Black Friday

Content Guide

• What is Black Friday?
• When is Black Friday?
• Best Deals:
• Electronic Deals
• Clothing Deals
• Furniture Deals
• Beauty Deals
• Travel Deals
• Pet Deals
• Videogame Deals
• Streaming Deals
• Big Retailers Deals
• Tips to Save More
• Black Friday vs Cyber Monday
• FAQ

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season in the United States, held the day after Thanksgiving. The name traces back to Philadelphia in the early 1960s, where police coined it to describe the traffic jams and packed sidewalks downtown as shoppers and out-of-town visitors flooded the city, partly for the annual Army-Navy football game. 

You may have also heard that the name comes from retailers' books turning from red (loss) to black (profit) that day. It's a popular story, but historians consider it a later, retailer-friendly myth rather than the real origin.

What began as a single day of in-store doorbuster deals has grown into a full shopping event that now lives mostly online. In 2025, US Black Friday online sales set a new record, and the day now sits at the center of the wider "Cyber Week" stretch that runs from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.

How Black Friday Shopping Works

Black Friday now spans several days rather than one. Together, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday make up what's commonly called "Cyber Week." 

Black Friday deals online usually go live at midnight and stay active all day, while in-store hours vary by retailer, so it's worth checking a store's own site for exact opening times if you plan to shop in person. 

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday doesn't have a fixed date. It always falls on the fourth Friday of November, the day right after Thanksgiving. In 2026, Black Friday is on November 27th.

Most retailers no longer wait for the day itself. Deals typically start appearing in early November and build up through "Black Friday week", so it's worth checking this page well before the actual Friday if you don't want to miss the first drops. 

The event then rolls straight into the weekend and into Cyber Monday, the following Monday, which has become an equally important sales day in its own right.

When Is the Next Black Friday?

Year	Black Friday Date
2026	Friday, November 27
2027	Friday, November 26
2028	Friday, November 24
2029	Friday, November 23
2030	Friday, November 29

 

Top Black Friday Sales by Category 

Black Friday touches nearly every category, but a few consistently offer the deepest and most frequent discounts.

Black Friday Electronic Deals

Electronics are one of the most searched categories every year, and for good reason: this is when big-ticket purchases people have been putting off all year, a new TV, a laptop upgrade, a smart home starter kit, finally make sense on paper. 

Discounts here tend to cluster around a few product types rather than being spread evenly, so it's worth knowing where to look first:

• Black Friday TV deals are especially strong on larger screen sizes, where retailers often push the biggest headline discounts to draw people in
• The best Black Friday laptop deals feature older or previous-gen models that are being cleared out ahead of new releases
• Storage and accessories, like external drives, which see steady demand from people setting up new devices
• Smart home devices, a category that keeps growing every year as more brands join in

Brands to watch this year include LG, Samsung and Western Digital. Apple Black Friday deals work a bit differently from the rest: rather than discounting its products directly, Apple typically offers a gift card with qualifying purchases. 

As a rule of thumb, it also pays to check a product's price history before buying: electronics prices sometimes creep up in October only to be "discounted" back down in November. 

Black Friday Clothing Deals

Clothing and footwear brands run some of the widest sitewide discounts of the entire event, often in the 30-50% range, sometimes deeper on past-season styles. Unlike electronics, where the discount is usually concentrated on a handful of models, the best clothing Black Friday deals tend to apply across whole collections, which makes this one of the easiest categories to actually stock up in.

A few names worth checking this Black Friday:

• Everyday and outerwear: Crocs, AllSaints, rag & bone, Helly Hansen, Aerosoles, and the UGG Black Friday sale, which regularly covers boots and slippers
• Athletic and activewear: the adidas and Nike Black Friday sale both typically discount past-season sneakers and apparel, while Alo Black Friday sale focuses on studio and activewear
• Sports fan gear: the Fanatics Black Friday sale focuses on licensed jerseys, hats and other team merchandise, worth checking if you're buying for a sports fan

If you're shopping for outerwear or footwear ahead of winter, this is usually the best week of the year to do it.

