I usually don’t pay attention to Black Friday sales because I’m not going to camp outside to save a few more dollars on a new TV. Things have changed and you’re able to shop online and get things delivered or go to the store to pick them up. There’s no need to set the alarm to get a good sale. Over the past decade, the shopping holiday after Thanksgiving turned from one day of mega-deals to a full month of decent sales.
Even with these changes. here are 2 reasons I still don’t go crazy about Black Friday:
- If I need something during the year, I’m going to buy it then and not wait until November.
- I’m not going to buy something I don’t need just because it’s on sale.
However, this year presented a unique situation. There are several large purchases we’d been putting off, so we looked to see if any of the items were on sale.
It turns out that the things we needed were on sale. In addition, I’d be able to earn extra points because online shopping portals are offering bonus rewards points in addition to targeted offers from credit cards for purchases at select merchant categories.
I can’t pass up a triple-dip so I went to work.
My first stop was to get a new ladder for the house. I’d just spend a day struggling with our 20-year-old adjustable ladder while putting up holiday decorations and it was time to get a new one. I’ve been saying this for the last 5 years but this time I meant it and I had a time limit of buying it before the sales disappeared.
I found the ladder I wanted at Lowe’s so I went to work figuring how to maximize this purchase.
We recently received an offer from Citi for 5X points at home improvement stores. While making sure I activated the offer, I found a reminder about money in my Capital One Shopping account which I could redeem for gift cards from various merchants, including Lowe’s. Might as well use that money for the ladder.
I went to order the gift card from Capital One Shopping and received a message that my gift card order was received and that I would get an email with a link to the e-card within 24-48 hours (but maybe sooner).
Drats!
I wouldn’t be able to use it this time but I’d eventually use a Lowe’s gift card anyway, so nothing was lost. Now I know there’s a lag time when redeeming Capital One Shopping rewards.
I waited for Black Friday to order the ladder and said I’d pick it up at the closest store. Then I waited. And waited.
It took several hours to receive a text from Lowe’s that informed me the item I picked was not in stock (even though it had been that morning). My options were to pick another item, find another store or cancel.
Normally I’d be upset about this being a waste of time and effort but two things happened since I ordered the ladder that morning.
- I received the link to the Lowe’s gift card (which took approx. 20 hours).
- Capital One Shopping sent me a targeted offer for 15% back on the ladder I wanted.
I canceled my original order and started a new one for the Lowe’s store that’s about 20 minutes away. With the new order:
- I started my order at the targeted link from Capital One Shopping to get 15% back.
- I used my Lowe’s Gift card which I received earlier that day.
- I paid the balance with my Citi Premier for 5X Thank You points at Home Improvement Stores
In the end, it was fortunate that the first store didn’t have the item as it gave me time to get the extra offers and the gift card. I also learned some tricks for the next time.
- Leave on the shopping browser extension when I’m researching prices for the chance I’ll get a targeted offer.
- Order gift cards in advance
While I’ve had these targeted offers from Capital One Shopping before, does anyone else have experience with the other browser extensions? (Top Cashback, Ratuken.)
Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay
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