Black Friday gives shoppers the perfect opportunity to stock up for the upcoming holiday gift season or just to take advantage of great deals on their kids’ favorite toys. While many retailers offer great deals over the Thanksgiving weekend, just a few specifically stand out for their great savings on toys.
Dealspotr wants consumers to take advantage of the best toy sales during the Black Friday weekend. See a store-by-store analysis of the four stores that offered the best discounts during the last Black Friday event, and a forecast of this year’s deals:
Last year, Toys R Us offered three separate sales during the Black Friday event, opening their doors for the earliest sale at 5PM on Thanksgiving.
A limited-time sale that ran from 5PM-9PM on Thanksgiving Thursday. Once the time was up, those items went back to their original prices.
The “Door Busters!” sale, which ran from 5PM on Thursday through the close of business on Saturday – at least while supplies lasted.
The third sale was the “Bonus Door Busters!” sale which began Friday at 7AM and lasted through the close of business on Saturday – again, that is while supplies lasted.
Every department of the Toys R Us inventory had a few representatives in the Black Friday Sale. Toys R Us broke the categories down as “Imagine and Wonder”, “Family Game Nights”, “Build and Collect”, “Create and Explore”, and “Dream and Pretend”.
Shoppers could stock up for family game night with Toys R Us’ $3, $5, $7, $10, $13, and $15 board games; choices included classic names like Guess Who?, Trouble, Clue, Jenga, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and newcomers like Chasin Cheeky, Angry Birds Star Wars, and Pop the Pig. While no sales for 2015 have been announced yet, expect to see the store bring back this popular promotion.
The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home (6+ months) was marked down 50%, from $89.99 to $44.99, representing the best savings opportunity for toddler age toys. Lego brand items were marked down as much as 50%, KRE-O items were also knocked down 50%, and the Mega-Bloks First Builders Set was marked down a whopping 60%.
For a full advertisement from Toys R Us’ 2014 Black Friday sales items, head to NerdWallet.
As far as big-ticket items, last year’s biggest total markdown at Toys R Us came from the Big Backyard Ashberry Wood Swing Set, which retailed for $599.99 after a $500 discount. If you are looking for a big-ticket gift this Christmas, keep your eyes on Toys R Us for some big-time savings.
If there is any retail store synonymous with outrageous Black Friday deals, it is Walmart. The ubiquitous big box store recently became the largest American toy retailer. Combining those big-time post-Thanksgiving sales with an exceptional stock of toys, expect to see some of the season’s best deals at Walmart.
While Walmart may be the biggest and busiest retailer on Black Friday, the good news is that their offerings entail much more than toys. Unlike Toys R Us, not every shopper at Walmart will be looking for deals on games and toys. This fact might be enough to offset the sheer volume of shoppers on Thursday evening.
Walmart opened its doors an hour later than Toys R Us last year, beginning their first sales event at 6PM on Thanksgiving Day. Despite also offering a second event on Friday morning, the vast majority of toy deals were offered on the first day. Instead of offering big deals on a small number of items, Walmart stuck to offering a large number of smaller deals on items. These price cuts included $5 Fisher Price Self Growing Dolls and $20 MegaBloks 9-inch Vehicle 4-Packs. One of the biggest discounts from last year was the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Train Station Play Set, marked down nearly 50% from $49.97 to $24.97.
If you are looking to stock up on a lot of smaller toys, then Walmart is a great place to head. Because the store focuses on big-ticket sales in other departments like electronics, if you are looking to find big-time savings on toys, it would be advantageous to look elsewhere.
Target offered discounts on board games, rivaling Toys R Us’ previously mentioned game sales. Well known titles like Apples 2 Apples and Tapple could be had for just $9.99. Other notable toy sales at Target included a $39 Black & Decker Junior Power Tool Workshop (regularly $59.99) and 50% off of the six-piece Minecraft Steve Multipack (regularly $49.99). Look for the store to offer something similar to last year’s Buy One Get One 50% Off sale on My Little Pony, LaLaLoopsy, Our Generation, and Disney Junior dolls.
Like Walmart, Target opened its doors at 6PM on Thursday last year. As opposed to Walmart and Toys R Us, who began a new sale on Friday morning, Target only offered the single doorbuster sale that began on Thursday evening. While the store has not announced any definitive plans for their 2015 Black Friday sales, expect this trend to continue.
The final place to check for great Black Friday deals on toys is a company not normally associated with the annual holiday sales spectacular. Amazon is a relative newcomer to the Black Friday game, though that does not mean the e-retailer does not know how to bring out the big-time savings. Some exclusive deals offered on Amazon included the Lincoln Logs Redwood Junction, on sale for $40 (a 50% discount) and Buy-One-Get-One-Free on Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn toys.
Signing up for Amazon Prime prior to Black Friday is the single smartest thing a consumer can do in anticipation for the shopping holiday. Prime members are able to shop for Black Friday deals 30 minutes prior to the general public. Because Prime offers a free 30-day trial membership, there is no obligation to remain a member after Black Friday (as long as you cancel within the designated period).
