Black Friday 2026 lands on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, and the sales are already warming up. Every year, the same shoppers make the same tech-buying mistakes, then spend January writing return emails.
None of these mistakes require a special degree to avoid. They just require a little patience, which is hard to find when a countdown timer is screaming at you. Here are the ten that cost people the most money and the most regret.
Skipping the price check
A deal is only a deal if the price is actually lower than usual, and you can’t know that without a baseline. Before the sale, look up what the product normally costs. Price-history trackers like CamelCamelCamel and Keepa show how an Amazon listing has moved over time, and a quick scan of competitors’ prices takes a minute.
If the “sale” price is the same one the item sold for in September, you’ve found a marketing campaign, not a bargain. Write down your target price now, while you’re calm.
Trusting the strikethrough price
Retailers love to show an old, inflated price with a line through it, next to a bright red “SAVE 40%” label. That number is only as honest as the price it’s measured against, and the “original” price may be one the product barely sold at.
Ignore the percentage and look at the actual price. Ask what you would pay for this item on a random Tuesday, and if the answer is close to the sale price, you’ve just been handed a very polite lie.
Buying the doorbuster model
The stunning television at a bargain price is sometimes a model that’s different from the one reviewers tested. Retailers and manufacturers have been known to make cheaper versions with a similar name and a slightly different model number, and that can mean a worse screen, fewer ports or a slower processor.
Take the exact model number from the ad and search for reviews of that specific one. If you can only find reviews for a similar name, treat that as a flashing warning light.
Buying something you never wanted
Black Friday works because it turns “do I need this?” into “can I afford to miss this?” Those are different questions, and the second one is how people end up with a third air fryer and a drone they have never flown.
Make a short list before the sales start: the three things you’d have bought anyway at full price. Anything that isn’t on the list has to sit in your cart for 24 hours before you pay for it.
Ignoring the total cost
The laptop is cheap, but the laptop doesn’t come with a case, a charger that works in your car or a memory card big enough for your camera. A console deal might not include a second controller, and a gadget might need a subscription before it does anything useful.
Add up everything you’d have to buy for the thing to actually work for you. A bargain that needs $80 in extras isn’t the bargain you thought it was.
Forgetting the return policy
Many retailers extend their return windows for holiday purchases, but the details vary and electronics are often the exception, with shorter windows or restocking fees. Some Black Friday items are also marked final sale.
Read the return policy before you pay, not after the box arrives. Take a screenshot of it, because policies get updated, and keep the receipt somewhere you can find it in February.
Buying from a seller you’ve never heard of
A marketplace listing that undercuts every big retailer by half is either a mistake, a gray-market import with no warranty or a scam. Third-party sellers range from great to hopeless, and the page won’t always tell you which you’re dealing with.
Check who is actually selling and shipping the item. Paying with a credit card generally gives you stronger dispute rights than a debit card, though you should check your own card’s terms, and a seller with no reviews doesn’t deserve your trust.
Assuming Black Friday is always the lowest price
Black Friday is a big sale day, not a law of nature. Some products hit their lowest prices at other times of year, like when a new model launches and the old one gets cleared out, or during other big sales.
If your target product isn’t heavily discounted on Black Friday, don’t force it. A price tracker helps here too, because it will tell you when the item gets cheaper, whenever that is.
Waiting too long to order
Popular items sell out, and shipping gets slower right when everyone is trying to send gifts. Buying a gift on November 27 and finding out it arrives in January turns a deal into a disappointment.
Check the delivery estimate before you check out, and for gifts, build in a few days of slack. If an item is truly a hot product, buy it when you see it at your target price and don’t wait to see if it gets lower.
Clicking the wrong link
Deal season is scam season. Consumer-protection agencies regularly warn about fake shipping notices, too-good-to-be-true texts and look-alike websites that exist to steal your login or card number.
Don’t click deal links in unexpected texts or emails. Go to the retailer’s site by typing the address yourself, and be suspicious of any message that creates urgency. A real deal will still be there while you open a new tab.