Business Pundit

Image: Intomobile

Black Friday, the major shopping day after Thanksgiving, can give you amazing bargains.But, as any experienced shopper knows, a successful Black Friday requires preparation.

When it comes to preparing, the Internet is your friend. Several entrepreneurs have set up websites to help you navigate Black Friday deals, store hours, and ad updates. Their information will help you avoid hours of searching for Black Friday ads on Google, as well as find bargains you never knew existed. We compiled a list of the 5 best websites for finding Black Friday deals, so that you can focus your energy on being in the stores.

1. BFAds

Features:
Around 50 stores in their database
Adscans
Buying guides
Good tips
Personalized shopping list (with registration)
Store hours
Mobile-compatible updates
Message boards
On Facebook/Twitter
…and T-shirts (you know you want one)

Daily updates give you the lowdown on deals, as well as links, instructions, and coupons (or coupon codes), where pertinent. You get complete information and analysis on each new deal they post. Whoever is behind the blog–another great feature of the site–obviously knows how to bargain hunt. The blogs tells you where to find discounts, how long they’ll last, and whether they’re sold out or not. Frequent updates and a thorough level of detail make this my favorite website.

2. TGI Black Friday

Features:
Shopping list
Coupons
iPhone app
Adscans
Filter by merchant and price

If you like to find deals by product or category, try out TGI Black Friday. They update findings at the top of the page in blog format. When you navigate down the page, you’ll see top deals, accompanied by a photo of the product. At the bottom of each product listing, you can add the product to your shopping list, or share it. The user interface makes it easy to interact with the website. If you like an interactive, visual component, try this site.

3. Black Friday @ Gottadeal.com

Features:
Frequent updates
Adscans
Good tips in the FAQ section
Personalized shopping list (with registration)
Store hours
Email alerts
Message boards

Cool features make this site a worthy visit for any Black Friday shopper. Their Item Tracker shows you a list of products you can order online now for Black Friday ad prices or less. Their Sale Tracker lists dates, times, discounts, and any additional information for major Black Friday retailers. You can also get your Black Friday info-fix through geek a personalized shopping list and email alerts. If you’re into FAQs. they also happen to have the best FAQ list of any site we surveyed.

4. DealTaker’s Black Friday

Features:
They put checkmarks next to store names on left sidebar after they’ve received ads for that store
Many ads accessible to people with visual impairments
Forums
Email updates
Adscans
Excel-based Black Friday Organizer
On Twitter/Facebook

Find deals by store icon or coupon link on this site. It updates frequently, but doesn’t include a blog, so you get a bare-bones list of deals. Their forums help you find details. A good website if you want to skip details and go find deals by store.

5. Black Friday 2009, by Bradsdeals.com

Features:
Blog
Email alerts
Adscans
Store hours
Deals you can scroll through
Facebook/Twitter

Black Friday 2009 has a really good blog, which adds a human touch to deal-hunting. Besides updated deals, they cover useful Black Friday tips, a history of the big day, and other topics. They don’t have a forum, however, nor do they include as many stores as some other sites.