Black Friday Furniture Sales

Furniture, mattresses and home decor consistently carry some of the deepest markdowns of the whole event, with some listings reaching up to 80% off. This is partly because home goods have a naturally higher markup than other categories, which gives retailers more room to cut prices, and partly because Black Friday lines up well with people furnishing a home before the holidays.

Worth checking:

• Furniture and decor from Wayfair Black Friday deals 
• Black Friday mattress deals from 1StopBedrooms and Nectar Sleep
• Home essentials and kitchenware from the Bed Bath & Beyond Black Friday event, now operating as an online home goods retailer since its relaunch

Because these are often big, considered purchases, it's worth double-checking return policies and delivery timelines before buying, since Black Friday order volumes can push shipping dates back.

Black Friday Beauty Deals

Skincare, makeup and haircare brands join the event too, with big names running dedicated promotions such as ULTA Black Friday deals and the Sephora Black Friday sale.

This is one category where it genuinely pays to read the fine print: some retailers explicitly exclude their own "Black Friday" or "early access" collections from general storewide coupons, so a code that works sitewide might not apply to the exact set you have in your cart. Always check the offer details before checking out.

Black Friday Travel Deals

Travel is one of the fastest-growing categories around Black Friday, as more people treat the event as a chance to lock in a trip rather than just buy gifts. Deals here take a few different forms:

• Black Friday flight deals often bundled with broader booking savings
• Airport lounge access, with programs like Priority Pass running some of their best annual discounts
• Black Friday cruise deals, with cruise lines discounting cabins and adding onboard credit for bookings made during the event
• Bus and ground travel, with operators like FlixBus offering seasonal fare cuts

Travelup is also worth checking for bookings-based offers. Because travel deals often come with blackout dates or minimum spend requirements, it's worth reading the terms closely before booking.

Black Friday Deals for Pet Supplies

Pet owners can use Black Friday to stock up on food, supplements and everyday supplies at a discount, rather than paying full price the rest of the year. BudgetPetCare, CanadaPetCare and Chewy Black Friday sale all typically cover recurring essentials, which makes this a good category to buy ahead of if you already know what your pet needs. 

Black Friday Video Game Deals

With the holidays right around the corner, this is one of the categories with the sharpest demand spikes of the entire year, driven largely by gift shopping. Popular consoles, games and toys can sell out or see prices bounce back up faster than in other categories, so gift-focused deals here tend to move quickly once they go live. 

GameStop Black Friday deals tend to center on trade-in bonuses and console bundles rather than storewide discounts. If there's a specific console or game on your list, it's worth setting a reminder to check back on this page as soon as Black Friday discount offers start rolling in, rather than waiting until the day itself. 

Black Friday Streaming Deals

Streaming subscriptions are among the most searched deals in the US every year, with millions of people looking up a Peacock Black Friday deal or offers from Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max and Starz. It makes sense: unlike a physical product, an offer like a Disney Plus Black Friday deal is something almost every household can actually use, and it doesn't require waiting for shipping or worrying about stock running out. 

These streaming Black Friday deals tend to follow a slightly different pattern than the rest of Black Friday:

• Discounted monthly rates for new subscribers, often the lowest price of the year for a given service
• Win-back offers aimed at people who cancelled a subscription and are coming back for the holidays
• Bundle deals, where a streaming service is paired with another product or plan at a reduced combined price

Because these are subscription products rather than one-time purchases, they usually don't come with a traditional coupon code. Instead, the discount is built into a special sign-up link, and it may only apply for a limited number of months before the price reverts to standard. It's worth checking each service's offer page directly for the exact terms, eligibility (some deals are new-subscriber only) and how long the discounted rate actually lasts.

How the Big Retailers Handle Black Friday Offers

Beyond individual brands, a handful of large retailers set the pace for Black Friday every year, and each tends to run the event a little differently.

