Black Friday deals season has arrived. It's the biggest shopping holiday of the year and overall the best time to find discounts on just about everything. If you're hoping to save some money on gifts and essentials in 2025, these upcoming (and current) sales events are your best bet.
With that in mind, Black Friday has evolved well beyond a single day of deals. While plenty of shoppers still tend to do the bulk of their actual shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, you can definitely start shopping well before then and find good deals. Both Amazon and Best Buy both launched their official Black Friday sales and more sales are on their way tomorrow. You can also start shopping the full PlayStation Black Friday sale if you're looking for discounts on games, consoles, or gaming accessories.
Black Friday Sales Live Today - November 22
When Do Black Friday Sales Actually Start?
Black Friday is November 28 this year, but both Best Buy and Amazon have already dropped their official Black Friday sales. There are still more deals going live starting next week and you can check out the full schedule of start dates below.
For many brick-and-mortar stores, you may be able to expect the full discounts available starting this weekend, with the exception of Walmart and Target who have both moved their start dates to next week. Some sales will still only take place on actual Black Friday, like at the LEGO Store or for Apple's Black Friday sale, but for the most part the discounts will start ahead of then.
When does Cyber Monday start?
Cyber Monday lands on December 1 this year, we expect the official Cyber Monday deals to start dropping a little bit earlier than that. In the past, retailers like Walmart have started offering early Cyber Monday savings on Sunday afternoon while people are still searching for Black Friday discounts. This means you'll most likely be able to begin shopping Cyber Monday deals at some point on November 30 this year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are pretty much the same thing these days, so it shouldn't matter too much if you start shopping early.
What Deals to Expect From Major Retailers
With the ongoing tariffs and recent price increases in the U.S., being prepared with where you plan on doing your shopping this year can really help you sve. The IGN Deals team has been covering shopping events all year and we have a decent idea of what you can expect as the sales continue rolling in, even if the prices will be higher than what we saw last year.
Amazon Black Friday - Live Now
The Amazon Black Friday sale has now gone live with tons of deals on just about everything. Most notably, Amazon devices have dropped to their lowest prices of they year. Fire TV sticks went on sale earlier this week for all models, and Kindle e-readers have also dropped to new all-time lows for Black Friday. Other devices, like Echo Speakers and home security devices are also on sale now through Cyber Monday. Amazon is also currently offering discounts on its services, like Kindle Unlimited and Audible.
Outside of Amazon's own devices, there are also a ton of new electronics deals. Most notably there has been priced drops on 4K TVs and Cyberpower gaming PCs that are the lowest of the year. Amazon has also dropped prices on the Apple AirPods Pro 3 now that both Best Buy and Walmart have brought forth that discount.
Amazon has also started offering a resale coupon of up to 30% on used items. This is a similar discount that we saw during Prime Big Deal days earlier this year and is a great opportunity to save on slightly used items. Within this promotion we've alread found a massive discount on Sony's best noise-cancelling headphones.
Best Buy Black Friday - Live Now
The Best Buy Black Friday sale is now live with early deals. Many of these discounts are being price-matched by Amazon and Walmart, but it will still likely have all of the same Apple devices, TVs, and video games on sale as everywhere else from now until actual Black Friday. That includes video game consoles like the PS5 Pro.
In addition to consoles, video games, and video game accessories, Best Buy also tends to be one of the best places to buy handheld gaming PCs and laptops. With the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally X, Best Buy has been the only retailer to keep stock. You can likely expect price cuts on the previous generation ROG Ally devices at Best Buy this year, as well as other popular handhelds. We also expect competitive pricing around newer laptops with the latest 50-series GPUs.
For more information on what to expect, check out the Best Buy Black Friday ad from last year. Best Buy has been having new doorbuster deals dropping every friday since Halloween this year, but the official sale kicks is now live as of November 20.
Walmart Black Friday - Starts November 25
After Amazon, the next biggest Black Friday sale you can expect is at Walmart. The first deals event has already come and gone with early deals, but Walmart has now offered up a preview of the next round of deals (starting on November 25). These discounts will be both in store and online, but the online savings should start a bit earlier. Walmart usually has some of the best deals on Apple devices like iPad and AirPods. You'll usually also find some of the lowest prices of the year on Walmart-exclusive products like Onn electronics, select Vizio TVs, some gaming PC configurations (see: the recent GeForce sale), and certain home appliances.
