Hottest Black Friday Deals!

Reported by: John Matarese, WCPO
Email: jmatarese@wcpo.com

We're just days away from what many people call "Black Friday" ...the day after Thanksgiving, which features the biggest discounts of the year.

And we have some inside information to help you plan your attack....with a sneak peak at some of the hottest Friday ads.

You Hate it, You Love it

Shoppers love holiday doorbuster deals. Why else do we line up in the wee hours...waiting for a store's doors to open at 5 a.m.?

Paula Hollstegge told me "My sister-in-law and I leave at 5 a.m. and grab our coffee and head out!" For Paula, and other shoppers like her, these early morning sales are an annual family ritual....despite the crowds and hassle.

The Hottest Deals

With the help of CNN/Money and the Web sites "BF Ads" and "Gotta Deal" ...We scoured the Day after Thanksgiving ads, beginning with the most anticipated of all: Walmart's. Caution: these deals may be very limited, and may be gone by 8 a.m.

Walmart's early morning specials this year include:

• A Magnavox Blu Ray player just $76
• A Tom Tom gps Unit  for just $59.
• A 32-inch LCD TV for $249
• Sanyo 50-inch Plasma TV: $598
• More than 100 toys for $10 (ongoing promotion)

Walmart is opening Thursday morning this year, Thanksgiving day, and is staying open 36 hours straight, to avoid a store rush Friday.  However, most deals still don't start till Friday at 5am.

Target has great Friday morning deals of its own:

• A 32-inch LCD TV for only $246
• Acer 10 inch Win XP Netbook: $199
• Razor scooters: $17
• Small appliances, inclucing blenders and slow cookers, for just $3
• Board Games for $5

Best Buy's morning deals include:

• Insignia 10 megapixel digital camera: $49
• HP Laptop PC's: $197
• Samsung 46-inch 1080p TV:  $999

Staples:

• Free Canon Photo Printer with any Digital Camera
• 21-inch LCD Computer Monitor: $89

Toys r Us:

• Barbie Braid It dolls for $9.99.
• Star Wars Clone Wars Plug n Play TV Game: $19
• iCarly Digital Camera: $12.49

Meantime, Walmart, Toys r Us, Target, and Meijer are all throwing in gift cards for Friday Early Birds.

Zhu Zhu Pets?  Forgeddabout it.  You're not gonna find one.

Next:  But How Many of those TVs are in Stock?

But How Many of those TVs are in Stock?

The downsides of doorbusters: Quantities are always limited.  With TVs and computers there may only be 10 per stores, and there are no rainchecks.

For the best deals, you have to go early. If you have your heart set on a $249 big screen TV, read the ad carefully: if there are only 2 or 3 per store, it may not be worth fighting the 5 a.m. crowd, as that guy with no life will always beat you to it.

If you Hate Crowds....

But do you hate crowds? Then here's my advice.

Stores will continue to stage Saturday doorbusters right till Christmas. Many savvy shoppers wait.  Sure you may not get the exact Black Friday deal, but there's a good chance you may find it  -- or something similar -- for just 20 bucks more.

Shopper Tara Vollmer hates Black Friday. She says she "goes a different weekend. I just keep my eye out. Grab a coupon when you can. You can still find great deals, and you don't have to deal with Black Friday."  Good advice for the crowd-adverse. 

So don't waste your money.