When’s the prime time to buy?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping events of the year, with both promising huge price drops across almost everything, including electronics and gadgets.

Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday were once just one-day sales, they undoubtedly seem to get bigger every year, with some retailers dropping deals as early as October.

To help you understand the difference between the two shopping events, we’ve put together this guide to take the confusion out of the sales and help you get the best possible deals.

When is Black Friday 2025?

This year, Black Friday is officially on Friday 28th November 2025. However, we know from experience that the Black Friday sales really start much earlier than that, with some deals cropping up as early as October.

Perhaps an easy way to remember when you can expect Black Friday to fall each year is to know that it’s always on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, which is always the fourth Thursday of November.

Why is it called Black Friday?

There are a few theories as to where the name “Black Friday” originated from, with some dating as far back as 1869.

According to some historians, the first known Black Friday event occurred in 1869 when a financier and businessman attempted to corner the gold market which resulted in financial panic and the collapse of the market.

There’s also a theory that in the 1950s, as many of their workers supposedly falsely called in sick on the Friday after Thanksgiving, managers began referring to the day as Black Friday.

Another more recent theory is that in the 1960s, the Philadelphia Police Department referred to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” because they had to work the shift in bad traffic. The theory was that by calling it Black Friday, this would dissuade people from heading out.

Does Apple do Black Friday?

While Apple doesn’t directly offer Black Friday deals from its official website, it is possible to pick up deals across new and refurbished Apple products from third-party retailers.

Having said that, Apple has been known to provide customers with up to $200 / £175 gift cards when they purchase an eligible item. However, the exact gift card amount will depend on the item and most of the recently launched products weren’t entitled to come with a gift card.

Is Cyber Monday better than Black Friday?

While it can be tempting to wait out the sale weekend for the best possible deal, we would advise that if there’s a product you really want that’s discounted, then you should take the plunge sooner rather than later.

This is because not only can prices change at the retailer’s discretion, resulting in a sudden return to its usual RRP, but stock may also run out too, especially if it’s a new, popular or rarely discounted product such as the Nintendo Switch 2 or the iPhone 17 series.

switch 2 screen — Nintendo Switch 2. Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Plus, unlike Black Monday which is almost a month-long event, Cyber Monday mostly remains as a one-day sale. In fact, some liken Cyber Monday to Amazon’s Lightning deals where price drops are only live for a short period of time.

With this in mind, Cyber Monday should be used as a last chance attempt to finish ticking presents off your Christmas shopping list while nabbing some decent discounts in the meantime.

Are Black Friday deals better than Prime Day?

It’s difficult to determine whether deals on either Black Friday or Prime Day are “better”. In our experience we’ve seen products drop to their lowest ever price during both the sale events.

However, it’s worth noting that Prime Day is exclusive to Amazon Prime members whereas Black Friday, for the most part, is open to all consumers and other retailers rarely require a paid membership or subscription.

In addition, as it’s an Amazon exclusive event, Prime Day is better suited for Amazon products such as the best Echos and best Kindle devices. While that’s not to say you can’t get a discount on such products during Black Friday, it’s worth keeping that in mind. Black Friday, on the other hand, offers more variety of products as many more retailers get involved.

Is it worth waiting for Black Friday?

Whether or not you should wait for Black Friday depends mainly on what you’re planning on buying and the time of year when you’re considering making a purchase.

While we can hope that newly released products such as the iPhone 17, iPad Pro M5 and more will see a deal for Black Friday, this isn’t guaranteed. However, especially at this time of year then we’d always advise waiting for Black Friday to try and nab a discount.

What Black Friday deals are we expecting to see?

As mentioned earlier, Black Friday sales are found across numerous retailers from Amazon and eBay, to John Lewis, Very and AO in the UK and Walmart and Best Buy in the US. With this in mind, we can expect deals from a huge variety of products including: