I’m going to need you to put your excitement about Black Friday on hold for a minute.

This year, Black Friday is happening on November 29, and while there will be some legit savings and discounts, you’ll also find a lot of price trickery and mass psychological manipulation.

The first thing that you need to know is that saving you money is the last thing on a retailer’s list of priorities (if it’s on there at all).

According to Business Insider SA, stores that are starved for profit, “especially those in South Africa under extreme pressure”, do not plan on making a loss on the day.

Last year, South Africans spent a staggering R2,89 billion on Black Friday, and retailers will do just about anything to get a piece of that.

This doesn’t mean that you have to forfeit the day. You just need to be smart about it, so here’s how to go about doing that.

Plan Now, Save Later

A little planning goes a long way. Pairing savings with the right payment method, like a buy now pay later option, can save you money in the long run and reinforce the ‘quality over quantity’ rule that you should be applying to all of your purchases on the day.

Fortify Your Mind

Stores are going to try and manipulate you long before Black Friday officially gets going, so get ahead of the trickery.

Stores use several psychological tricks to manipulate shoppers, but one of the most important is boosting your certainty of finding a great deal on days like Black Friday, according to brand and consumer specialist Martin Lindstrom.

The hype that you’ll encounter before Black Friday is all part of an elaborate scheme to increase your confidence in the idea that you’re uncovering amazing deals and saving cash – even if you aren’t.

Limited Stock Probably Means Limited Stock

So, you go online and there’s the flat screen TV of your dreams which is going to be reduced by 70% on Black Friday. The catch? Limited stock.

Mainstream stores will not risk being caught for fraud; if they advertise a once-in-a-lifetime discount of tens of thousands of rands, they really will sell at that price. But there is no requirement for them to have enough stock to make sure you too can get that item at that price.

If the level of stock isn’t specified, then ‘limited’ could actually mean ‘one’. Then you’re already on their site, looking around, and the best deal is long gone.

Don’t Go Down The Rabbit Hole

Do your research beforehand and stick to what you want and need.

Between online research and social media, retailers have to offer genuinely good deals to get feet through their doors rather than those of competitors. If they draw enough traffic they may be able to offset the losses with higher volumes on regularly-priced goods, and they tend to do everything in their power to convince you to buy those.

You end up out of pocket and in possession of a bunch of stuff that you shouldn’t have bought in the first place.

Don’t Buy Outdated Technology

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know that half the stuff you come across on sale is stock that needs to get shifted because it’s about to become obsolete.

Rather pay a bit more for tech that’s still in the game, than fall for a super low price and end up with a very expensive tech paperweight in a few months time.

Yes – Some Stores Are Increasing Their Prices Before Black Friday

It’s a simple but effective trick. Some stores will subtly increase their prices in the month leading up to Black Friday, then reduce it on the day so that you think you’re saving money.

Black Friday Is Not The Last Sale Ever

There will be sales and discounts at other times throughout the course of the year.

Sales on things like clothes and outdoor equipment are often dictated by the changing weather, so if you’re after summer fashion items, you may be better off waiting a few months after Black Friday.

Hold out if you suspect that the ‘deal’ you’re getting isn’t as special as they’d like you to believe.

Keep all of this in mind and you should be fine.

Remember – shop smart, not hard, people.

[source:businessinsidersa]