Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, exactly two weeks from today, when sales go absolutely nuts.  In this economic climate, things may get even crazier than normal, so be prepared!

I don’t know if more consumers can be dragged out of the economic doldrums by the prospect of Black Friday deals, but I’ll likely go with my brother anyways because a) it’s a post-Thanksgiving tradition and b) we save our money for techy things all year for the sole purpose of getting great deals on Black Friday.  Clothing, sporting goods, and other non-tech items usually go on sale too, but the best deals are on the electronics.  While sometimes the price cuts are meh, you can score an a-MA-zing deal with just a little legwork.

Last year we got 24″ LCD monitors for about $150; over 50% off at the time.  It was even more of a coup because although advertised prominently in the flyer, they were stashed away in the back room.  Enter our covert ops skills– I created a diversion while my brother made off with the monitors.  We sneakily split up in line to buy one each, but didn’t celebrate until safely in the parking lot with large boxes in hand.  While we did end up returning one of the screens a couple days later, since we felt 2 were a little excessive, the experience was worth more than the deal.  Hey, what better way to sibling bond than hanging out in the freezing cold and then being rewarded with bargain-basement-priced tech gadgets?

For those who are new to Black Friday, or just a little overwhelmed at the idea of it all, I’ve put together a few tips to make your shopping experience a little less of a headache.

Strategies for Black Friday Success

Do your recon work!

Many retailers have started releasing their sale items and prices ahead of time.  Establish your budget, scour the ads, make your list, and stick to it.  Impulse buys in these stores can be expensive.  Don’t buy the store’s warranty policy, btw– you should already have the manufacturer’s warranty, plus one that comes standard on your credit card purchases.

Dealnews has a great roundup of all the Black Friday sales, a “predictions” list that came out a couple months ago, plus commentary on how Black Friday is turning into a season, not just a day.

According to the AP, Black Friday may be, um, kinda gray this year.

ZDNet thinks even Apple may be going on sale.

For the hardcore researcher, get the buzz on specific items at fatwallet.com and slickdeals.net.  They have forums dedicated to Black Friday, how cool is that?  Ben’s Bargains is also a good resource, but they don’t have a Black Friday forum.

Establish your plan of attack

Figure out which items are in shortest supply, and target those stores first.

Ground maneuvers

When you roll up to said store, I usually drop my brother off to stand in line, then park.  In the store, make good use of your cell phone’s night and weekend minutes or family plan.  Divide and conquer; once almost all items are collected, have one person go to the checkout line.  The other can find the remaining items on your list and join you in line. Having 2 people also helps when there’s an item limit.

Special tactics (advanced shoppers only)

You can even make a profit off your Black Friday run if you happen to know the right people. In this case, the right people = college or high school kids who love technology so much they stay up until 4am gaming, then can’t drag their sorry asses off the couch to get the newest game on sale.

If you’re at Black Friday anyways and know the kids want the newest game, buy extra copies, and charge a $5-10 “delivery” fee. This fee is often payable in beer, pizza, or red bull at the discretion of the delivery person.

Now you even got to make money by getting up at the butt-crack of dawn!  Who says the early bird doesn’t get the worm?

Are you going to hit up the Black Friday sales?  What do you have your eye on?