Do you think Black Friday offers the best value?

The Black Friday offers are coming thick and fast, but do they actually offer the best value to shoppers?

Well, shoppers are actually quite split on whether now’s the time to get great deals and bargains.

According to a Nationwide poll, less than one in three (32%) Brits believe Black Friday has the best deals.

And a similar number (31%) say no sales event offers the best deals.

Black Friday prices can be found at other times of the year

Separate research by consumer group Which? suggests that shoppers are quite right to be sceptical about whether Black Friday offers real bargains.

The study found that more than eight in ten (83%) products in 2024’s Black Friday sales fortnight had already been available either for a lower or the same price at other times of the year.

So if you have your eye on any specific items, it could be worth looking into their price history on sites like PriceRunner and CamelCamelCamel.

Many retailers will also artificially bump up prices in the run-up to Black Friday, just so they can claim to have cut the price by a certain amount.

So again, it’s worth making sure you know what they’re charging before Black Friday comes round.

Black Friday spending still set to rise

Nationwide is predicting that customers will make 12.8m transactions on Black Friday itself - a 7.6% increase on last year.

And the number of sales is set to hit 44m across the wider period - an increase of 8.6% on 2025.

Nevertheless, many people are still planning to keep their wallets firmly closed during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

In fact, more than two-fifths (42%) say they don’t plan to buy anything.

“The day remains an important shopping moment, even though many people are questioning whether it always offers the best value,” said Mark Nalder, payments director at Nationwide.

Don’t fall for the hard sell

It’s really easy to get caught up in all the Black Friday hype and convinced you need all sorts of random items.

But before spending any money, it’s important to ask yourself if you really need the item you’re looking at and if you can afford it.

If your answers aren’t a decisive “yes”, then you probably don’t really need it and you can spend your money on something else more important.

Check here for more tips on navigating the Black Friday sales, so you don’t end up counting the cost afterwards.