It’s been called Black Friday since the 1960s and is generally regarded as being the start of the Christmas shopping season in the US. Now a global event, the hype around Black Friday and Cyber Monday promise much, but does it deliver real savings for consumers? I’m not sure it delivers lots of deals, but I’ve found some deals that I like, both online and from Irish retailers.
Argos Ireland are having a 13 day ‘extravaganza’ and one, entry level laptop deal, I liked is their
HP Stream, 11 inch Laptop with 2GB RAM and 32GB SSD. It was €250 now €180 – nice entry level laptop for younger users or for using as a second screen in front of the TV. I also hear Argos will be doing a GoPro deal on the Hero Silver and Hero+LCD, so best check online on Friday.
Currys have started their sale also and the FitBit Blaze – one of the best Fitness watches is usually €239 – Currys have it at €179, which compares pretty well with Amazon UK at £136, which is a relief that we’re seeing some break from the fall in sterling.
Harvey Norman: have an ad campaign running saying they’ll match competitor prices – so that’s worth considering if you’re shopping at Harvey’s anyway. I like their Kaiser Baas Alpha Drone offer, at €99 down from €199. Nice entry level drone, at a good price.
DID have the Libratone ZIPP – it’s the most impressive wireless speaker I’ve used in a while and DID are promising €60 off this Friday. They also have good reductions on laptops – one I like, the Lenovo B50 – down from €460 to €250.
Panasonic are unusual as they have a presence in all the major retailers and their own on-line store. I like this as it’s the manufacturer straight to us, the consumer – so keep an eye out there for TV deals on Friday, and if you are buying a TV they have a best in class UHD Bluray player for 4K movies at €299, instead of the usual €499.
There are Euronics & Expert stores all over the country and I’ve been looking at their offers and found a good one. The Asus T100 with Windows 10 which is a transformer type of laptop/tablet. You get a carry case as well as Panda Internet Security. At €249 it’s a saving on the ‘usual’ price of around €150 but I think both Euronics and Expert are both reducing it to €199 for this Friday. I checked Amazon on this one, it’s 180GBP for the T100, £20 for a case and the security software price is around £16 meaning it’s €252, so that’s a comparable price, but if this boxed deal goes to €199 – nice saving.
Some big name products are very seldom discounted, for instance Dyson and Apple. iConnect stores have 5% off Macs this Friday and €100 off an iPad Pro 32GB and Dyson are hinting at a Black Friday sale on their website – these sort of brands don’t really have to reduce prices so if you get a deal on products like that it probably is a once-a-year deal.
Finally, do your research online, and if you find a deal, print it and bring the offer along with you if you’re going shopping. High street retailers might match it; there’s no harm in asking.
If you buy online, try to buy from an EU business as you have better consumer rights but be aware that some companies, even some Amazon shops won’t ship to Ireland, so make sure you’re comparing like with like. And don’t get caught up in the hype – retail is still a tough business, and there will be deals just before Christmas, and in January – window shopping online, is still OK!
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