Black Friday shopping is chaotic for two reasons — deals and discounts. Shoppers should be warned, however, that some items are not actually cheaper on Black Friday, despite the myriad of advertisements claiming big savings.
A study by the personal finance website WalletHub analyzing Black Friday deals showed that certain items are much more heavily discounted than others and, therefore, may be more worth braving the crowds on Friday morning.
The items that offer the greatest discounts on Black Friday are books, movies and music followed by video games and toys. The items with the lowest discounts are furniture and jewelry, according to WalletHub.
The study also found that more than 17 percent of items that can be purchased on Amazon.com on Black Friday are actually more expensive on Friday than they are leading up to the shopping holiday. Among those items are the Razor McGrath Dirt Rocket Electric Motocross Bike, which is $120.97 more on Black Friday than on any other day.
Other retailers also amp up prices for certain items on Black Friday. Groupon offers several large discounts on Black Friday, but some items, such as the Proform Hybrid Cycle/Elliptical Trainer, will cost more on Friday. The exercise machine will cost $367.54 on Black Friday, which is up from the $299.99 pre-Black Friday price.
In a previous study, WalletHub also named the best and worst stores to shop on Black Friday based on their deals and discounts. According to the study, JCPenney will have the best deals with an average discount rate of 68 percent followed by Kohl's (66.7 percent), Stage (63.9 percent) and Groupon (63.7 percent).
The retailers with the worst deals on Black Friday this year are Costco (19.5 percent), Sam's Club (24.9 percent), Amazon (25.8 percent) and Big Lots (27.1 percent).
