'Black Friday' Not Such a Deal

With the holiday shop-fest all but over, the Boston Globe reports that the day after Thanksgiving doesn't always yield the best bargains, as consumers have been led to believe. The paper surveyed prices for 52 consumer-electronics products during the holiday shopping season—and found that only five were cheapest on "Black Friday."

Further dashing conventional wisdom, seven items were actually cheaper Dec. 24 than on Black Friday. The majority, however, fluctuated week to week, meaning the best deal on a given product is difficult to pin down. Retail spokespeople say it’s about the breadth and depth of discounts offered on Black Friday; still, shoppers might want to procrastinate a little longer next year. (More Black Friday stories.)