Truth be told, I’m not a big Black Friday shopper. I’m not a huge fan of crowds and the sales are not usually super amazing. HOWEVER, sales is sales, right? And a lot of my friends and family love the rush. Personally, Cyber Monday is my shopping holiday. And Small Business Saturday, as long as my local small businesses aren’t too crowded. Yeah, not a crowds girl. Anyway, I thought I would round up some of the sales and great products I’ve come across in the last couple weeks so you can score this weekend!

I’m specifically sharing items I think would make great gifts for loved ones in general. So, if you do want to brave the sales for your Christmas shopping, I recommend bringing your list, but also just grabbing some of these items if you see them. You never know if you’ll end up finding what you’re looking for with plenty of time to spare, or if you’ll end up needing another gift! For this post, I just picked my favorite stores for shopping for gifts and for myself. But I linked a few sites that are sharing sales as they become available at the end of the post.

UCSB TOP // AERIE LEGGINGS // VICTORIA’S SECRET SOCKS (SIMILAR)

NORDSTROM

Steve Madden, Topshop, and BP. are some of my favorites on the more affordable side at Nordstrom. I couldn’t find any info on exactly what will be on sale this weekend at Nordstrom at the time of writing this post. But these three brands and more are on pre-Black Friday markdown now. So they may be marked down even further, but even at these prices, they’re great. The real Black Friday sales start on Thursday online, and in store on Friday. You may want to subscribe to their email list prior in case they offer any email exclusive deals. Here’s a few of my favorite picks that are currently on sale:

MACY’S

I love Macy’s. I’ve been shopping there since I was a kid. It just feels like home! Macy’s released a whole catalog of doorbuster sales. They of course have samples of all the cool things that will be on sale, but they also shared some discount codes you can use online. Use FRIDAY25 for $10 off your purchase of $25 or more OR FRIDAY50 for $20 off your purchase of $50 or more, plus get free shipping at $50. These codes are active from 5PM on 11/24 to 1PM on 11/25 and on 11/26 until 1PM. You can use these coupons in store as well, just print out the image with the coupon here. You won’t need the coupon for the doorbuster deals on actual Black Friday in stores.Here’s a few of my favorites that are on sale now, and many will have even better prices this weekend:

VICTORIA’S SECRET

I love Victoria’s Secret.  Call me basic, but I just do. Honestly, I think 90% of the reason I love it so much is that I know exactly what to expect. I can order a sweater online and I know how soft it will be and how it will fit without ever seeing it in store. And for lingerie, the sizing among styles is super consistent season to season which means I can be lazy. Or do my shopping late at night which seems to be the only time I have lately. I also LOVE their deals, especially for Angel Card Holders. They have lots of deals this season, including early access for card holders. There’s a free tote for Black Friday shoppers and their totes are super useful for short trips or going to the beach, or even for creative gift packaging! My research showed that most of their deals, except the tote, are actually happening now through the 28th, which seems to be the overall trend this year. So if you don’t want to brave the crowd, you don’t have to! Check out a few of my favorite picks:

SEPHORA

Sephora just had a major sale, but there’s going to be more for Black Friday. A TON of the gift boxes will be on sale which is amazing for shopping for gifts, especially for coworkers. You can package them as is, or split them up into gift baskets or stocking stuffers. They will also have a ton of palettes on sale, including Make Up Forever’s Artist Palette Volume 2, which has my favorite shade of green eyeshadow ever in a huge pan for a way better value than buying a single pan. There will also be Philosophy and Clarisonic products on sale which are more favorites of literally everyone ever. Even if you don’t shop for gifts, it’s worth picking up the gift boxes on discount so you can test the products without breaking the bank! You should also download the app because their ad suggests they will have something special for app users only on the 23rd.  Here’s a few of my favorite things that are already on sale:

TARGET

Target has been doing the 10 Days of Deals leading up to the shopping weekend. You can find their whole page of deals here. But basically, today is kitchen appliances, tomorrow is beauty, and Wednesday is BOGO pizza. Thursday and Friday are their doorbuster deals, and they’ve decided that the 27th and 28th will be a surprise! Doorbuster deals are probably going to be the best for electronics. But there are some good deals for kids toys and clothing. If you want to only go to one store on Black Friday, Target would be a good choice. There’s a ton of variety of products for literally everyone on your list and for the most part the quality is amazing which makes the whole process even easier. Here’s a few things on my gift and wish list this year:

AMAZON

I turn to Amazon for most of my books, some beauty products, lots of tech accessories, and occasionally hard to find snacks! Amazon Prime Day is probably Amazon’s best sales day of the year, but Black Friday will still have some amazing sales. Especially on electronics, but also including games, playsets, clothes, and everything else Amazon sells. If a Kindle or Instax are on your list, this Forbes article suggests now is a great time to check them off. And Amazon’s customer service has always been really wonderful for me, so if you have any problems, you should be able to get a quick and easy solution. Amazon is also running deals all week, so check those out too! I wasn’t able to build a widget for my favorite amazon products, but I listed a few below that would make (and have made!) great gifts:

FOR THE BEAUTY LOVER:
Elizavecca Hell-Pore Mask and Carbonated Bubble Mask
Large Black Z-Pallette

FOR THE BOOK LOVER:
Ladurée Macarons
How to Win Friends & Influence People

FOR THE FASHION LOVER:
Breckelles Lace Up Boots
Coal Chunky Knit Headband

FOR THE CHEF:
Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen
Hummingbird Glass Straws

BED BATH & BEYOND

Bed Bath & Beyond is another one of my absolute favorites for gift giving. They have so many just funky tools that are great for Holiday gift games, but they also have a ton of awesome functional gifts. I picked up my NutriBullet from Bed Bath & Beyond earlier this year, but also got a ton of deco for my apartment, beauty supplies, and all the candles I could ever use from there. If you’re struggling to pick a gift for someone, I recommend checking out Bed Bath & Beyond for something quirky and cool. They’re only running their sale in stores on Friday from 6AM to noon and offering 20% off your entire purchase.  Honestly, it’s one of the worst sales of the season because they do frequently have 20% coupons, especially for people on their physical mailing list, email list, and phone list. But if you sign up online for one of those today, you should get a coupon within a day or two that you can use and avoid the sale. Or stop in if you’re out and about anyway. The coupon says it’s valid all day long though, so I think that means you can stop and pick up the coupon, then come back after noon and do your shopping. At any rate, I still think it’s great for finding gifts for the hard to shop for, so I wanted to include it despite the mediocrity of the sale.  Check out a few of the things I thought would make super fun gifts below:

HOME DEPOT

I’m pretty crafty. Last year I made most of my gifts, and this year is no different. I also tend to go a little crazy wrapping but that’s a story for another day. Anyway, I spend so much time at Michael’s (which always has great discounts) and Home Depot picking up supplies for projects or accessories to go with them. Honestly, though, Black Friday at Home Depot is more of an appliances day. So if you’re looking for a new washer and dryer or fridge, it’s worth checking out. This year they have some great savings, offering 40% and an increasing discount per appliance you buy. Still SUPER expensive, but if you’re working on a renovation any savings help. You can also find great vacuums and some kitchen accessories so if you’re shopping for a college student, it’s worth running though. I love making a stop at Home Depot to look for literally anything that may be missing off my list. Check out that ice cream maker, and more fun things, below:

MORE SALES

Below are a few sites I’ve used to research sales in the past. #SharingMySources Some are better than others, but I listed my top two in order of helpfulness. Google is also a great tool if can afford to spend about 30-45 minutes researching all the articles that pop up. Many of the same information, but I ran across a lot of dud’s that only had information for last year or even only 2014! I assume that these sites do use affiliate links, so they may make a commission if you click one of their links to shop (the same way many bloggers, including myself, earn income). But personally, if someone bothers to collate this kind of information for me, I don’t mind giving them a sale. (So make sure to shop through your favorite bloggers this season ;P !)

• I found a bunch of information about sales for my favorite stores at NerdWallet. I love that they also have information about last year’s sales, so even if there isn’t an ad this year, you can get an idea for what they’ve done previously.
• BlackFriday.com has a full list of stores. Click the name of the store to be taken to the page belonging to it. If they’ve posted an ad about the sales, there will be a list or image of them there. For Macy’s, they listed the whole catalog.

EBATES

I started using Ebates earlier this year. And OMG! I do love to shop in stores and shop small, but often I need to make a quick order. I have the plugin installed on my web browser, so when I go to a store that is a part of the program (like Ulta and Sephora!), a little thing pops up in the corner. Just click activate and make sure there’s a little checkmark next to the “E” during check out. I also like to shop through the app on my phone to make sure that I get the cash back on mobile because there isn’t a little “E” to see checked off. Cash back in dispersed every couple of months.

But what’s even more awesome is that they have IN-STORE CASH BACK! You have to have an eligible card, but I haven’t had any trouble with ineligible cards. Then, just make sure you check the app or website every so often to link the offer to your card. Next time you shop there, cash back!

SO, before you go shopping, make sure you sign up for Ebates!

Whew, so much shopping… What are you looking for this weekend?

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This post was not sponsored by any of the above stores or sites. I just really love these places and the best gift I can give to you are my shopping secrets. Happy Holidays!