Black Friday interrogated – is it really cheaper than pre-Christmas sales? Here's what MSE found
If you're hoping to bag a bargain on Christmas presents, you might be better off buying on Black Friday rather than waiting for last-minute pre-Christmas sales. New MoneySavingExpert.com research reveals that 37 out of 50 popular items were cheaper on Black Friday in 2024 compared to in the lead-up to Christmas.
There are three traditional discount periods around this time of year:
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Black Friday – this falls on 28 November in 2025, though discounts often now start from early November or even late October. This is where we tend to see the strongest offers of the festive period, including blanket discounts, site-wide codes and 'up to' sales off 'everything'. See our Black Friday deals round-up for the latest updates and analysis.
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Pre-Christmas sales – used to be referred to as 'Boxing Day sales' until they started shifting earlier and earlier. They now tend to start just before Christmas, which is handy if you've last-minute shopping to do.
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January sales – it's very difficult to compare these as they tend to be retailers shifting surplus stock, rather than store-wide discounts. There can be deeper discounts offered here as the demand for Christmas presents is gone.
Our analysis below focuses on comparing Black Friday and pre-Christmas prices, as many will be wondering when's best to buy presents...
Black Friday deals beat pre-Christmas sales in our research
We looked at the prices of 50 popular items on Black Friday 2024 and 18 December 2024. We found that the biggest discounts were available on Black Friday – here's an overview of our results:
| Black Friday 2024 | Pre-Christmas (i) |
|---|---|---|
When items were cheapest (ii) | 37 items (74%) | 3 items (6%) |
Average discount (iii) | 34% | 25% |
(i) Pre-Christmas price taken on 18 December 2024. (ii) 10 items (20%) had the same price on both dates. (iii) This is the simple unweighted 'mean' discount across all 50 items.
We also tracked the price post-Christmas on 27 December 2024. On this date, we found three items were cheaper than both Black Friday and pre-Christmas, with an average discount of 27% across the 50 items.
Martin Lewis: 'Waiting to see if an item gets cheaper will more often than not be fruitless'
The idea that Black Friday discounts are a complete washout is not backed up by our data – compared, that is, to other prices in the run-up to Christmas. Yet that doesn't mean it won't be cheaper at other points of the year. Ironically, the best time to do Christmas shopping (apart from for perishables) is likely to be in January.
Most people don't do that though. So if the item you've been planning to buy has a decent discount on Black Friday, and you need it by Christmas, the chances are you should buy it. Waiting to see if it gets cheaper in the pre-Christmas sales will more often than not be fruitless.
Clearly with 10,000s of shops and 100,000s items discounted there is no hard and fast rule, but the probability is it will work based on store discount patterns over the past few years.
However, marketing patterns do constantly iterate. Years ago, discounts ran across November and December, then as Black Friday became popular in the UK, deals started to concertina around that date.
In the past couple of years we've seen that loosen though, with the discount date range getting earlier again, and the whole pre-Christmas promotional season expanding once more.
The products with the lowest prices on Black Friday
Here's our full list of products and prices tracked – though there is no guarantee we'll see the same trends this year, and prices can change at any time.
Product – RRP (i) | Cheapest Black Friday price (ii) | Cheapest 18 December price (ii) |
|---|---|---|
Price cheapest on Black Friday | ||
Amazon 'New' Kindle Kids (16GB) – £114.99 | £94.99 | £99.99 |
Amazon 'New' Kindle Paperwhite (16GB) – £159.99 | £124 | £159 |
Apple AirPods Max (Blue) – £499 | £449 | £469 |
Blink Black Wireless Smart Camera System – £154.99 | £61.99 | £68.99 |
Cerave SA Smoothing Cleanser, 473ml – £23.50 | £15.64 | £18.80 |
Chanel No5, 100ml – £145 | £116 | £129.95 |
Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Bronzing Drops, 30ml – £34 | £23.80 | £34 |
Dyson Corrale straightener Bright Copper/Bright Nickel – £399.99 | £295 | £299.99 |
Dyson V8 Advanced Cordless Vacuum Cleaner – £329.99 | £199 | £209.99 |
Echo Dot (newest gen) – £54.99 | £22.99 | £24.99 |
Fitbit Charge 6 – £139.99 | £89 | £94.99 |
Garmin Forerunner 55 – £179.99 | £118.77 | £125.99 |
Ghd Original Hair Straightener – £139 | £99.99 | £100 (iii) |
Gymshark Adapt Camp Seamless Ribbed Leggings – £50 | £25 | £50 |
Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser & 2x Podcups, Copper – £99.95 | £84.95 | £99.95 |
JBL Tune 670NC – £89.99 | £44 | £51.20 |
