Consumer Reports says Black Friday bargains have changed in recent years.
"Probably the biggest trend with Black Friday that we've seen is just that it's no longer about Black Friday the day… and it's Black Friday, the week, the month," Consumer Reports' Jim Wilcox said. "We see deals, creeping up earlier and earlier every year."
Unfortunately, this shift in Black Friday shopping hasn't been all good.
"For a lot of consumers, it's a lot more work than it used to be," Wilcox said. "You used to just look in a circular on Sunday and go out and pick the store you want to get to. Because of all the online activity now, you really have to monitor all the different websites."
And don't think that just because something is advertised as a Black Friday bargain that it's necessarily the lowest price you can find.
For example, Consumer Reports says there are sometimes better deals on TVs, like shopping closer to Christmas or waiting a few weeks for Super Bowl sales.
"A lot of it is based on inventory levels," Wilcox said. "So if retailers and manufacturers don't sell a lot of TVs during the year they may have the buildup in inventory."
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But to really find the lowest prices on TVs, plan to buy at the end of February or the beginning of March. That's when stores clear out last year's models at rock-bottom prices to make room for the newest sets on the market.
