GamerNode: Features - Dac's Guide to Black Friday Success

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Hide and seek, my friend. Hide and seek.

This is my favorite pro tip of all, and it only works in conjunction with the previous tip. It's very simple: Go to the store right before Black Friday, find a few of the products you want, and HIDE THEM. Let me tell you a quick story about my Black Friday experience last year. I chose Best Buy for my Black Friday venue (which is my top suggestion). Last year, they were selling a spindle of 100 DVD-Rs for five dollars, which is a damn good deal. I immediately knew that this would be a hot seller. It was that product that no one actually came for, but everyone was like "yeah, I'll be gettin' computer, an' a TV, and I guess I'll pick up a few'a dem DVD packs." (Just a note: The people who talked like that are the exact people who didn't get any of the three.)

So I walked into Best Buy two days before BF, and navigated my way to their writable media section. Sure enough, they were selling the exact DVD spindles their Black Friday ad showed, only instead of competitively pricing them at five bucks a pop, the unfriendly price tag said something more like "$59.99." Here's how I rectified this situation. I grabbed a few (four) of those DVD packs and walked right on over to the kitchen appliance section (because no one ever looks there, ever), I opened up a vacant freezer, and stuck those bad boys right in the back for no one to see. Guess what. When Black Friday rolled around, there were only 500 DVD spindles for customers (and well over 4000 who wanted them), and they literally sold out in under 120 seconds. But when my shopping was nearing completion, I waltzed right over to the kitchen appliance section (where, for some reason, there was a long line of people), opened up that sacred freezer door, and pulled out four of the coveted $5 DVD packs that everyone wanted so badly. People in line were looking at me like I fucking discovered Narnia or something, and as I walked away, I witnessed a man step out of line and check another freezer (as if the staff stores the "extras" there or something). Success.

And this works with any of the items there. I hid the Arrested Development Season 3 DVD box behind Dora the Explorer. Now, on doomsday, no one was really going for Arrested Development (which is a damn shame, I'd like to add), but I still was ensured that I got my copy no matter what. Do this with all of the products you can, this way you won't have to focus on them until the frenzy dies down. Just be smart in choosing your hiding places. Freezers are great for medium-sized items. If you're item is small, try setting it behind stereos, keyboards, or washing machines. Don't worry, the staff is lazy. No one cleans.

Come Alone

Don't listen to the people who tell you to bring a friend. They'll only slow you down. Certain line tricks (talked about later on) are impossible to do with more than one person, so it's a good idea to prepare yourself for a lonely battle. The only reason to ever bring a friend is if you want to continually swap positions between the line and your car, but only pansies do that. Trust me on this one; being alone will allow you to accomplish much more. In fact, there's only one friend you need to carry along with you...

Bring A Nintendo DS

No, I don't mean bring entertainment, I literally mean bring a DS. A PSP is passable, but a DS is a far better solution. First off, it's fun to play. That's a given, though. (But make sure your screen backlight setting is on low to conserve your battery.) The main reason to choose a DS is because you'll certainly find other people in the line with DS's in-hand. Owning a DS is like being in a club. Everyone will welcome you with open arms for a few multiplayer gaming sessions. And hopefully, those welcoming you will be well in front of you in line, which leads me to this.

Make Friends, But Keep Moving

Let's be honest, here. You won't be first in line. You won't even be close to first in line. We're going to have to bust out the fourth grade playbook for this one, because we need to go over the key points in cutting the line. The important thing to remember here is that you do this at the start of your evening, not when the doors are about to open. There's no security (or angered customers) in the early hours of the morning, and everyone waddles around anyway. But if you try this even an hour before they open those doors, you better believe your ass will be escorted to the back so fast you won't know what happened. So anyway, here's what you need to do. Make some friends. First, the ones behind you. (You need to appear to be social to everyone, not just the ones in front.) But look for that group of guys playing Mario Kart DS, or talking about your favorite TV show ahead. They'll be there, trust me. Slowly navigate closer to them with your eyes focused on them. Do it casually. Remember Dac's golden rule of life: If you look like you know exactly what you're doing, no one will question what you're doing. Once you start up a chat with them, boom, you're in. Continue this cycle until there's no one ahead of you that you can relate to, just don't make it seem obvious.

Get Your Ass There Early!

I'm not joking. The people first in line are the people who ate their turkey in the parking lot. Now, I know that neither you or I are that dedicated (which is why we need to use the aforementioned advanced line techniques), but you can't expect to even get a decent place in line arriving at 4:00am. Get there no later than 8 or 9pm on Thanksgiving. If you have something to do, that totally sucks, and you'll really have to bring your A-game when conning the line. Last year, I showed up at around 11pm, and I was easily 400th in line. (But I'm so good, I ended up being in the top 50 when the doors finally opened.)

Here's the other biggest reason to get a great place in line: tickets. Oh yes, the sacred tickets. Most big stores (including Wal-Mart and Best Buy) will hand out tickets for very coveted and highly-priced items about an hour before they open the doors. If you're there to buy something over 50 bucks, you better be in line early to snag your ticket. This includes all TVs, printers, DVD players etc. Notice I didn't mention computers. That's because you won't get a computer. Unless you're willing to spend Thanksgiving in front of Best Buy, you won't get a computer. Every one of the computer tickets was snagged within the first 20 people last year, and I wouldn't expect it to be any different this time around.

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