Black Friday is the biggest sales event of the year for every major retailer. It's also generally the best time to buy just about anything at a discount if you're trying to save money. With the majority of these sales taking place online these days, finding deals is easier than ever. But finding good deals has become increasingly difficult without a little help.
If you're hoping to plan ahead for Black Friday this year, the IGN Finds team has you covered with everything you need to know to make smart shopping decisions in 2026. You can find all of our most recent deals coverage on our Black Friday hub or scroll down for more info about what to expect this month.
Black Friday always takes place on the day after Thanksgiving, which is November 27 this year. Of course, Black Friday sales don't really start on that Friday anymore. There are already early discounts happening across major retailers right now, but for a quick look at when the official Black Friday sales begin we've got an up-to-date list below:
Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Costco have all already announced early Black Friday sales with different start times. Target will be the first to drop a true early Black Friday sale from November 5-7, followed by Best Buy with a November 6 start date.
Just because every major retailer will have a Black Friday sale doesn't mean everything will be on sale this year. That being said, there are a few key categories you can absolutely expect to see good deals on in 2026. The first, and most obvious thing, is 4K TVs. Black Friday is, and will always be, the best time to buy a new TV at a low price. This same logic carries over to things like computer monitors and projectors.
The other Black Friday staple you can expect is Apple products. If you're hoping to grab the latest tech within the iOS ecosystem, November is absolutely the time to do so. AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches will pretty much always go on sale for their lowest prices. All of the major retailers tend to compete to drop the latest AirPods models to a lower price than their competitors to drum up more online business.
If you're in the market for toy deals, November is a great time to find discounts on less popular items and franchises. It's one of the best times of the year to buy LEGO, for example, but the majority of popular new sets for 2026 aren't going to get discounts. What you will find is major retailers dropping prices on older toys and LEGO sets that are up for retirement at the end of the year.
Similar to toy deals, other physical media is sure to go on sale, but the selection will likely vary wildly. You can likely expect sites like Amazon to start dropping book deals early in the month ahead of the bigger sales. The same goes for 4K Blu-rays, board games, and vinyl records that tend to get swept up in various BOGO sales at Amazon and Target. You can also expect deals on physical video games for Nintendo, Xbox, and PS5 to drop a bit before Black Friday as well.
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