Just wondering who's going shopping and what are you getting? I have never really done Black Friday shopping before but my boys have asked for Nintendo DS Lites for Christmas and Walmart is having a really great sale on them. Anyone care to offer this newbie some advice? Do I need to get there before the doors open and wait in line? I am actually getting kind of nervous.

I have done Black Friday twice, and the one time I did WalMart first I got there at 4:45ish and the line was already hundreds of people long (think it opened at 5 that year).

If you're getting a big ticket item that's really discounted then u have to get there as early as possible. They only have a certain # of them avail. Sometimes they'll walk down the line and give out a slip of paper if u want something they have very few of.

In my experience it hasn't been worth it. But I've never bought anything that was that amazing of a deal!

HTH!

I did Black Friday shopping once. Once. Never again! I did end up with what I went there for but people were C. R. A. Z. Y.

It's worth it to me to spend a little bit more to not have to worry about dealing with people who are so nuts. Did I say they were CRAZY?!

I live in Maine and shop in New Hampshire... I have never been out on black friday, and I don't want to! Good luck to you!

It depend on how big your city is. I did some shopping last year and went to walmart late (at 8 a.m....my first time) and there wasn't a lot of people. However at other stores, there were long lines. So it's best if you've research on what you wanna get and which store you're planning to go.

I'd like to know where these handfuls of crazy people are because I dont' really see them. My daughters and I go for the fun, not really for the "great deals" (although she finds some for her kids things). One year, there was someone who tried to "sneak" in line ahead of folks and what I saw was a crowd of people banding together to make sure everyone followed the rules; no cheating; no trouble. We stand in line and share stories, make fun of people who buy coffee and don't think about "no bathrooms"! I'm in charge of "recon" ..... I get the cart and find the shortest route in and out of the stores. Married daughter goes to the toy section and teenage daughter goes to the video game part. I "park" the cart in an out of the way place and via cell phones, we keep in touch so we know where everyone is. It's a real strategically planned day!!

we start at 4:00 to 5:00 depending on the stores we're going to. We hit Walmart last ..... we walk in, pick up exactly what we want, go to a checkout line with NO WAITING and breeze right out. I'd never hit walmart as my first stop, but as my last stop (about 8:00 a.m.) most of the crowd is gone and its easy peasy.

Our official last stop is the Bob Evans across the street from Walmart for a Girls Only Breakfast! We're home by 9:30!

It's my favorite mother-daughter time wiht my girls! because it's NOT about the "deals" or the "Stuff" or the "shopping"....... it's about our time together doing girl stuff!

Fort Dodge, Iowa is where tons of crazies are. Seriously. They're nuts. People here are rude on a regular shopping day. Dangle good sales in front of them and they're awful.

I'm always amazed at my realization that I see a LOT more d*ckhead shoppers on 'regular' shopping trips than on Black Friday.

I've decided to go out and try it today! I'll be back to let you know what I find in NH for crazy shoppers! I have a feeling big mall areas will be more mobbed then single stores.... we'll see!

Deb-that sounds like a great day!

Ha!Ha! I love hearing the stories...We don't have black friday here in Canada but rather Boxing day blow outs...day after Christmas..I have never gone and don't plan to because everything I want or need I get beforehand or later on...I'd rather spend a few extra dollars not to have to deal with rude crowds of people.I love that it is a special time for you and your daughters Debbie...

Here's to all you getting Great Deals!!!

DH goes out every Black Friday. This morning he got up at 4:30 to go to Walmart to get NIntendo DS for our twins who are asking Santa for them.

I just posted a blog about my BF experiences today. An interesting observation about the different levels of customer service we rec'd ......

http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/

Well, my sister and i went BF shopping today. We didn't start early as there was really no big ticket items that we needed. We were going for the fun of it. I have to say the shoppers i encountered and most of the sales staff were very nice and civil.

We didn't see or hear of even one fight (usually hear about that at walmarts) The only excitement we had was the power went out at the mall when we were cashing out. They weren't out for long but it did take awhile to have the registers up and running again.

