Experts help you make the best Black Friday shopping plan

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - With all the Black Friday ads, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the options.

Nancy Dennis with the Alabama Retail Association encourages you to make a plan. Find out when stores open and what deals they are offering.

“This is still the big shopping weekend, and this will be four of the busiest shopping days of the year,” said Dennis.

To help make sure you’re getting the best deal, Assistant Professor of Economics at UAB, Ben Meadows, said to do research when cultivating your plan, especially for specific gifts.

“If you have a specific gift or item you have in mind, go ahead and do the research. Find where the best deals are. Sometimes local shops will have deals that will beat online e-commerce stores, and sometimes vice versa is true,” said Meadows.

When it comes to that big-ticket gift, make sure you account for extra costs, such as shipping.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind that when you are looking at those things, make sure you’re getting relevant sales tax data, shipping data, all that kind of stuff, because there would be nothing worse than to see a deal online and not realize sales tax and shipping weren’t included, and you were unfairly balancing those in your head,” said Meadows.

If you do decide to buy online, beware of scammers, and remember sometimes a deal is too good to be true.

“If you’re on a site and you can’t find an email or phone number or anything that you can talk to a real person? You best go someplace else,” said Dennis.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for the weekend after Thanksgiving, continue to check retailers as we get closer to the holiday.

“There have been deals throughout the month of November, and even in October, we had great deals. Those will continue and there’s still deals to be had,” said Dennis.

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