In the past, Walmart has also had some great Nintendo Switch deals that Amazon wasn't able to offer. We'd expect to see this again this year, most likely on newer Switch 2 games or Pokémon cards. Expect some of these discounts to be available early for Walmart+ members, which has been the case for other major sales this year.
In addition to popular tech and games, Walmart also tends to have deals on groceries, clothing, and toys. Walmart has been especially known to offer particularly good LEGO discounts, but stock tends to be fairly limited.
You can check out the full Walmart Black Friday ad from last year for more information. You can also check out some of the top early deals from the sale below:
Target Black Friday - Starts November 23
The Target Black Friday sale is usually pretty similar to Walmart's Black Friday sale every year. Expect similar discounts on video games, toys, Apple products, and appliances that you'll find everywhere else. Where Target tends to differentiate from competitors in its exclusives. The retailer has partnered with a bunch of different home brands and is usually the only place you'll be able to buy those items at a discount during Black Friday shopping season. This makes it a great place to do your shopping if you're planning on buying any decor upgrades for your home.
Target has also been consistently offering some unique discounts on select toys that Amazon hasn't been able to price match. The most recent example is a LEGO sale on new 2025 sets. Amazon did match prices on a few of the sets, but not all of them. We'd expect this to happen on Black Friday too, so you'll need to check prices between retailers on the more popular toy items.
For more information on what to expect this year, check out the Target Black Friday ad from last year. Target also offered an early Black Friday sale for November 6-8 this year that has ended, but it's larger official sale will begin on November 23 according to the retailer's weekly ad.
Costco Black Friday - Starts November 17
Costco is a bit of a wildcard during the Black Friday season as it offers deals on pretty much everthing. For 2025, the full Costco Black Friday schedule has already been revealed and you can already see what deals to expect. Included in the holiday booklet there steep discounts on furniture, jewelry, and electronics. The same discounts you find at Amazon for select TVs and video games will likely also be available at Costco even if they aren't featured in the ad. You can also expect steeper warehouse discounts, like on the Kirkland Signature jewelry or various furniture items that are only featured for a limited time.
In addition to things like toys, gifts, and household items, Costco usually has some pretty decent grocery deals during the holiday season. You can usually find these ahead of Thanksgiving on things like turkey, snacks, and various other items. You will still need to buy in bulk, but the stacked savings on top of that are usually worth it.
For more information on what to expect this year, check out the expansive Costco Black Friday ad for 2025.
Wayfair Black Friday - Now Live
Other major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, and Target will all have discounts on furniture as part of their Black Friday sales. But the overall largest discounts on furniture will be at Wayfair during this time. Wayfair consistently has the best furniture deals anywhere during the holiday season and you should be able to find a good deal on just about everything you can purchase for your home.
As for what specific discounts to expect, we can check out the Wayfair early Black Friday sale to get a better idea. On average you can save around 50% on chairs, tables, rugs, decor, and even pool tables. These discounts will sometimes be locked to a specific color or material type, and sometimes you'll be able to find steeper discounts on overtock items if you dig deep enough. The early access sale is happening right now and we expect the main Black Friday sale to replace that with more deals sometime before Thanksgiving.
eBay Black Friday
eBay is still the Wild West when it comes to tracking down deals. There are plenty of bargains to be found, but a fair amount of research is required to be able to identify them from the other listings masquerading as deals. Most deals won't be discounted during Black Friday, however eBay will likely offer a sitewide coupon code - typically anywhere between 15% and 30% off - that will work on thousands of items from tech, apparel, sporting goods, home improvement, and more. General eBay codes will always be advertised on eBay's Deals page. Currently eBay is offering a 20% off coupon code "TECH4THEM" that works on over 2,500 refurbished items including the Meta Quest 3 and LG Evo C5 OLED TVs.
Barnes & Noble
Although Barnes & Noble doesn't offer the same level of deals as a retailer like Amazon, it's still one of the best places to buy books and toys during Black Friday season. It's also pretty easy to predict what Barnes & Noble's Black Friday sale will look like because it's always fairly similar. You can expect 50% off select books and Blu-rays as well as some surprisingly good deals on LEGO sets. There's also a pretty decent gift card deal going on already that gets you $10 of credt for every $100 you spend on gift cards.
The real question is what books and toys will actually be included in those sales. You can take a look at last year's Barnes & Noble Black Friday sale for an idea of what to expect in 2025.