My son went to walmarts at 3am in search of a tv. All he said it "man that was wild" but he did come back with a tv. He had a slight problem when at radio shack buying a cell phone but nothing too bad.

I went out at midnight to Old Navy. Got lots of stuff for about $80. Then later in the day I went to Target and picked up some dvds.

A few years ago was my first Black Friday. My boyfriend (now hubby) pointed out an ad for Best Buy for a laptop for under 300. So we decided I would try to get it. He said he had heard about some people camping out to wait in line. We decided that at about 8pm on thursday that we would drive by Best Buy and see if there was any line. There was. So we raced home and got some camping chairs and warm stuff and got in line. We were about 30th in line. But I got the laptop! And he got an Xbox 360.

The next year, he is now my fiance and we decide to camp out again for a tv from Circuit City. This time we were first in line! And as Debi said, there were a few people that tried to budge in line about an hour before they opened. No one was letting that happen though. We saved a thousand bucks off of the tv and we would do it again if the tv breaks.

But last year we didn't do anything and this year we did just because we heard Old Navy was opening at midnight. Got lots of good deals and had a little fun. Camping out is tough, but if you dress properly, it's manageable. We had another couple with us so we would take turns running to the gas stations to warm up and use the bathroom. Some people bring tents and some stores actually have outlets on the outside of the building. So others were bringing space heaters and laptops with movies playing. This year we noticed the Best Buy had rented a portapotty for the campers. Kinda cool.

Oh, funny story. Our first year, to get the laptop, we had come to a point in the evening where everyone just needed to hunker down and get a few zzs. So we're all doing that and a car drives past us in the parking lot. They thought it would be funny to lay on the horn as they sped by. Woke us all up, we got a little grumpy. They do this a couple times. Then, a cop car shows up and pulls them over in the parking lot. Can't remember if they got a ticket but the police officer got a few cheers and some applause from us! Ahh, sweet justice!

I went...We started at 10 thrus. night and ended up finally getting 2 hours of sleep 29 hours later....then 7 hours lastnight. I'm still exhausted!

I'm with you Indydebi, daughter and I do it for the fun. Find a few good deals along the way. We haven't camped out, but I might if the deal was good enough. We did it to get in to the price is right during Bob Barkers last week. Me, my mom and daughter sleeping on the sidewalk in LA. It was fun but it was summer. The funniest part was the bums renting chairs fighting over who's territory it was, one of them was in a bathrobe.

my sister came to Indy and we went shopping with her (I went for the lunch!) went to Toys-R-Us and it was more crowded today than it was at 5:00 a.m. on Black Friday!

The closest I got to Black Friday shopping was picking my son up from his shift at Old Navy. He said it was busy, but for the most part people were civil.

I'm with Debi, too. One of our major rules is that when it stops being fun GO HOME. You can't have your heart set on getting the deal, either. That can be too disappointing and it stops being fun then. No coffee stops or potty breaks allowed. Do not be at Walmart when they first open. They've got a bad rep for fights, running over people, etc..... That's not fun. Slip in an hour later and you can get in and out in no time. It looks like our local Target may be off the list, too. I heard there were 3 old ladies fighting over a tv. I never understand the big whoop about Target, anyway.

What I don't like is that the stores are opening earlier. It used to be 6, then 4, now some of them are opening at 3. What I really disliked about this year is the stores that were open on Thanksgiving Day. That's a day to be with family and I refuse to be part of keeping employees at work instead of at home.

I'm claustrophobic on crowds, so I don't tend to venture out during peak shopping times. I become irritable and not pleasant when out in large crowds.

However, this year my mother and I did venture out around 5:15 am to Jo Ann Fabrics to pick up the Cricut Cake Mini for $99. It's a toy for her and something to help me save time. lol There wasn't a huge crowd, and the store handled things really well.

I don't know if I'll ever do real BF shopping, but I do know that when I venture out to buy one thing and one thing only, I'm in and out as fast as possible.