Black Friday is coming. That’s the day after Thanksgiving when retailers start their Christmas shopping price drops. The basic idea is to whip consumers into a buying frenzy with a few deals and specials and limited inventories, and use the ensuing madness to also offload crappy products they couldn’t otherwise move. You can come out with a deal, but you gotta know the tricks. Mike Elgin has got 10 of them, we like:

2: Many Black Friday deals are bait-and-switch scams. They may sell you a very cheap product with a very expensive warranty, or use a given price, but add software, accessories or other over-priced add-ons as a required but unadvertised part of the purchase. You’ll find out about this only at the register. If the price at the register is significantly higher than advertised for any reason, ask to speak to a supervisor and insist on the advertised price. If they still refuse, threaten to write a letter to the attorney general.

“Black Friday is a zero-sum game,” writes Mike. “Either the store wins, or you do.”

10 Black Friday Secrets Retailers Don’t Want You To Know [Datamation]

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