Black Friday sales are famous for their mammoth discounts on everything from fashion to electronics. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s event.

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Once upon a time it was December when retail sales skyrocketed, but November is swiftly stealing the shopping limelight.

It’s all due to the Black Friday (November 26) and Cyber Monday (November 29) sales that offer the kind of deals that get bargain hunters excited.

Originating in the US and spreading like wildfire across the globe, we take a look at the rapid rise of the Black Friday shopping event and what you can expect in Australia in 2021.

BEST BLACK FRIDAY DEALS IN AUSTRALIA 2021

If you’re looking for something specific to save on during Black Friday - Apple AirPods deals or Dyson stick vacuum offers, perhaps? - then you’re in luck.

You can start shopping just some of the early Black Friday offers below. Or, see them all in one place on our dedicated round-up.

The online marketplace giant announced its Black Friday sales will run from Monday November 22 until 11.59pm, Monday November 29. That is eight days to pick up a bargain and make a huge start on your Christmas shopping list.

Amazon promises new deals daily so keep checking back here. You can shop our selection of the best offers below, or check out our complete round-up of Amazon’s Black Friday sales.

The online fashion and lifestyle retailer is offering up to 30 per cent off during its Black Friday sale starting at 7am Monday November 22 and running until 11.59pm Monday, November 29.

The retailer is offering sneak peek Black Friday savings including:

You can preview all of Kmart’s Black Friday offers on site now, and start preparing your wish-lists. Keep in mind, the actual deals don’t become shoppable until Friday 8am AEDT, so you’ll have to be patient. Here are some of our favourites:

Black Friday began in the US and marks the Friday following Thanksgiving, which is usually observed on the fourth Thursday of November. Traditionally, this Friday was the beginning of the holiday and Christmas spending period but in recent years it has evolved into a global shopping extravaganza where retailers offer staggering discounts and huge deals on a range of products.

Marked in every savvy shopper’s calendar, Black Friday is all about online and bricks-and-mortar retailers offering huge savings on everything from beauty, toys and electronics to fashion, furniture and travel.

Heightened consumer awareness of the shopping event and a competitive online shopping market means it has become more prominent in Australia’s retail landscape, with an increasing number of retailers joining in.

In Australia, Black Friday is now competing with Boxing Day as our biggest shopping event.

WHY IS IT CALLED BLACK FRIDAY?

There are a few reasons why the shopping event is called ‘Black Friday’, with some a little more grim than others.

It’s said the moniker was first coined in 1869, when Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, two Wall Street financiers, bought a huge amount of gold in the hope of its price surging. Instead, the opposite happened, the gold market slumped dramatically and many Wall Street barons were left bankrupt. When did this occur? You guessed it, it was Friday September 24 1869, making it ‘Black Friday’.

Years later, the phrase Black Friday re-emerged and tied itself to the post-Thanksgiving shopping day. In Philadelphia in the 1950s, legions of shoppers and tourists flooded into the city the Friday after Thanksgiving to watch the Army-Navy football game. It’s said the ensuing mix of shoplifters, violent crowds and huge traffic jams spurred the police department on to call it Black Friday.

More positively, Black Friday is said to represent a company’s revenue moving out of the red and into the black – or profit.

Either way, Black Friday has transcended its origins and by the late 1980s, had become synonymous with shopping, big sales and huge discounts.

HOW DOES BLACK FRIDAY WORK?

As Black Friday becomes an increasingly popular event for Australian consumers, you can bet that retailers will be offering competitive deals that start well before Black Friday (and in the two days that follow it before Cyber Monday begins).

We’ll keep you up to date with all the latest Black Friday sales news so you’re across all of the great deals and exactly when they’re kicking off.

Many retailers will provide a discount or promotional code to be entered when you’re making your purchase and will run discounts for a certain time period. Always ensure you’re across exactly when all the different sales run (again, we’ll keep you updated) so that you don’t miss out.

Some retailers, like eBay, will require you to be a member ahead of time in order to snap up their huge deals, so it’s worth considering if this is something that works for you.

As with any shopping mission, it helps to be organised. Plan what you need (and want) in advance and collate which retailers are offering the products so that when the sales begin you can quickly snap up the best deal on offer.

When it comes to online payment, having your credit card details handy will ensure you don’t miss out on snagging a hot ticket item because you’re scrambling to locate your wallet.

ARE BLACK FRIDAY DEALS REAL?

In short, yes – but it always pays to do your due diligence to ensure you’re not buying from a scam website.

In 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) deputy chair Delia Rickard told The Guardian the organisation had been contacted with about 8,000 reports of online shopping scams “and $4 million reported loss”.

Be extra suspicious of dubious links to discounts on social media, or random, unsolicited emails containing too-good-to-be-true deals.

Ensuring your computer is updated with security software will also help to weed out scammers.

It’s also key to note that deals with unreasonable strings attached – such as no refunds on sale items – are against Australian consumer laws, so be aware of your rights and complain to the ACCC if you come across anything concerning.

Cyber Monday is Black Friday’s trusty counterpart. Held on the Monday following Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday initially began in 2005 as the “online” version of Black Friday back when online shopping wasn’t quite as prolific as it is today.

In the past few years, Cyber Monday has surpassed Black Friday to become the biggest event on the shopping calendar, raking in US $9.4 billion in 2019, according to Adobe Analytics.

Want more discounts? Of course you do – we’ve rounded up the coupons worth knowing about here. Get exclusive discounts and sales news from brands such as Country Road, Woolworths, Harvey Norman and more.

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