This is the time of the year when the internet is abuzz with people excited about the shopping sales season. Both online and offline retailers, apparently, will be giving huge discounts on items. There will be flash sales, massive discounts and new product releases. Online buyers, in order to buy their favorite products at discounted prices, will be working on their clicking skills, as the best deals are sold out in seconds. Yes, that’s the story of Black Friday.
On Black Friday, you will only see two types of people. One, happy shoppers, who were able to order their favorite product, two, angry shoppers, who missed out on the deal. There is no third category because everyone is in a mood to buy or even if one is not – the internet, mainstream media through the constant barrage of ads convinces people to get to shopping.
See also: These websites are offering Black Friday deals in Pakistan
Now that we are inching closer to the biggest sale of the year, let’s give you a guide on how you can act smart and get the real deals with huge discounts.
1. Make a list of items you want to buy, don’t go on a shopping spree.
This is the most important thing to keep in mind. All the online e-commerce stores sales are designed to lure you into buying products that you don’t even need. I remember how last year I spent 5,000 PKR on products which I didn’t need because I felt that they were so cheap. Yes, you will get that feeling too. You might think let’s buy that power bank because it is 60% off or let’s buy that action figure USB because it is 1000 PKR but you need to keep a check on yourself. Never buy things you don’t need else you wouldn’t have money for the things you really need.
While making a list, only include those products you really need and be strong and committed to buying only those items.
2. Research on the products
Now that you have a list of products that you want to buy. Start researching the products online. Usually, ecommerce stores do mention beforehand what would be the deals on different product categories. This year, Daraz, Yayvo etc also have mentioned their partner payment services, this means you can already figure out what will be the expected discount rate on the product you want to buy and how you can increase the discount by availing the service of payment partners.
Here is an exhibit of how you can preplan your buying as per discounts. For example, Samsung has up to 50% discounts and then you can avail a payment partner to avail some more discount on top.
Here I would like to mention Ali Express. They did a groundbreaking Singles Day sale this year. The platform had, weeks before, already mentioned the prices of products on the upcoming sales day which helped the buyers make wise purchase decisions.
I personally was about to order a few items before Singles Day but since there was 50% discount on my selected products, I decided to wait a few days and order on the Sales Day. Interestingly, I saved more than 75% on my purchases, all thanks to the transparency of Ali Express.
3. Figure out if the deal is a steal or a scam
Here the price comparison module of TechJuice comes very handy. Let me give you an example. An e-commerce store has already initiated its Black Friday Sale, so as soon as the sale got live. Samsung Galaxy S8 was being sold at a discounted price of 87,000 PKR.
Now if you visit the latest mobile prices section of TechJuice, you will see that this price by no means is the lowest price of S8 in Pakistan. According to our smart price comparison section, the lowest price of S8 in Pakistan is 65,499 PKR and the phone is available at iShopping (this is the grey market version). The PTA approved phone is available around 70-74K in the market which means that the price 87,000 PKR for S8 is totally unjustified at a sales event.
For buying any other smartphone, you can hop on to our price comparison section and check for yourself, if the price of smartphone you are buying is a steal or a scam.
For other products, just Google the query “[Product Name] price in Pakistan” (replace the product with the one you are researching) and you will see how the product is offered at other stores. This will help you make a wise buying decision.
4. Order the right items with right specs
Now that you have found the product you want to buy, have extensively researched that the deal is actually a steal not a scam and you are ready to order the product. Just wait for a second and take a quick look at the specifications. You don’t want to ruin everything by ordering the item with wrong specs. It might happen that all along you felt that you are buying an S8+ but at the last moment you ended up ordering S8. Or you were trying to buy a small size sweatshirt but you ordered a large one.
Before checking out just take a quick look at your cart and make sure the items you have selected are the correct ones, you have selected right specs and sizes.
Hit the order button. Congratulations! I am sure you have made the right choices.
5. Heck! Not even a single good deal
If you are that sad buyer, who hasn’t been able to find a deal of your choice. Don’t lose heart. You still have options. You can either explore Ali Express or if your friends and family can hand carry stuff for you. You can take a look at Black Friday Sales at Amazon, BestBuy, Souq, eBay and other platforms.
Have a happy shopping on Black Friday!
