This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2020, CNET’s gift picks with expert advice, reviews and recommendations for the latest tech gifts for you and your family.
In 2020, the first forecaster of Black Friday is the retailer ad scan — not the scanned, grainy PDFs or JPEGs of yore, but “leaked” circulars put out by the retailers themselves. These days, major retailers like Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Kohl’s and a slew of others publish their own “ad scans” on their own websites and their own schedules, to help beat the holiday shopping hype drums for their hottest deals. Scans of Black Friday ads are no longer borrowed from the pre-Thanksgiving week Sunday paper, nor do they solely hype “doorbuster” sales. Instead, we’ve got a mix of online and in-store discount offerings. Some sales last throughout the week (or even throughout the month), and some are early Black Friday deal picks that expire before Black Friday.
Since we want you to get the best deals of the season, we’re collecting the PDFs, landing pages and links to as many of those sales as possible, right here. You’ll also find more top picks with links to their respective online stores, as well as CNET stories where we’ve highlighted our favorite deals.
Walmart
Walmart launched not one but a whole series of sales that started at the top of November and run through Thanksgiving and Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. The first two sales events included electronics like TVs, computers and tablets and have already come and gone.
But now we’re lining up for the main event: Event 3 will start online on Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. ET, with additional deals being offered online on Nov. 27 (actual Black Friday) at 12 a.m. ET and in stores at 5 a.m. local time.
Walmart has posted a 12-page interactive ad scan of the final sale on its website — you can check it out below.
CNET’s picks: See the best early Black Friday deals at Walmart
Best Buy has revealed a strong slate of deals, many of which already started. The full ad scan is below.
Best Buy Black Friday 2020
CNET’s picks: See the best early Black Friday deals at Best Buy
Target
Target has posted 62 pages of deals with prices available from Nov. 22-28. You’ll find discounts on everything from TVs to video games to vacuums to headphones to kitchen tools and more.
CNET’s picks: Target Black Friday 2020 ad scans: Save on Apple Watch, games and more
Disney
There’s no traditional newspaper ad circular at Disney, but you can browse the site’s many Black Friday deals here.
GameStop has revealed its full Black Friday deal slate. Many of the deals seem focused on in-store doorbusters, and it’s unclear how the gaming retailer will integrate online sales into its plans. That said, the Switch deal — the console with Mario Kart and a three-month Nintendo Online membership thrown in for no extra charge — seems to be available at other retailers, too.
GameStop Black Friday 2020 …
See more at GameSpot: GameStop Black Friday 2020 ad and game deals revealed
Macy’s
The Macy’s Black Friday Specials page lets you know exactly how long remains to take advantage of the deals with a countdown timer at the top of the page before you start browsing for deals.
NewEgg Black Friday 2020 ad…
CNET’s picks: Newegg Black November sale: Get guaranteed Black Friday prices all month long
Home Depot’s Black Friday sale started Nov. 6. The full ad scan is below.
The Home Depot Black Friday…
CNET’s picks: Home Depot’s early Black Friday sale is on: See all the best deals available now
Ultra Beauty
Looking for beauty supplies? There are 64 pages of Black Friday and holiday deals here at Ulta.
JC Penney
See Penney’s deals for Nov. 25-28 in the store’s sales circular. Housewares, electronics and kitchen appliances are top-loaded, but keep scrolling for fashion, jewelry and more.
HP’s “Early Black Friday Flash Sale” ended on Saturday. The full ad scan for the rest of its deals is below.
HP Black Friday 2020 ad scan
CNET’s picks: HP Black Friday deals available now: Save $150 on the HP Spectre x360 and more
Bass Pro Shops
With over 90 pages of sales, the Bass Pro Shops sales circular is one of the largest we’ve seen. The deals are happening now, so be sure to browse the online ads and click through to get to the product pages.
Nike
Nike hasn’t built a Black Friday circular or made an interactive ad page on its site. But this is the page to check if Nike publishes any deals for the holidays.
Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club hasn’t published a traditional sales circular, but you can browse the retailer’s “10 Days of Thanks-Savings” deals online, good through Nov. 29.
Kohl’s
Kohl’s has about 80 pages of deals across a pair of sales circulars — one focusing on deals starting Nov. 21 and the other for Nov. 25-27. Both online flyers are interactive; click a deal to see details, including the date the sale begins.
You can change circulars by clicking the ad thumbnails at the top of the page or scroll all the way to the bottom.
Dicks
Dick’s Sporting Goods is already knee-deep in holiday sales, and you can see everything the store has to offer online here in the store’s sales circular. Be sure to click a deal for details.
Lowe’s
For a look at what Lowe’s is planning for Black Friday, check out the “Home for the Holidays Season of Savings Event” ad circular for the week of Nov. 19-25. You can also peruse the “Season of Savings Extended Event” ad, which covers Nov. 26-Dec. 2. Zoom in on specific pages and click on deals to see details, including the price and date the deal is valid.
Check out Costco’s Holiday Savings landing page, which currently lists all its online deals through Nov. 30.
More Black Friday ad scans are coming soon
In the meantime, here are links to current and upcoming sales at major retailers.