Is Black Friday actually the best time to buy electronics, or is that a myth now?

[Midnight Wolf]

Always hear Black Friday is the best time to buy tech, but with sales happening constantly throughout the year now, is that reputation still actually deserved?

[DigitalNomad]

For certain categories, TVs, headphones and general consumer electronics, Black Friday still tends to offer genuinely some of the steepest discounts of the entire year

For other categories like laptops and graphics cards, prices can actually be more volatile and sometimes cheaper during other sale events depending on new model release cycles and current supply conditions

The safest approach is tracking a specific product's price history over several months rather than assuming any single named sale event is automatically the best deal available

[HiggsField41]

Tracked a TV I wanted for months and Black Friday genuinely was the lowest price it hit all year, so that reputation still holds for at least some categories

[ReacherLynx]

GPU prices specifically feel way too tied to supply shortages right now for any single sale date to reliably be the best time to buy

[Christopher]

Price tracking tools make this so much easier now, no reason to just trust a sale is good without actually checking the history first

[HeartbreakKid_Fan]

Black Friday still hits hard for certain stuff, but it's way less of a universal "best day ever" than it used to be.

TVs are the classic example where it still shines. Retailers clear out last year's models and you can get big drops, especially on mid-to-high-end sets.

But for things like laptops or phones, you'll often see similar or better deals randomly throughout the year.

So it's less about the date now and more about the category.

[Darren_34]

Feels like Black Friday turned into Black "November" a while ago

Deals start weeks early, and by the actual day half the good stuff is either sold out or matched elsewhere.

Price tracking tools kind of killed the magic too. Once you can see historical pricing, you realize some "deals" aren't deals at all.

Still fun to browse though, if nothing else.

[Inference Scott]

One area where Black Friday still wins is accessories and smaller tech.

Headphones, SSDs, peripherals, smart home gadgets... those tend to get properly discounted without weird model tricks.

Picked up a solid pair of Sony headphones last year for way less than I'd seen all year, and that wasn't a fluke.

So yeah, depends what you're hunting for

[SilverRider]

Best strategy now is patience rather than loyalty to a specific sale event.

Watch prices for a couple months, figure out the "normal" range, then jump when it dips.

Sometimes that dip is Black Friday, sometimes it's a random Tuesday in March.

Retailers want you to think timing is everything, but being informed usually beats waiting for one big day

[CodyRhodes99]

There's also the sneaky thing where some products are made specifically for Black Friday.

Slightly different model numbers, cut-down features, cheaper panels on TVs... looks like a bargain but it's not always the same product you'd buy normally.

That's where the "myth" part comes in.

If you know exactly what model you're targeting, it can be great. If you're just chasing discounts, it gets messy fast