Last updated on November 29th, 2022 at 12:32 pm
That’s it for 2022, folks! I’ll leave this page as is for reference and then update it in November 2023. I hope you all got what you wanted over the big shopping weekend!!!
With a few exceptions, most manufacturers have gone to what they call “black November” instead of the traditional single-day Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales.
There are still some limited deals on those two specific days, but most sales start at the beginning of November and run through the month.
To make this time of year more manageable, I’ve included a Black November strategy guide to help you get the best possible deals out there. It’s based on my 30-year career as a retail manager and is packed with insider tips that stores and websites don’t want you to know!!!
There are three sections in this guide (click to jump to the section of your choice):
Make sure to also check out the GymCrafter gift guide as well as my list of 55 stocking stuffers all under $50!!!
🔥Black Friday Deals by Equipment Type🔥
After spending way too many hours over the last week reviewing all of the “deals” available this holiday season, I’ve found two things.
First, there are a lot of “non-deals.” Stores are definitely not as aggressive as they once were. Supply chain shortages combined with continued high demand for home gym equipment have shrunk the number of actual good deals to be had.
Second, if you look closely, there are still some amazing savings to be had. In this section, I’ve sorted through all the junk and tried to highlight what I feel are the best deals to be had. Get them while you can, as the inventory on truly good deals simply won’t last!
🔥Black Friday Deals by Manufacturer🔥
🔥Black November Strategy Guide🔥
Ugh! Everyone and their brother has posted the same common sense tips on surviving the holiday shopping season.
Make a plan. Do your research. Blah, blah, blah.
I recently retired from a 30-year career in retail. I’ve worked 30 Black Friday sales. I’ve worked every Cyber Monday sale since some idiot decided that should be a thing too. I’ve helped thousands of customers get the best possible deals during the holidays.
I will leave out the standard Black Friday tips and give you some inside baseball. These are the things that retailers and websites don’t want you to know or do!
If you follow these tips, I guarantee you’ll save money and do it with a lot less stress!
- Curate your list. Making a list is a dumb tip. Curating it is not. Once you have your list made of everything you might want, break it up into segments. Put the things you need at the top. Rank the rest in order of importance to you. Then shop in that order! Don’t waste money on things at the bottom of your list if you haven’t found the ones at the top yet.
- Subscribe to newsletters. Go to every website you think you might shop on this year and sign up for their newsletter. You can always unsubscribe after the holidays, but there are a ton of crazy deals right now that are only promoted via an email newsletter. It’s also the quickest way to find out about limited qty deals that you may miss. Right now, both Titan and Rep are sending out killer daily deals!
- Save 100%. Did you know that you can actually save 100% on almost anything you look at? How, you might ask? By not buying it in the first place! If you can’t come up with a legitimate reason to buy something other than “it’s on sale for a great price,” then you don’t need it! Save 100% of your money on things you don’t need and spend it instead on things you do!
- Do NOT sign up for financing. If you can’t afford it now, don’t buy it. If you can only get it by financing it, you don’t need it. And, for the love of all things, NEVER finance a gift for someone else, regardless of what the Lexus TV commercials tell you to do at this time of year.
- Avoid doorbusters. These are a scam. They are almost never in stock and weren’t things you’d ever buy if they weren’t door-buster deals. In the rare instance it’s something you were going to buy anyway, go for it. Otherwise, don’t bother.
- Buy now, don’t wait! If you see something on sale that you want and it’s in stock, buy it now! There isn’t going to be a better price on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or the day after Christmas. If you snooze, you WILL lose.
- Beware of the upsells and add-ons. Especially when shopping online. One of the biggest ways companies get you to spend money you weren’t planning on is by adding things as special one-time offers to your cart. We’ve all seen these offers. It’s best to avoid them.
- Some sale prices are fake! This is why a particularly well-known brand appears nowhere on my list. Every year, this mfr. spends the month or two before the holidays raising their prices so that they can then put them on “sale.” Well, that sale price is exactly the same price you could have paid 2 months ago. Do they do this with everything? No. Have I checked all their pricing this year to see? No. But they have done it enough times in the past that I never feel good recommending any of their sales. Not to mention, you can get better stuff from other people at lower prices even when it’s not on sale!
- Beware of clearance items. This time of year is a great time for companies to clear out old merchandise. Gear that is discontinued or simply never sold well will fall into this category. It’s not that clearance items are bad, but be aware that there is probably a new model right around the corner. There also might be a big reason the item didn’t sell for them. Check the reviews to see.
- Check return and price match policies. Many companies will exclude all sale items from these policies. If you aren’t 100% sure, make sure you can return it!
- Don’t haggle. These really are the best prices of the year. Don’t be that person who calls and gives the sales rep a hard time. If you’ve never worked in retail, you have no clue what kind of hell this time of year is. It doesn’t matter how much you try to negotiate. All you are doing is ruining someone’s day. If a better price was available, it would already be marked on the product.
- Don’t shop on Amazon if you can buy it directly. Did you know that for every product sold on Amazon, the company selling that product gives Amazon 12% of the price? If you can buy direct, there is almost always a better price. Rep Fitness products are almost always a lot less expensive on repfitness.com than on Amazon. Even if the prices are the same, you will get better service ordering direct.
To paraphrase an old Dennis Miller stand-up bit…
Two-for-one lime green leisure suits aren’t a deal. If they really want to screw you, they’ll make it three for one.
In other words, we all have at least one lime green leisure suit at home. You know, that thing that was such an amazing deal you simply couldn’t pass it up? And now it lives in the back of a closet, never opened or used. If you can avoid the leisure suits while doing your holiday shopping, you’ll be doing better than most!