GameStop Black Friday - Starts November 23
GameStop has officially revealed its Black Friday sale for 2025 and it looks very similar to what Nintendo and PlayStation have already released. Alongside a Black Friday ad, there are also early Black Friday deals going on through November 22 that bring new discounts on PS5 and Nintendo Switch games.
As for what to expect from the main sale, it's primarily more PlayStation and Switch game deals. This includes older Switch games as well as some newer releases like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. There will also be a $20 discount on the PlayStation Portal and price cuts on most DualSense controllers.
You can find the full preview of deals directly from the GameStop Black Friday ad. There's a helpful post on the Black Friday subreddit that shows you the full scan as well.
What to Buy on Black Friday This Year
Black Friday is the best time to buy most things online or in stores, but there are some items that get significantly bigger discounts during this time. If you're looking to save as much money as possible during Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, here a few product categories that we expect will massive discounts this year.
TVs and Monitors
The best time to buy a TV or a new gaming monitor is without a doubt Black Friday season. This has been the case since Black Friday first became a thing and will long continue to be a trend we see repeated in the years to come. There are cheap TVs and monitors available pretty much year-round, but it's during this time of year that we see the steepest discounts on newer models. The popular LG C-Series TVs, for example, have already started dropping in price ahead of November. Many of these brands are not affectd by U.S. tariffs as well, so we likely won't see the same markup we're seeing on other products this year. If you don't know where to start your search this year, we recommend taking a look at our Black Friday TV buying guide for everything you need to know before the sales start this year.
If you're looking for early deals, there's currently a 100-inch LG Hisense Mini-LED TV that has dropped to its lowest price of the year. Samsung has also dropped the price of the 65-inch S90F 4K OLED TV to its lowest price ever as well.
Video Game Consoles
While you shouldn't expect discounts on the new Nintendo Switch 2 or the Xbox, we atleast know that PS5 consoles are getting discounted. PlayStation has officially launched its Black Friday sale for 2025, which includes $100 off PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles. These discounts are notable due to consoles seeing price increases across the board in 2025.
The PS5 models got a price hike back in August and Xbox has already raised its prices twice this year. Even older consoles are getting a price increase as the original Nintendo Switch also got more expensive with the release of the Switch 2. If you are still planning on buying a console in 2025, Black Friday is the only time you should do it. You can check out what Xbox Black Friday deals are now live for an idea about Microsoft's offerings this year.
Accessories and Video Games
Outside of consoles themselves, Black Friday's also a great time to pick up any accessories. We're already seeing early price drops on the DualSense Edge controller as well as a spread of Xbox controllers. PlayStation has also discounted the PSVR2 headset to match its lowest price ver as well.
And, of course, this is one of the best times to find discounts on games. This is especially true if you're looking to buy actual physical games as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart will all have some sort of sale worth checking out. Most notably, PS5 game deals have already started and the discounts are really quite good. Expect many popular titles to drop below $30 for the first time and $10 discounts on recently released games in some cases. Nintendo recently announced its Black Friday sale details for 2025 and the game discounts fit right within that under $30 range we've come to expect for Switch games.
Some of the more specific early game discounts include Final Fantasy games and Borderlands 4. We expect more games to go live tomorrow when the Nintendo sale officially goes live.
Toys and LEGO Sets
Due to its proximity to Christmas, Black Friday is undoubtedly the best time to buy LEGO sets and other toys. In all of the previews we have gotten so far (from Walmart, Amazon, and Costco), toys are heavily featured in those discounts. In fact, we've already seen a 40% discount on some of the most popular LEGO sets at Target. That doesn't necessarily mean every type of toy or LEGO set will get discounted, but you can expect to see price cuts on items that haven't gone on sale all year during this time. You can find out more about what LEGO deals to expect from our LEGO expert, Chris Reed.
If you're on the lookout for early deals, Best Buy has kicked off some LEGO deals as part of its first Black Friday offerings of 2025. The LEGO store has also launched its Insider's Weekend sale, which includes discounts on sets and exclusive gifts with purchase.
Apple Products
Although Apple has revealed its Black Friday sale for November 28, the best Apple deals are at Amazon and other retailers. Black Friday is always the best time to buy a new iPad, AirPods, Apple Watches, and pretty much all other iOS accessories. Major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy will all be competing for the lowest price on the latest devices and we usually see the lowest prices all year on the latest Apple releases. This season is also a generally good time to buy an iPhone as most carriers will start offering their holiday promotions in November for the new iPhone 17 models.
