7 Things I Learned on Black Friday

My Black Friday experience this past week yielded some wisdom that I'll employ next year. Yes, I actually stood in line for four hours in sub-30 degree weather for a deal (a $150 GPS). People who know me well will not be surprised to hear that.

1. For technology deals, visit a store that's not known primarily for technology. I went to Staples, and was about 15th (or better) in line at midnight. The Best Buy two blocks away had 100-200 people in line by that time. By 4 am, there couldn't have been more than 40-50 people in the Staples line. Staples still had some great technology deals (in fact, the GPS receiver that I purchased couldn't be found for less anywhere else), but the technology crowd went elsewhere for the most part.
2. Hope for tickets. At 4 am, 2 hours before Staples opened, employees handed out reservation tickets to those standing in line. They asked what I was standing in line for, and they gave me a ticket for each item I mentioned. I then got to leave, and simply had to come back sometime before 10 am to redeem the ticket. Best Buy stores do this too, and I suspect some others do it. If you stood in line that long, the last thing you want to see is a mad rush for the item you were waiting for. Simply opening the floodgates at 5 or 6 am would be a mistake and leave many people frustrated.
3. Come back close to the deadline. If you get a ticket, don't go back to the store shortly after it opens. I did that, and I ended up waiting in line for another hour even though I had a ticket. Poor system. I was worried that the store might run out of the item they had supposedly reserved for me. It can and does happen, but here's the catch: the store may upgrade you for free. A relative of mine stood in line with me for 4 hours, got his ticket for a laptop, and returned shortly before the 10 am deadline to learn that they had run out of that particular laptop. (They knew how to take the reservation; they just didn't know how to hold the reservation--which is actually the most important part.) He wasn't out of luck though; they recognized that the mistake was theirs, and they gave him a better laptop for the same price.
4. Bring a chair, gloves, hat, and blanket. Those in southern states can skip the winter attire, but even 28 degrees is cold when you're standing still.
5. If you want the hottest deals at Best Buy, get in line by about 6 pm the previous night. I wasn't in a Best Buy line; I'm inferring this recommendation from what I heard about the Best Buy line a quarter mile from where I was. Actually, that line reportedly started at 2:30 pm the previous day.
6. Always second-guess the prices. Worded differently, never trust any store's deal blindly, no matter how good it looks. Competition is fierce, and there may be a better or similar deal available elsewhere. Consider what happened to me with this GPS (times are approximate):
• Sunday: Found that Circuit City will offer the GPS (Mio C310x) for $200 plus a $50 mail-in rebate. Not only are rebates a pain, but the closest Circuit City was 45 minutes from where I was staying.
• Tuesday: Found that Staples will offer a similar GPS (Mio C310) for $150 with no rebates.
• Tuesday: Researched this Staples deal; found that the Staples ad might have a misprint. Although the Mio C310 is a legitimate model number, Staples might indeed be selling the Mio C310x--the one I want.
• Wednesday: Visited the Staples store I was planning to buy from, and asked an employee to verify that they were stocking the Mio C310x. They were.
• Friday: Bought the GPS after standing in line for 4 hours. Triumph. Avoided the trip to Circuit City, as well as the rebate.
• Sunday: Found out that Circuit City had made their $200-$50 deal available online on Friday and Saturday. Too bad I had no Internet access on those days to find out about it. I froze my toes for no reason.
7. Don't drink many liquids before standing in line, unless you're just a few steps away from a 24-hour WalMart. (No explanation needed.)