The Black Friday 2014 Walmart ad is one of the more in-demand deal sheets being sought right now. Just two weeks before Thanksgiving, Black Friday early bird shoppers are on the lookout for the best Black Friday sales so they can plan their shopping route the day after — or in some cases on — Thanksgiving. According to a Consumer Reports piece, some of that early bird shopping may not represent the best sales.
For instance, the Black Friday 2014 Walmart early bird sale going on through November includes deals on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and their related game software, though the discounts are largely tied to the existing promotions like the Xbox One price cut. As a result, those Black Friday 2014 Walmart early-bird sales aren’t really specific to Walmart, the retailer’s just promoting them.
One of Walmart’s early bird deals is special: a bonus pack-in game when you buy an Xbox One. This echoes previous Walmart Black Friday promotions in which it would offer a free or heavily discounted game, so it’s nice to see the retailer opening its proverbial doors on that sale before Black Friday arrives.
A few other the Black Friday 2014 Walmart early bird sales are unique, as they’re tied to TVs, electronics and toys that wouldn’t otherwise be discounted. Walmart has also committed to price matching competitors leading up to Black Friday 2014. This means that some of the best Black Friday 2014 Walmart deals may be those you find elsewhere and simply ask Walmart to match.
Walmart has also started offering free shipping on items from the Walmart Top 100 gift list for shoppers who wish to take advantage of its early bird specials.
However, an article from Consumer Reports now says some of the best deals are likely still to come via the official Black Friday 2014 Walmart ad circular, not from these early bird Black Friday 2014 specials.
Some of the best-selling items on Black Friday, presumably tied to the discounts, are televisions. Indeed, the Black Friday 2014 Walmart early bird sales include quite a few, though Consumer Reports believes the lack of many name brands in this early sale indicates Walmart has a few more Black Friday TV deals up its sleeve.
“Compared with secondary brands such as RCA and Sceptre, there were fewer major-brand sets in the Early Bird sale. We saw three TVs from Sony in the listing, though most are fairly basic models without many of the features you’d expect,” said Consumer Reports. “Two Vizio sets are featured, although one [is] already sold out. [Other models available are] priced about the same at several retailers, including B&H Photo and Dell. … But we expect them to be cheaper around Black Friday.”
Much like the Black Friday 2014 Walmart early bird specials, the Amazon Electronics section has some good deals
With that said, if your preference is to shop at Walmart this year, it may be wise to heed Consumer Reports’ prediction that the Black Friday 2014 Walmart ad will reflect even deeper discounts than its early-bird sale is providing. When Cyber Monday hits, Walmart.com will likely unleash another wave of sales to compete with Amazon, and it may be worth asking your local Walmart to price-match whatever you see on Amazon. Just make sure to ask them before Amazon sells out. Normally price-matching only works for items that are in stock at Walmart’s competitors.