Karcher WV 2 Plus window vacuum – £69.99 | £43.99 | £59.97 |
Le Creuset Classic Blue Cast Iron Oval Casserole, 31cm – £369 | £172.40 | £205 |
Lego Creator 3in1 Majestic Tiger Building Set – £44.99 | £29.99 | £35 |
Lego Home Alone House – £259.99 | £229.99 | £239.99 |
Manchester United 24/25 Home Jersey – £80 | £40 | £48 |
Method Floor Cleaner Wild Rhubarb, 739ml – £4.50 | £2.49 | £3.60 |
Ninja Double Stack XL 9.5L Air Fryer SL400UK – £269.99 | £189 | £266.93 |
Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK – £229.99 | £139 | £220 |
Nintendo Switch Lite (Grey) – £199.99 | £176.49 | £191 |
Nintendo Switch OLED Model (White) – £309.99 | £275 | £279.99 |
Nutribullet 600 Series Starter Kit in Graphite with 700ml Cup – £59.99 | £39.99 | £59.99 |
Olaplex No. 7 Hair Oil, 30ml – £28 | £17.99 | £18.95 |
Oral-B iO3 Blush Pink Electric Toothbrush with Travel Case – £160 | £49.95 | £59.20 |
Philips Series 5000 Wet & Dry Electric Shaver – £84.99 | £55 | £60 |
Philips Series 600 Air Purifier – £99.99 | £69.99 | £85.66 |
Philips Sonicare 4100 Electric Toothbrush Black – £99.99 | £44.99 | £49.99 |
PlayStation 5 (digital edition) – £389.99 | £309 | £386.27 |
PlayStation 5 (disc edition) – £479.99 | £389.99 | £449.99 |
Shark Flexstyle 4in1 Air Styler & Dryer Straight & Wavy Hair – £269.99 | £179 | £242 |
Sonos Era 100 smart speaker – £249 | £179 | £192.98 |
YSL Black Opium Eau de Parfum, 50ml – £95 | £66.50 | £71.25 |
Price cheapest on 18 December | ||
Exploding Kittens Card Game – £19.99 | £14.99 | £11.99 |
Sabrina Carpenter's Sweet Tooth Eau de Parfum, 30ml – £24.99 | £24 | £19.99 |
Shark PowerDetect Cordless Pet Vacuum Cleaner IP1251UKT – £499.99 | £349.99 | £349 |
Same price on Black Friday and 18 December | ||
Apple AirPods Pro USB-C (2nd generation) – £229 | £179 | £179 |
Apple 10.9" iPad - 64 GB (Silver) – £329 | £289 | £289 |
Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (shade 7.75) – £46 | £27.60 | £27.60 |
Braun Silk-épil 7 – £159.99 | £69.99 | £69.99 |
Dreamland Velvet Herringbone Quilted Heated Throw (Emerald Green) – £94.99 | £74.99 | £74.99 |
EAFC 25 (PS5) – £69.99 | £34.99 | £34.99 |
Fitbit Inspire 3 – £84.99 | £54.99 | £54.99 |
Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee Pod Machine (White) – £149 | £79 | £79 |
Oura Gen3 Horizon Smart Ring – £349 | £249 | £249 |
Ring Smart Intercom (White) – £99.99 | £37.99 | £37.99 |
(i) The RRP was taken from the manufacturer's website or from a major retailer's website.
(ii) Price listed is the cheapest found after checking multiple major retailers' and brands' websites. The retailers included vary by product.
(iii) Given the difference was only a single penny, we debated whether to move this to the 'same price' category but ultimately decided against it. Let us know what you think in the {MSE Forum}.
How to find the best deals
Before you spend, ask yourself, do I need it? Can I afford it? It's not a saving if you weren't going to buy it anyway. Use our free Money Mantras card to help you stop spending when you shouldn't. And of course, consider Martin's annual plea: is it time to ban unnecessary Christmas presents?
If you do still plan to buy gifts, here's a quick summary of our top tips:
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If you have your eye on something, check prices NOW. Then when it comes to Black Friday, you'll know if the 'discounts' are really cheaper. Check prices at the retailer you were planning to buy from, and do a wider price comparison using free tools, such as Google Shopping, Price Runner, Price Spy and the Amazon price-tracking tool CamelCamelCamel.
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Just because an item is on sale on Black Friday doesn't mean you can't get it cheaper at another time of year. In 2024, consumer champion Which? found that, out of 227 products, nine in 10 of them were cheaper or the same price at other times of the year. So don't get swept up in the hype of Black Friday – only buy what you were planning to anyway.
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If prices are the same at multiple retailers, check for added benefits. Such as John Lewis's two-year warranty, or free delivery.
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Make the most of extended return periods. Most retailers offer extended returns over the Christmas period. So you could pounce on a discounted Christmas present now and return it if the price drops in the run-up to Christmas and buy it again. However, ensure you check the retailer's policy FIRST. If you're buying in store, retailers don't legally have to refund you simply because you've changed your mind.
You can also use our Christmas Deals Predictor tool to help you plan when's best to purchase – we use our insight to calculate when to expect sales and discounts at major retailers. Plus, see our 47 Christmas MoneySaving tips for more help slashing costs this festive period.
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