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What is Black Friday?

Originating as the unofficial start date for the Christmas shopping season in the United States, Black Friday has since become a worldwide phenomenon and the biggest sales event of the year.
This year, Black Friday 2019 falls on November 29^th so be sure to mark the day on your calendar. Be warned however, there will be plenty of opportunities to bag a bargain earlier in November, and after Black Friday thanks to the Cyber Monday 2019 sale which kicks off on December 2^nd.

As soon as Black Friday 2019 begins, this page will be updated with the very best deals that we can find across mobile phones, laptops, cameras, games consoles and more. Be sure to bookmark this page as we’ll be posting new content regularly.

Related: When is Black Friday?

Why is it called Black Friday?

Black Friday is a yearly deals bonanza that started in the US. Traditionally it was a physical sale run by major US retailers, including Target and Best Buy, that occurred the day after Thanksgiving.
Depending on who you ask, they’re sure to have a different origin story for the name. The earliest recorded use of the term ‘Black Friday’ was by none other than the Philadelphia Police Department, in which it described the unyielding amounts of traffic that appeared once Christmas shopping began.
In its more modern understanding however, Black Friday was used to describe the moment when a lot of retailers went from having their finances be in the red, to being safely in the black. It’s no wonder why Black Friday has become a global sales extravaganza.

It has since spread to numerous other countries, including the UK. These days, in the run up and days after Black Friday, pretty much every store under the sun, including Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, Currys PC World, Argos, eBay and AO.com use the period to release a number of important money saving deals.

The only downside is that many of the deals have a limited lifespan and retailers use the period as an excuse to clear old stock and products that aren’t necessarily the best available. This can make it difficult to know if the deal you’re looking at is a steal or a lemon.

This is why Trusted Reviews gets involved. We assess all Black Friday deals both through our product expertise, and by checking the price history of featured products, so you can be sure that you’re getting a great deal.

What is Cyber Monday?

Unlike Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a more modern invention but it hasn’t prevented the event from taking off around the world. Now an expected follow up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday is an online focused sale specifically with tech discounts in mind.
For savvy shoppers, Cyber Monday offers a great chance to pick up some Black Friday deals that you might have missed – as some of the more popular Black Friday bargains make a reappearance over Cyber Monday.

In the past discounts have ranged from minor price cuts to up to over 50% off products from big name brands.

If you don’t get the deal you’re after during Cyber Monday don’t worry – the same group of retailers also launch a number of great deals during the Boxing Day sales after Christmas.

How long do Black Friday and Cyber Monday last?

Depending on which retailer you favour, the answer could change drastically. For example, the Currys PC World Black Tag event kicks off immediately from November 1st, with most of the retailers offers appearing there and then. Amazon on the other hand concentrates its deals over a two week period – starting the week of Black Friday and finishing the week of Cyber Monday.

While a month-long sale might seem daunting to some shoppers, it can actually offer a lot more variety in the types of deals available, giving you more competitive prices and more time than the usual sales to pick them up.

Are Black Friday and Cyber Monday really the best time for discounts?

Trusted Reviews has surveyed our readers several times in recent years and have found some skepticism about how good Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals really are.

In 2018 we found that nearly 40% of people didn’t think that the year’s Black Friday would represent as good value as previous Black Friday events. However, we also found that nearly a third of those questioned by Trusted Reviews regarded Black Friday as a good time to shop for bargains, and over 25% said they typically start their Christmas shopping on Black Friday.

Partnering with a price comparison site that was able to assess historic pricing trends, we found that, certainly for premium technology, Black Friday was a good pre-holiday shopping opportunity, with a number of products showing substantial discounts across the Black Friday period.

Black Friday 2019 UK – Black Friday sales from UK retailers

Every retailer will get involved for Black Friday in the UK. But the biggest players will be Amazon, Currys, Argos, John Lewis, eBay, Very, AO and all of the major supermarkets.

