facebook, forums etc and then if other people buy it you get cashback then as well.

A person posted an offer for a running machine last December and it is still earning them money every couple of weeks. (They are up to £32.76 in cashback just from posting that offer!)

If you post an offer on other communities, you don't earn anything from it, they do!

Edwin · Nov 25, 2015

accelerator said:
It's Wednesday today, don't you mean don't wait until Friday rather than tomorrow?

Good point. No wonder it felt like the week had gone by in a flash!

max99x · Nov 25, 2015

Top tip: That 50" TV in ASDA that's now only £100 has the worst picture quality around, dont buy it

DLOE · Nov 26, 2015

Thanks Edwin, just signed up via your link

Edwin · Nov 26, 2015

DLOE said:
Thanks Edwin, just signed up via your link

Very gracious - tip o' the hat to you.

PoshTiger · Nov 26, 2015

VMWare are running 40% off at the moment - I've just upgraded!

http://www.vmware.com/uk/products/w...orkstationPro_BlackFriday-Sales-UK_HPPromo_AB

Edwin · Jan 15, 2016

Just to follow up on this thread to encourage you to join TopCashback without hesitation if you've not already done so (either via my affiliate link, or via the direct link, both of which are in the first post in this thread - but whichever you click, do yourself a favour and join!).

I'm now up to over £400 saved, and it's as easy as spending 30 seconds on a couple of extra clicks every time I shop for something. Plus they really do pay out (I've received £316.98 from them so far, the rest is in "pending" status)

As far as I can tell, there's no downside since you don't pay anything more for the privilege of getting cash back

Edwin · Jan 15, 2016

That's why it's good to shop using two browsers if you're at all unsure. If both show the same final price (through TopCashback, and direct) then you know you're genuinely saving.

No, I didn't go for any of the big payout offers. So far it's been a mix of magazine subscriptions, hotel bookings, train bookings, concert tickets, plus a bit of Amazon (they have on/off deals for some merchants) and that sort of thing. You can get 10-15% of the amount of a hotel booking back from time to time, quickly adds up if you find yourself having to book accommodation with any frequency.

That said, I've got no reason to think that any of those major bounty programs (switch utilities provider, change phone or TV supplier etc.) won't pay - I've just had no cause to use them yet...