Black Friday 2018 tips: How to shop the best deals

Shoppers will hit the high streets in their thousands on Black Friday hoping to bag a bargain - but you may not be getting yourself as sweet a deal as you think.

Consumer group Which? looked at the prices of 94 popular products for six months before and after Black Friday 2017. It found 87% of the items were cheaper at other times of a year and nearly half were cheaper in the six months after Black Friday.

This means that nearly nine in ten deals available last year had been cheaper at other times.

The analysis covered retailers including Currys PC World, Amazon, John Lewis and Argos.

Alex Neill, the managing director of home products and services at Which? said: "the results of our investigation will disappoint many who are expecting nothing but bargains this Black Friday.

"While retailers are bombarding us with promises of great discounts and time-limited sales, it's clear that not all deals are as good as they might appear. To bag a bargain, do your research and don't get carried away by the hype when shopping in the upcoming sales."

So how can you make sure you're getting yourself the best deal? Here's everything you need to know about doing Black Friday like a pro:

Which products are cheaper at other times?

• 60-inch 4K LG TV, advertised at £799 by Amazon on Black Friday, was £50 cheaper on at least 62 occasions after Black Friday.

• Sony Cyber-shot HX60B Superzoom compact camera was advertised as £189 by Currys PC World on Black Friday but found to be £10 cheaper at least 27 times in June and July 2017.

• Fitbit Alta activity tracker was advertised by John Lewis at £99.99 on Black Friday but reduced to £39.99 by March.

Which products are cheaper on Black Friday?

Don't lose all hope just yet - Trusted Reviews said it found many items to be their cheapest on Black Friday. These included:

• Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones cost £159 on Black Friday - the lowest price until March 2018.

• Dyson V6 animal wireless vacuum cleaner cost £179.99 on Black Friday 2017 - it's lowest ever price.

What have Amazon, Currys PC World and Argos said?

Amazon told Which?: "We offer many thousands of incredible deals around Black Friday representing millions of pounds of savings for our customers across a vast selection of products."

​Currys PC World said it remained transparent with its customers on prices: "While our prices - like all retailers - can fluctuate throughout the year, we're proud to offer our price promise across our entire range - and this covers the Black Friday trading period."

An Argos spokesperson said: "During Black Friday our customers benefit from a huge range of deals on a wide range of products, all at the same time. This does not exclude these products from other promotions."

How to shop the best deals

Price-trackers are a great way of checking whether or not you've bagged a bargain.

Camelcamelcamel is a genius website where you can check deals from the likes of Amazon.

Just find the product you want to buy and paste the URL into Camcamelcamel to check if the Black Friday deal is really as good as it says it is.

We've done a round-up of some of the other tech you can use to help you shop Black Friday.

Black Friday top shopping tips

• Write down the products you want to buy beforehand. Having a plan will stop you from getting too carried away.

• Download your favourite stores' apps. Many of these will give you push notifications to let you know when sales begin or products you're interested in are discounted.

• Load up on caffeine. Some online retailers like Amazon will schedule some big deals in the early hours, so make sure you're ahead of the game by waking up as early as possible.

• If you're heading out, plan which stores you want to visit first and keep in mind which ones (Currys PC World, Argos etc) will be the most popular and therefore attract the most crowds.

• Don't panic. Many retailers now carry their deals on for the whole weekend, particularly online retailers who will also slash prices on Cyber Monday, so don't worry if you don't get the deal you'd hoped for on the day itself.

• Check the returns policy. If you're not sure about buying something but can't resist a bargain, make sure you check the returns policy to ensure a hassle-free return of unwanted products.