There are quite a few early Apple deals available, including a price cut on iPads at Amazon Resale that is worth a look. Best Buy also launched a deal on the Apple AirPods Pro 3 that has been price matched at Amazon and Walmart as well.
Gaming Laptops and PCs
Black Friday has always been one of the best times to buy a new gaming PC or laptop. In 2025 this is especially true as we're finally starting to see the first discounts on prebuilt machines with 50-series GPUs included. Major retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart will usually have at least one really good deal over the holiday weekend worth checking out. You can also expect significant discounts direct from manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, and HP that are just as good if not better than what we've seen all year long. Dell has already launched its Black Friday sale for 2025, but we expect better discounts to arrive next week closer to actual Black Friday.
There are already some early deals available ahead of the event, including the first price cut on the Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop and some pretty substantial discounts on Nvidia 50-series GPUs for anyone looking to build a PC themselves.
Phones
Black Friday is by far the best time to buy a new phone. This is mostly because we see all of the biggest discounts around this time, but it's also thanks to the release schedules of new phones. Both Google and Apple launch their new flagship phones in the fall and it's around November that we start seeing prices drop on new and previous generation phones.
If you're looking for deals on unlocked phones, some of those discounts have already begun. There was a great deal on a Google Pixel 10 smartphone earlier in the month and Amazon has brought it back. We also expect the Samsung Galaxy phones to get similar discount closer to actual Black Friday.
Books, Comics, and Manga
Any physical media collectors will definitely have a great opportunity to stock their shelves during Black Friday. Amazon often runs BOGO or '3 for 2' promotions on books, movies, and even board games. The 3 for 2 sale popped up last Black Friday and has returned once again for Black Friday 2025. It’s unclear if this sale will last all the way through Amazon's sale (which starts on November 20), but its a great opportunity to scoop up individual books as well as box sets and special editions ahead of the event.
If you're on the e-reader wave, Kindle Unlimited, a solid platforms for comics, is set to have its usual "three months for $0.99 sake according to Amazon's sneak peek. Audible, the audiobook haven, has already launched a "three months for $3" deal that will last through December. Otherwise, individual physical media deals will pop up across more tailored retailers like, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. Expect price drops on classics as well as the newest book releases up to 65% and even bigger discounts one ebooks.
Streaming Services
Regardless of what streaming services you're subscribed to, I'm willing to bet you encountered a price hike at one point or another in 2025. To cut down on subscription costs, I recommend stocking up whenever there's a discount. One of the only guaranteed times to see streaming discounts is Black Friday.
Last year's Black Friday streaming deals included a 70% discount on Hulu as well as the Hulu bundle with Disney+. HBO Max dropped to $2.99/month, while Peacock offered a full annual subscription for just $19.99. While prices may not drop as low after this year's price hikes, there's still a solid spread of streaming services I expect will offer their best deals of the year. The only exception? Netflix.
We've already started seeing some early streaming deals on Crunchyroll and a discount on Apple TV, but we expect the bulk of the deals to arrive sometime next week ahead of Black Friday.
4Ks and Blu-rays
The alternative to streaming discounts is physical media deals. These are the ones you actually get to keep forever, and Black Friday is certainly one of the best times to add to your DVD collection. The Criterion Collection Black Friday sale has already kicked off at Barnes & Noble with a sweeping 50% discount. As mentioned above, we expect to see Amazon's 'Buy 2 Get 1 Free' deal return at some point on Novembe 23 as Target brings the sale back. In the meantime, Gruv has a Black Friday sale that will get you three 4K movies for $30 you can take advantage of and Superman in 4K is already getting a discount as part of Gruv's 4K sale on new movies. Amazon has also dropped a massive discount on the Friends 4K box set as well as a bunch of anime Blu-rays as part of its official sale.
DVDs will be included in pretty much every retailer's sale starting next week and will most likely be price-matched at Amazon. It's worth checking in on any movie or TV release you've had an eye on, including preorders, and using a price-tracking tool like camelcamelcamel to see if it's hit an all-time low.