• Walmart Black Friday deals typically roll out in multiple waves rather than a single day, often starting online in early-to-mid November and building toward the Friday itself, with Walmart+ members getting early access to some drops.
• Target Black Friday deals combine an early preview sale in the first half of November with weekly deal drops and extra early access for Target Circle members closer to the day itself.
• Best Buy Black Friday deals are known for weekly doorbuster drops on tech that start weeks ahead of the event, alongside the retailer's main sale.
• Costco Black Friday deals run for close to a month across its Holiday Savings Book, both in warehouses and online, though an active Costco membership is required to shop in person.
• Macy's Black Friday sale is one of the more traditional doorbuster events, combining sitewide discounts with deeper markdowns on specific departments.
• Amazon Black Friday deals are spread across what the ecommerce calls "Amazon Black Friday Week," a multi-day event that usually starts in the second half of November and runs straight through Cyber Monday, with new deals added daily.
• Kohl's Black Friday deals stack particularly well thanks to Kohl's Cash, which shoppers earn on top of the discount itself and can redeem on a later purchase.
• eBay Black Friday deals come from thousands of individual sellers rather than one central sale, so it's often the best place to compare prices on the exact same product across multiple listings.

Use this as a starting point, then check the category breakdown below for what to expect brand by brand.

Tips to Save More on Black Friday Online Deals

• Sign up for the newsletter to get new Black Friday sale deals delivered as soon as they're added.
• Compare prices in the weeks before Black Friday. Some listed prices creep up in October before the "discount" is applied in November, so a quick price check can tell you if a deal is really worth it.
• Always check the terms of each Black Friday coupon code before checking out: expiration dates and category exclusions are the most common reason a code doesn't work.
• Don't wait for Cyber Monday for everything. Categories like home and travel often see their best prices right on Black Friday itself.
• Filter by category or store above to skip straight to what you actually need.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday: What's the Difference

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are part of the same shopping weekend but tend to favor different things. Black Friday historically leans toward in-store doorbusters and broad sitewide discounts, while Cyber Monday was built around online-only deals and has grown into the single biggest online shopping day of the year. 

In practice, most retailers now run deals across both days, so it's worth checking our Cyber Monday page too before you commit to a purchase.

Black Friday FAQ: Your Questions Answered

• Why is it called Black Friday? 

It's a Philadelphia police term from the early 1960s, born out of post-Thanksgiving traffic, not out of retailers' profits. The "red to black" accounting story you may have heard is a popular myth that came later. 

• Is Black Friday a federal holiday? 

No. Black Friday is not a federal holiday in the US. It's an unofficial shopping tradition, not a day established by law, which is why government offices, courts and postal services all operate on their regular schedule.

• Are banks open on Black Friday? 

Most banks are open on Black Friday, since it isn't a recognized bank holiday. Some branches may have shortened hours, and a handful of states treat the day after Thanksgiving as a state holiday, which can affect certain local banks or credit unions.

• When does Black Friday start? 

The official day is that Friday, but deals rarely wait for it anymore. Most retailers start rolling out early Black Friday deals in November, with the biggest drops landing during "Black Friday week" and building up to the day itself. 

• When does Black Friday end? 

Officially it's one day, but in practice deals now run for the whole weekend and continue into Cyber Monday, together known as "Cyber Week."

• What's the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? 

Black Friday traditionally centers on in-store and sitewide deals, while Cyber Monday is focused on online-only offers and has become the biggest online shopping day of the year. Most retailers now discount across both.

• Which categories have the best Black Friday deals? 

Home and furniture typically see the deepest percentage discounts, while electronics, apparel and travel see the highest number of deals overall.

• What stores are having Black Friday sales?

Nearly every major US retailer runs some kind of Black Friday sale, from big-box stores like Walmart, Target and Best Buy to specialty retailers across apparel, beauty, home and pets. See the "Where to Shop" section above for a breakdown of how the biggest retailers typically structure their Black Friday deals.