Doorbuster Black Friday deals are limited so look for bundles and check online

CLEVELAND - Want to know the best Black Friday deals? On Your Side Consumer Advocate Jenn Strathman shared her tips and tricks for stealing holiday discounts on Trapper and Toohey morning show on the New 102 .

Best Buy enthusiasts have been camped out at the Cuyahoga Falls Best Buy since Thursday. The electronic enthusiasts are interested in stealing a laptop and television. The store offers doorbusters in limited quantities so you need to be first in line to steal the deals.

Best Buy is selling a 40-inch Toshiba LCD HDTV for $179.99. The best price online is $449.99. That is quite a deal, however, if you can’t grab a doorbuster TV deal or you don’t have time to stand in line you might want to wait.

The best time to buy a television is in January or February. There are deep discounts on name brand televisions because of the Superbowl and the stores clear the shelves for the newer models.

If you’re buying electronic items, look for bundles. Walmart is offering an Apple iPad 2 16GB with WiFi for $399, plus a $75 gift card. That item is guaranteed to last from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. as part of Walmart’s one-hour guarantee.

Target is also offering a bundle on the iPod touch and Xbox 360 Kinect. A bundle may be another game or electronic component or a gift card. Either way, you are saving money.

Online deals may be better than doorbusters

People who are already waiting in line seem to do it out of tradition. One man in line at the Best Buy in Cuyahoga Falls admitted the deals are not that great. He’s waiting to see the surprise doorbuster discounts.

The first man in line expects to save around $1,000, but he got in line a week before the doors open. He has a job, and has to work Friday night. He feels the savings are worth the time off work. It’s become a tradition for his family to wait in line to save.

Most people don’t have time to stand in line for days to grab a doorbuster and some people simply don’t want to deal with the crowds on Black Friday. If that’s you, there’s no need to worry. You won’t miss the discounts.

Cyber Monday is becoming better than Black Friday or Gray Thursday. The deals will be hot, including smartphones for a penny.

The Galaxy S III is a popular phone that gets great reviews, and look for it to be discounted this holiday shopping season. Sam’s Club has it on sale for 96 cents. Best Buy is selling it for $48. Online it may drop as well. That’s a steal for this phone.

Don’t wait until Cyber Monday to check the net for discounts. Start looking now, and make sure you take a peek before you grab the turkey. Many online retailers will offer special discounts online on Thanksgiving morning including Best Buy.

Making sure you’re getting a good deal

Before you buy, do your research. There are price history sites that make it easy to spot a good deal. My favorite is Google Product Search . There’s also PriceSpider .

You can see the going rate for the item and sometimes the price history on the product.

Avoiding crowds

If you want to avoid the crowds, look online. If you want to hit the stores, shop between 7 a.m. and noon on Friday. I expect people will shop until they drop on Thursday and wrap up their shopping around 2 a.m. on Friday.

With so many stores opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, I think the crowds will be big. It’s an easy time to shop without having to set the alarm clock.

Some stores are even adding extra discounts early Friday morning to get you to shop during the slow times. Target is offering $10 for every $50 you spend on apparel, accessories and home items from 4 a.m. to noon on Friday.

The stores are expected to get busy again Friday afternoon.