TCG Products
It's not a secret that TCG pricing has gotten pretty out of control. The biggest suspect here is Pokemon, but with new licensing (looking at you, Universes Beyond) and ongoing issues with scalpers, we've also seen progressively higher prices on Magic: The Gathering and Disney Lorcana. Black Friday will likely feature a spread of discounts on TCG products, but it's worth doing your research on the MSRP of individual boosters or bundles to make sure you're getting an actual deal.
We'll likely see some of the more recent product releases back in stock with small discounts on Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Amazon is also currently offering a $60 gift card promotion for new Amazon credit card sign-ups. TCGPlayer will have some form of Black Friday sale, most likely replicating their 10% store credit promotion from 2024.
In the meantime, there are already quite a few Magic: The Gathering deals available for Black Friday. These include discounts on the recently released Avatar: The Last Airbender packs as well as the popular Final Fantasy commander decks.
Furniture
Furniture is one of those things that goes on sale during pretty much every major sales event throughout the year. However, Black Friday is really the only time that every retailer will have furniture sales. The biggest major sales will be at furniture outlets like Wayfair, but you'll also be able to find some big savings at online retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. All of the major mattress and furniture warehouses have likely already started some sort of sale ahead of Black Friday.
During actual Black Friday some of the best deals will likely be on office and gaming furniture that doesn't usually see steep discounts. The Secretlab Black Friday sale live right now, for example, is usually one of the best times of year to buy gaming chairs and gaming desks at decent prices. If you want something cheap, you'll want to check out the outlets, but if you want something good you should go straight to the manufacturers website.
Board Games
Black Friday is consistently one of the best times to buy board games every year. You'll usually find the best overall discounts at Amazon and Target, rather than your local tabletop store, and those discounts are usually fairly substantial. Popular family games will usually drop under $15 or less during the peak sales times while massive strategy games tend to see 50% price cuts for the first time all year. If you have a board game in mind you want to buy, this is likely the time of year to get it for cheap.
There's even a surprisingly good deal going on at Amazon right now that can help you save that 50% a little bit early. The promotion is a buy 1, get 1 50% off sale on board games, puzzles, and a few other items. It's also going on at Target and is set to last through the weekend. You can check out our guide on what board game deals to expect this year for more info.
What Won't Go on Sale This Year
Black Friday is the best time to buy pretty much everything, but that doesn't mean everything will go on sale. There are some products that won't see any discounts at all simply because they are too new or demand is just too high. This is particularly true when it comes to things like tech and popular toys. For example Nintendo just launched the Switch 2 this year and there's very little chance we'll see any Black Friday deals on the new console outside of bundles that already exist. The same thing goes for the recently released Xbox Ally X, which has very little chance of receiving a discount so soon after launch. In fact, it doesn't look like any Xbox consoles will be getting discounts this year, which is quite the surprise.
When it comes to toys, don't expect discount on anything that has come out in the last few months. This is especially true for new LEGO releases as we usually don't see discounts on those until six months or more after the initial release date.
Finally, while we do expect there to be streaming deals on most Streaming services, we know for certain Netflix won't be offering any sort of discount. Netflix has a long history off not offering any sort of discount on its service, and with the final season of Stranger Things on the horizon it seems even less likely.
Tips for Black Friday Shopping Online
It may seem silly to start planning your Black Friday shopping right now, but doing so can help you save a lot of money when it comes time to actually start making purchases. Here are a few Black Friday tips that you should consider ahead of the event:
- Set a Budget – Keeping track of how much money you can actually spend is important to avoid overspending. When everything is on sale, it can be easy to buy more than you really should just because things are at their lowest price of the year.
- Create a Shopping List – Knowing exactly what you're trying to find discounts on is a great way to avoid making unnecessary purchases. It can also make it easier for you to compare prices between retailers or set price drop alerts ahead of time.
- Compare Prices – Retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart make it really easy to do all of your shopping there. That being said, those retailers don't always have the best price on the items you're looking for. Make sure to compare prices across the web before you buy something for more than you have to.
- Research Before You Buy – If you're making an expensive purchase, make sure you do at least some research before you buy it. This means looking for independent reviews or testimony from trusted sources about those products. You shouldn't necessarily trust Amazon reviews, for example.
- Be Wary of Search Results and AI Summaries - Search platforms, such as Google, have a tendency to be flooded with sponsored links in the results as well as AI summaries that are potentially biased. Be careful to avoid clicking on a sponsored ad if you're looking for reviews or searching for specific products by price.
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