Amazon Black Friday Deals: The king of next-day delivery will be at the forefront of this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale, as has been the case for the last few years. With Amazon’s seemingly endless storerooms dotted around the country, the Amazon Black Friday Sale will encompass a ridiculous amount of products, so it’ll be your best bet if you’re not after something specific and just want to see what’s being discounted this year.
Currys Black Friday Deals: If you’re after some of the perhaps less glamorous items like a new washing machine or fridge freezer, Currys might be your destination of choice. Last year the Samsung AddWash washing machine had £300 taken off its price. The PC World half of Currys PC World often also has good discounts on laptops from the likes of HP, Lenovo and Asus.
Argos Black Friday Deals: If there’s one area where Argos is particularly strong around Black Friday, it’s toys. The retailer is already famous for its regular 3 for 2 discounts, but it usually ramps things up even more. So if you’re shopping for Christmas gifts for younger family members, it should be your first stop.
John Lewis Black Friday Deals: The retailer’s ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ policy means it’s constantly price-matching its competitors.
eBay Black Friday Deals: Once the biggest wild-west marketplace of the internet, eBay is now a far better shout for finding a cracking offer, as the likes of Currys PC World, AO and Argos all have storefronts on the site as a means of selling refurbished or excess stock. If you don’t mind buying through second hand sellers on occasion, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts as eBay more often than not has the cheapest prices for a lot of items during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Black Friday shopping tips – How to get a good deal

Hunting for deals is a tricky business. With retailers rushing deals out at a near frenzied pace even the most tech savvy buyer can easily miss a banging deal or even worse, pick the wrong one. Find out our Black Friday shopping tips here, or read on:

Do your research: Flash sales are great, but it’s all too easy to let the excitement get ahead of you and buy a product that doesn’t meet all your requirements just because it’s cheap. If you go in with a list of greenlit products from the start you’ll save yourself a lot of panic and potential buyers’ remorse.
Know your budget: You’ll also want to decide your budget before hand. It’s all too easy to overspend, which can lead to issues further down the road. As a result you should always walk into the event with a firm figure in your head and keep a record of every purchase.
Check the RRP: All too often retailers will inflate products’ RRP ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in a bid to make deals look more impressive. You can manually check the actual RRP with a quick Google search, or if you’re a little more technical use price history tools like Keepa to see what they sold for earlier in the year.
Shop around: If you’re after a specific product make sure to check multiple stores and online retailers before you buy. During Cyber Monday it’s not uncommon for retailers to run deals on the same products and prices can fluctuate massively as a result.

Black Friday 2019 UK – Deals to avoid

When shopping during Black Friday it’s equally important to know what deals to avoid as it is which to jump at. This is because retailers can use a few tricky tactics to make deals look better than they are. A standard one is to inflate a product’s RRP to make the deal look bigger than it actually is.

Just because a store front lists a product as having a ridiculous 50% price tag, doesn’t actually mean it’s half price. The listed RRP could be its launch price, rather than what it generally retails for today. This is especially true on products with multiple year shelf lives, like TVs and fridges.
You should always check the average price the product retails for before deciding whether the deal you’re looking at is a steal. Thankfully there are a few tools available that can help you do this. If you’re shopping on Amazon Keepa lets you know the average price the product you’re looking at has been selling for using an easy to read graph, for example.
Finally, just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s good. Black Friday always sees a number of brands most people have never heard of come out of the woodwork offering unbelievable features sets at rock bottom prices. Sadly, all too often these products don’t live up to their promises – not every brand can be the next OnePlus or Xiaomi. Where possible it’s always best to go with a brand you know and trust.

Grey Imports – Price vs. Quality of service

One big area of confusion can often arise around ‘grey imports’. On the surface, these can look like fantastic deals. But what you need to be aware of is that these grey imports are often products imported from outside the EU, often from Hong Kong or China.

This can be problematic for a number of reasons. First off, if actually being shipped to you directly from halfway across the world, delivery time can be very slow. Think weeks to even months. Then you have to factor in the chance of having to pay customs duty when your item reaches the UK.

Some grey importers will have these products located in the UK already, which does avoid the above pitfall. However, as these products originate from outside the UK, they can often not be covered by a local warranty. That’s a problem if you encounter any issues down the line and need manufacturer support. In the long run, that saving might not look so great after all.

There are also other problems you might not expect, like manuals not being localised. You might also find yourself scrambling for a plug adaptor as it might not be the three-prong plug you need for the UK, or missing out on accessories you would normally get from an item bought here.

Beware the ‘Bait and Switch’

In the past, retailers have gotten themselves in hot water for misleading consumers by luring them in with massive discounts, only for them to find out the item in question is ‘out of stock’.

Where things got murkier, was when these out of stock items were suddenly back on sale for the full price the following day after Black Friday was finished. This meant that in all likelihood that product was still in stock but pulled from sale early. Consumers were quite rightly annoyed.

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2019