Do your Black Friday homework before you go

Black Friday is one of those terms that you hear thrown around a lot these days. The constant attention to this most important shopping day of the year can leave people wondering what all the fuss is about or if it isn’t all just some scheme by the retailers to make you feel the fierce urgency of retail imploring you to purchase.

Well, let me assure you: Black Friday is very real.

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So what is Black Friday? Well, simply put, it is the busiest shopping day of the year. Occurring the Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday is named such because it is historically the day that retailers go “into the black” for the year. It is traditionally so busy because many people who are off work that day decided to get a jump on their holiday shopping.

Retailers, fully aware of this, tend to roll out some of their biggest savings of the year. Ask any Black Friday veteran and they’ll all have tales of the time they got a laptop computer for $200 or a plasma screen TV for $500.

The result? Hordes of people, many who camp out overnight outside the store which they feel gives them the most promise, line up waiting for the moment the doors open so that they can take partake of these most excellent deals. If you consider yourself a shopper and you have never been in one of these crowds, well, you’ve never seen Shakespeare the way it was meant to be played.

In fact, a whole cottage industry has sprung up around Black Friday. In the past, Black Friday advertisements were released in the Thanksgiving Day paper (or sometimes the Sunday before).Times have changed, however, and in an immediate-information age it became harder to hide this valuable information. Shoppers have become more savvy about the way they get it, and the result is that the ads are released earlier and earlier.

Web sites devoted solely to the finding and sharing of this information abound and are becoming a very efficient way for retailers to get their information out there. As of this week, DealTaker.com had almost 40 major retailer Black Friday ads, including stores such as Macy’s, Sears, Best Buy and Kmart.

Whether you’re a Black Friday regular or newbie, there are some ways you can use the information at your fingertips to flesh out your shopping strategy.

First, compare, compare, compare. Because so many ads are at your disposal and you’ve got than just one day to look them over, check for the best price on what you want. There’s nothing worse than getting a great deal on something only to hear from a friend who outdid you because they had better information.

Next, check online. Mixed in with all of the great deals are also some not-so-great ones that sneaky stores have tried to slip in. You will also find that some of the deals are already available on the store’s Web site. Spend some time online looking at the prices of the items you want in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, and you’ll be able to take advantage of some of the bargains without waiting in line for hours.

Finally, after you’ve done all the shopping you can before hand and you’ve put your Friday-morning strategy together, chances are you’ll have come to the realization that getting to every item and every store on your list is a physical impossibility. That’s why you need to team up with a like-minded bargain-hunting buddy. Whether it’s shopping at the same store together so you can get to more than one deal at the same time or hitting different stores carrying items you’re sure will sell out, working with a friend can make the difference between success and failure.

There is plenty of information available, and it’s getting easier by the year to find. Take advantage of it all to squeeze the most out of your holiday shopping dollar.

Dylan Biles is a moderator and bargain-hunter for DealTaker.com, and online shopping Web site. E-mail him at