Cyber Monday Shopping Tips

Cyber Monday 2020 is coming up! We’ve gathered some Cyber Monday shopping tips to help you plan your online shopping day, along with some information to keep your personal and financial information safe this holiday season as you shop regarding sales tactics, spam messages, and receipts.

When Is Cyber Monday 2020?

Cyber Monday 2020 will be Nov. 30, the Monday after Thanksgiving in the U.S. The popular online shopping discount day was created in 2005 to piggyback off of Black Friday’s in-person sales for the online market after the Thanksgiving weekend.

While Black Friday is still the biggest shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday has quickly become the second-biggest. It is unclear how Black Friday will look this year, considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic surging to record levels across the country, but Cyber Monday will once again allow consumers to shop safely from home.

Is Cyber Monday Only for Electronics?

Electronics are often some of the highly sought-after deals on Cyber Monday. Electronics often originate at high price points, so any discounts can be quite steep.

However, Cyber Monday deals are not excusive to electronics — not by a long shot. Look for Cyber Monday deals on anything you can order online.

Cyber Monday Shopping Tips

First, have a plan. For many, Cyber Monday 2020 marks the start of their online holiday shopping. Figure out online stores you want to check out in advance and identify products to check in on when Cyber Monday actually hits.

Some retailers release their Cyber Monday ads in advance, so keep an eye on those to help you determine what deals will be worth it to you this year and which retailers will have the best offers.

If there’s a particular retailer you want to shop with, consider signing up for their store newsletter or following them on social media as a way to access early or exclusive coupons and deals or just to stay in the loop about savings.

Consider following a deal blog! Bloggers interested in the same products you’re looking at can help you hone in on the best deals, especially ones that may not be as widely advertised. Make sure you’re comparing prices across retailers to get the best deal—there are apps and websites that can help you with that.

Don’t forget to factor in shipping prices when considering a deal! There are lots of retailers that offer free shipping on Cyber Monday, but for those who don’t, the extra shipping cost may not be worth it.

Some popular products with great discounts can sell out quickly, so in order to prepare for that, you may want to sign up for a customer account to speed up checkout, or even load your online shopping cart in advance of Cyber Monday 2020 to be ready to go.

Check out potential coupon codes! Some retailers allow you to stack savings, applying coupons on top of their automatically applied sales. Online coupon finders like the Honey browser extension can help you find these coupon deals.

Protect Yourself—and Your Information—During Cyber Monday 2020

Perhaps the most serious of Cyber Monday shopping tips is to be careful where you shop and what deals you click on in your emails in the coming days. Cybercriminals may use the influx of holiday deals to sneak malicious links into our inboxes amidst the many legitimate deals from reputable sources. Double-check the website URLs you’re going to and ensure that they’re legitimate, make sure you’re shopping from a secure computer with antivirus software, and use a secure connection.

You may also notice an increased number of spam texts in the coming week, advertising sales and deals. These spam texts may violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) if they are unsolicited. If you have done business with the company or have otherwise voluntarily opted into the texts, they may in fact be illegal as well as annoying. If you don’t want to receive these texts anymore, companies are legally obligated to give you a clear method of opting out.

Some of the best Cyber Monday deals may not actually be as good as they seem. If you think that a sales price may be too good to be true, then it very well may be—do your research and make sure you’re buying from a trusted source, and don’t forget to read the fine print.

Do your research into the products you’re buying too, especially more expensive things like tech products and appliances. This includes checking to see if they may be involved in any ongoing litigation or recent settlements. Products like a Cuisinart food processor blade, Apple’s FaceTime app, Powerbeats2 earphones, the Onn power bank from Walmart, LG refrigerators, and more have open settlements for class action litigation.

Also be on the lookout for fake sales and deceptive pricing strategies that convince you to buy a product but may not actually be as good as they sound. For instance, a retailer might hike up the “original” list price so that their discount seems much better than it actually is. Indeed, lawsuits have been filed over this issue.

During the shopping season, be especially vigilant about checking your credit card and bank statements for any suspicious activity. Potentially malicious activity is a good reason to save your physical shopping receipts, which can help you determine if a charge on your account was malicious and can provide evidence to prove it.

In fact, checking your paper receipts is a good idea all the time, to make sure that the receipts comply with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), not showing too much of your personal financial information. FACTA gives consumers the right to sue for statutory damages if they receive a noncompliant receipt.

Best Cyber Monday Deals

One of the most essential Cyber Monday shopping tips is to plan ahead and keep an eye on deals that might interest you in the days leading up to the sale. It’s too early to tell exactly what Cyber Monday deals will be available with retailers this year, as not all sales have been announced. However, the information we do have—their Black Friday sales and their Cyber Monday sales history—can paint a pretty good picture of what to expect.

Already, major retailers like Best Buy, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Walmart, and Amazon are offering early deals in advance of the post-Thanksgiving shopping weekend.

Many companies have taken the approach of extending sales to the week or two leading up to Thanksgiving weekend as well, though many of the best sales will be saved for that weekend.

For instance, Walmart is currently offering the new AirPods Pro for $199.99 (down from $249.00) but is set to offer them at $169 starting Nov. 25. It is set to have a huge range of the best Cyber Monday deals for a variety of products.

Kohl’s is known for having great Cyber Monday deals across the board, from clothes to electronics and more.

Old Navy’s best Cyber Monday deals have typically been whopping discounts of 50% or even more, so if you’re looking to expand your winter wardrobe, that’s a good place to keep an eye on.

If you’re looking for deals on makeup, both Sephora and Ulta have historically been great options for major deals on popular beauty products, and Cyber Monday 2020 will likely not disappoint.

And of course, Amazon is notorious for its steep Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts, which will likely run from Nov. 20 through at least Nov. 30.

While many of these larger companies will have some of the most impressive discounts and sales on Cyber Monday 2020 and Thanksgiving weekend as a whole, also keep in mind that many of your favorite small businesses may have sales as well—and may even be relying on the impact of the weekend to get through the upcoming holiday season. Small business owners have a day of their own that weekend: Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday. You may be able to find information about Cyber Monday or Small Business Saturday deals on a local business’ website or social media accounts.