Every November, the same thing happens. Prices that were quietly raised in October get dramatically “slashed”, red banners count down to midnight, and a laptop that nobody wanted in July becomes a doorbuster. Some Black Friday deals are real. A lot of them are theater.
A site with “deal” in its name should be honest about this. So here’s how the tricks work, and how to tell a real discount from a costume.
Trick 1: The “was” price that never was
A sign says “Was $899, now $599”. The saving looks like $300. But the $899 may be a list price the laptop hasn’t sold at in months, or ever. The real question isn’t how far the price fell from a number the seller chose. It’s whether today’s price is lower than what the thing normally sells for.
How to check: look up the product’s price history. Free price-tracking tools and browser extensions chart what an item has cost over the past year at major retailers. If the “deal” price matches the price from six weeks ago, it isn’t a deal. It’s a Tuesday.
Trick 2: The model made for the sale
This one is the hardest to spot. For big sales events, some manufacturers build special versions of popular laptops and TVs to hit a headline price. The name looks nearly the same as the well-reviewed model, but the model number differs by a few characters, and inside there’s a dimmer screen, less memory or a smaller battery.
How to check: search the exact model number, every letter and digit. If you can find it at only one retailer, and there are no reviews from before the sale, be careful. Compare the spec sheet line by line with the regular version. Our guide to reading a spec sheet shows where the cuts usually hide.
Trick 3: Old stock in new wrapping
Sales are how retailers clear out last year’s models, and that can be a great thing for you. A year-old laptop at a real discount is often the smartest buy in the store. It only becomes a trick when the age is hidden and the price isn’t much lower than the current model’s.
How to check: look at the processor’s generation and at when the model was released. Then compare the price with the current version. If the gap is small, buy the newer one.
Trick 4: The doorbuster nobody should buy
The cheapest laptop in the advert exists to get you through the door. It often has 4GB of memory, a small eMMC drive and a low-resolution screen. It will be slow on the day you unbox it. Calling it “70% off” doesn’t change what it is.
How to check: set your minimum before you look at prices. For a Windows laptop, a full HD screen, a real SSD and at least 8GB of memory, with 16GB much preferred. If a deal doesn’t clear that bar, the price is irrelevant.
Trick 5: Pressure
“Only 3 left.” “Offer ends in 09:59.” “14 people are looking at this.” Some of these are true. Many are just design. They all exist to stop you doing the one thing that protects you, which is taking ten minutes to check.
How to check: you don’t need to. Just notice the feeling of being rushed and treat it as a signal to slow down. A deal that can’t survive ten minutes of thought wasn’t a good one.
Trick 6: “Up to” and the bundle
“Up to 60% off” means one item, somewhere, is 60% off. Bundles work on the same principle. A laptop “with $200 of free accessories” usually includes a thin sleeve, a basic mouse and a software trial, valued at prices nobody pays.
How to check: price the main item on its own and ignore the extras unless you were going to buy them anyway.
What a real deal looks like
Real ones do exist, and they share a few signs.
- The price is clearly below the lowest it’s been in the past few months, not just below the list price.
- It’s a model with reviews you can find from before the sale.
- Several retailers are matching it. A real price drop tends to spread.
- You’d have wanted that exact product at its normal price.
That last point matters most. A discount on something you didn’t need is spending, not saving.
A ten-minute routine before you buy
- Write down what you need before the sale starts, with your minimum specs and your budget.
- Search the exact model number and read the full spec sheet.
- Check the price history.
- Compare with the same model at two other retailers.
- Read the return policy. Sale items sometimes have shorter windows or restocking fees.
- Sleep on anything expensive, if the sale allows it.
When the good prices really come
In the US, the best laptop prices of the year usually cluster around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, back-to-school season in late summer, and the weeks after new models launch, when the previous generation gets cleared. If you’re in Britain or Canada, the calendar is a little different, and we’ve covered it in The Best Time to Buy a Laptop in the UK and Canada.
If you miss a sale, don’t panic. Another one is never more than a couple of months away, and the laptop you buy calmly is nearly always better than the one you buy in a hurry. You can see what we’re tracking on our Deals & Events page.
More reading: all Dealmania articles