They've already been shamelessly doing the exact same thing with outlet malls for ages: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/outlet-stores-quality-1.3392279 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cyvpJYZlk

So we really shouldn't be surprised, unfortunately.

Broke my phone 2 days ago. Samsung S23 has a black Friday promotion on its official website, the 256gb model is cheaper priced than the 128gb model. I think it's a good deal. Buy things you really need, and you might save some money. But of course don't buy stuff you don't need just for the sake of discount.

Online? Because I've been looking for some good external data storage solutions today if you've got a link lol.

I'm also considering springing for a Synology NAS if I can find a good deal, but I've already dropped a lot on a laptop.

Hope they weren’t WDs. Those aren’t even worth 1/10th their price.

Whenever there’s a real sale on them and not just marking them up to MSRP then back down again. Aka any time before November or after December.

Use websites like camel camel camel to track prices on something you want and see if it’s actually a good deal.

I'm not sure if there is a "good time" to buy - not as a blanket timeframe for all things. If you want to save money, use camel camel camel and patience.

However - it all depends on how much you're talking about trying to save, how substantial that amount is to you, and how much your time is worth - because if you make $20/hour and you spend 16 hours in order to save $5, that's not a great investment.

Black Friday is almost always a scam. Maybe once upon a time it wasn't, but, capitalists gotta capitalize.