Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year for all major retailers. It’s also usually 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 find GOOD transactions became increasingly difficult without a little help.
If you’re hoping to plan for Black Friday this year, the IGN Finds team has everything you need to know to make smart shopping decisions in 2026. You can find all of our latest deals on our Black Friday hub or scroll down for more information on what to expect this month.
Black Friday sales dates
Black Friday always takes place 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 at major retailers right now, but for a quick look at when official Black Friday sales start, we have an up-to-date list below:
When do the first offers start?
Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Costco have all already announced early Black Friday sales with different start times. Target will be the first to offer a true early Black Friday sale from November 5-7, followed by Best Buy with a November 6 start date.
What offers should you expect?
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 where you can absolutely expect great deals in 2026. The first and most obvious thing is 4K TVs. Black Friday is, and always will be, the best time to buy a new TV at a low price. This same logic applies to things like computer monitors and projectors.
The other Black Friday staple you can look forward to are Apple products. If you’re hoping to benefit from the latest technology in the iOS ecosystem, November is absolutely the time to do it. AirPods, iPads and Apple Watches will be pretty much always are on sale at their lowest prices. All major retailers tend to compete to offer the latest AirPods models at a lower price than their competitors in order to generate more online business.
If you’re looking 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 year to buy LEGO, for example, but the majority of popular new sets for 2026 won’t get discounts. What you’ll see is major retailers lowering prices on older toys and LEGO sets that are due to retire at the end of the year.
Similar to the toy deals, other physical media will definitely go on sale, but the selection will likely vary wildly. You can probably expect sites like Amazon to start offering book deals at the beginning of the month, before bigger sales. The same goes for 4K Blu-rays, board games, and vinyl records which 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 ahead of Black Friday as well.
What is unlikely to go on sale?
Black Friday may be the best time to find deals, but that doesn’t mean every product will be discounted. We’re also in a unique position where economic factors have actually increased the price of some items to new heights, making it impossible to tell whether something is a good deal or just a little price normalization disguised as savings. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the products you probably won’t find a good discount on this year.
Video game consoles
If you follow video game news in 2026, things are looking pretty bleak. We’ve already seen price increases on the Switch 2, Xbox and PS5 and it’s only getting worse. Xbox even went so far as to recommend that people start trading in their unused consoles to address the shortage. So yeah, it’s unlikely we’ll see any console deals this year, especially with GTA 6 releasing just before Black Friday.
The only exception to this will likely be the Nintendo Switch 2 bundles. While not exactly a great deal, they tend to help you save at least a little money on games and accessories. The best time to buy a Switch 2 was before the price increase, but the second best time is Black Friday.
Gaming PC, GPU and RAM
PC gaming is having a tough year and it’s all thanks to the influx of AI usage across the world. GPU prices have exploded, and the RAM shortage will likely only get worse in the years to come. All of this means that buying a gaming PC or gaming laptop has become more expensive than ever. If you want a high-end gaming rig at a decent price, you’re out of luck.
That’s not to say there won’t be discounts available this year, but those discounts won’t be as good as the ones we saw two years ago for the same products. It’s pretty much now or never if you want to buy a gaming PC, but good luck finding something good for under $1,500 this year.
4K Blu-ray Players
With the resurgence of physical media this year, it’s become surprisingly difficult to find a 4K Blu-ray player anywhere. The IGN Finds team noticed earlier this year that gamer prices were skyrocketing, even if they could be found in stock anywhere. So while Black Friday is a great time to buy discounted 4K Blu-rays, you absolutely won’t find a way to play them cheaply.
Jacob Kienlen is a senior audience development strategist and editor for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has called the Northwest his home his entire life. With a bachelor’s degree in communications and 10 years of professional writing experience, her expertise spans a variety of different pop culture topics – from TV series to books and the latest LEGO sets.
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