Amid the chaos of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, it’s easy to forget about Cyber Monday. The annual day of online-only deals, which falls on Monday, November 27, is much more low-key than Black Friday, mainly because you can do everything from your couch or your work desk.
But Cyber Monday still provides plenty of opportunities for savings, especially when it comes to “softer goods” categories such as beauty, travel and apparel, says Lindsay Sakraida, Director of Content Marketing at Deal News.
If you’re still in the market for a winter coat or boots, haven’t bought a ticket home for the holidays or are planning a late winter getaway, Monday could be a good day pull the trigger on these purchases. Sakraida notes that clothing brands tend to issue sitewide sales of up to 40 or 50 percent off. When it comes to travel deals, look to hotels.com for discounted packages, and budget airlines like JetBlue and Southwest, or internationally, Norwegian and WOW Air, which have been known to offer discounted flights on the holiday.
While brands put out their Black Friday ads well in advance, Cyber Monday deals are more last minute. Instead, your best bet is to follow your favorite brands on social media and sign up for their email newsletters to hear about the deals as they’re announced. “There may be a special promotion for subscribers and the coupon code will be tied to specific email accounts,“ explains Sakraida.
Another difference is while some Black Friday deals prioritize the early bird, Cyber Monday deals don’t really sell out — with the exception of airfare — so you can do your shopping anytime Monday when it’s convenient for you.
But if you want to get ahead of the game and cut down on shopping stress, Sara Skirboll, Shopping & Trends expert at RetailMeNot, advises going online Sunday night and doing a little prep. Open up tabs for each site you plan to shop at, adding the items you want to purchase into your cart so in the morning you can check out with ease as soon as the deal takes effect.
Price checking is an essential money saving technique, says Skirboll. Price comparison tools like Google Shopping or Nextag will point out the best deal online.
And be sure to note whether or not the company offers free shipping. If it doesn’t, but the brand has a brick and mortar location, you might be able to pick up your items in store to save on those shipping costs, Skirboll suggests.
Same goes for returns. “Opt to shop with a retailer who has a physical location nearby so you can return any merchandise you don’t like in person to dodge return fees,” says money-saving expert Andrea Woroch.
