As the country approaches the most-awaited shopping season, the zest to purchase one’s favorite products and services has started rising. This excitement promises to reach a full crescendo by the time Black Friday arrives. Shopping may seem like the easiest of things to do, but people commonly make inevitable shopping mistakes that make their Black Friday less fun than it could be. As everyone builds up to the festive season, here are some Black Friday mistakes to avoid.

Buying outdated tech products
Retailers typically offer discounts on older models of smartphones, television sets, and other gadgets and appliances. Shoppers need to identify this and refrain from purchasing products with below-par performance and poor data security due to their datedness.

Additionally, buyers need to check if any electronic that is available at super-cheap prices is worth the purchase. If, say, a smartphone is getting any upgrades within 2 or 3 months, it makes sense to wait for the newer model to emerge in the market before putting down one’s hard-earned money on it.

Forgetting to check the return policies
Certain retailers have more stringent Black Friday return policies in place than others. Such stores tend to mark down products that are out of date or undesirable. If shoppers end up buying such products, they may be unable to return them if they are unhappy with them. Therefore, before going on a shopping spree, it is advisable for shoppers to do their research and find which retailers offer the most flexibility in terms of product returns. Additionally, one should be mindful of whether retailers change their standard return policies during Black Friday.

Spending more than one’s budget
Everyone must determine how much they can spend during the holiday shopping season. After determining that, one can figure out the products they really wish to purchase. Once these factors are determined, one can calculate the amount to be spent on the shopping. In this way, one needs to create a budget so they do not face a financial crunch when the Black Friday shopping frenzy begins.

More importantly, one needs to stick to the budget strictly and spend only the money allocated for specific products. This way, one can even save some of the money on their budget. With this money, buyers can purchase additional products beyond their wishlist.

Waiting until Black Friday to start shopping
It is advisable to create a shopping list in advance and take advantage of early discounts offered by retailers to avoid costly last-minute purchases that may incur high shipping charges. Purchasing what one wants early on during Black Friday is advisable as opposed to shopping right in the middle of the sale frenzy.

Using credit cards for shopping
One must refrain from falling for the temptation of using their credit card for extensive quantity shopping. Credit cards make it easy for people to spend (frequently even beyond one’s shopping budget) right at the moment and pay the costs of purchases later.

With this, one would end up paying substantial amounts of money in interest and credit repayments. Unsurprisingly, these additional costs will eventually eclipse the budget of shoppers. Using borrowed money or credit allowance for binge shopping is never a good idea. Instead, one should use cash or debit cards for Black Friday shopping.

Indulging in impulsive buying
Essentially, one must try their best not to deviate from their budget and purchase checklist during Black Friday shopping. It is understandable that one would need extreme self-control to do so due to the sheer number of offers and discounts going around, but avoiding impulsive purchases helps to keep spending in check and, in fact, leave some cash in reserve later for making such purchases after one has bought all they initially set out to buy.

Being careless with personal/payment info
Nothing is more valuable than a shopper’s personal data and confidential payment credentials. If these details fall into the wrong hands, the latter can cause a great deal of trouble for holiday shoppers. Therefore, one must only purchase goods and services from retailers with a multi-step authentication process (One-time passwords, secret questions, biometric verification) while accepting payments for the goods and services they sell. If that is not available, the wise thing to do is cancel the purchase before entering card details or other sensitive personal information.

Getting tricked into buying lower-quality products
In many cases, people associate the goods available at throwaway cheap prices with fantastic deals or offers. However, such goods frequently tend to be defective or undesirable. Therefore, one must never fall for the “cheapest prices” trick many retailers routinely pull to dupe their customers.

Instead, one can compare the price of a desirable commodity at multiple online or offline retail stores before buying the one which offers them the best financial deal. The products with such deals will be marginally (and not drastically) cheaper than the ones available in other retail stores.