Black Friday 2026: October Already Showed You Which Deals Are Real
Amazon's October sale set the price bar for Black Friday. If a deal doesn't beat what the same product sold for in October, skip it. Our picks, by category.
Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, with Cyber Monday on November 30. Before you open a single deals page, know this: Amazon already ran a sale on most of the same products seven weeks earlier. Prime Big Deal Days in October set a real, recent price on the things people buy in November. A Black Friday price that doesn't beat October isn't a deal. It's the same deal with a fresh countdown timer.
The October bar, by category
These are prices reported during or just before the October event, on products from our community-ranked lists. Treat them as the number to beat.
- Robot vacuums. The Roborock Saros 20, #2 on our Best Robot Vacuums list, sold for $1,179.99 at Amazon against a $1,599.99 list price, per The Verge's October deals roundup. That's your Black Friday target. Anything above it is a step backward.
- Espresso. The Breville Barista Express Impress, #1 on Best Espresso Machines, dropped to $649.95 from $799.95 in TechRadar's final-day tracking.
- Power stations. The Bluetti AC180 hit $424 at Amazon in early October, Bob Vila reported, down from $499. See where it ranks on Best Portable Power Stations.
- TVs. LG's new 65-inch C6 OLED went for $1,499 during the event, according to TechRadar. That matters for the LG C5, #2 on our Best TVs list: last year's model only makes sense on Black Friday if it comes in well under what the newer C6 already sold for.
Three ways a deal fakes it
The inflated "was" price. When we built our robot vacuum deal guide, the ECOVACS DEEBOT X2 Omni carried a $1,499.99 on-paper Amazon list price while it actually retailed around $799. A "45% off" badge against that number is theater. Learn the street price first.
The new-model shuffle. Amazon refreshed every Kindle on October 1, and LG's C6 now sits above the C5. Last year's model at a big discount can be the best buy of the season, but only if you know which generation you're looking at. Check the model number, not the photo.
The padded bundle. Bundles that add a case, a mat or a spare brush usually cost more than the standalone deal plus the accessory bought separately. If the bundle is the only way to get the "deal", the deal is thin.
When not to wait
Some products don't play the game. Dyson's 360 Vis Nav holds its price through every big sale, and current-year flagships like the Sony Bravia 9 see only modest trims. If one of those is your pick, buy it when you need it. Waiting buys you nothing.
The category guides
We've done the target-price homework for the biggest Black Friday categories: TVs, robot vacuums, Kindles and e-readers, power stations, projectors and standing desks. Shopping for a gift instead? Our Best Coffee Makers, Best Electric Kettles and Best Food Processors lists are a good place to start.
Pick the product, write down its October price, and let Black Friday come to you. Then vote on the Best Robot Vacuums list, or any of the lists above, for the one you actually bought.
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Common Questions
Black Friday is Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday is November 30. Retailers including Amazon usually start rolling out early Black Friday deals in the weeks before, so the useful question is not when the sale starts but what price counts as a deal.
Compare it with what the same product sold for during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days on October 6–7, not with the list price on the banner. That October event discounted most of the categories that matter for Black Friday, so it gives you a recent, real sale price. If the Black Friday price doesn't beat it, the deal is the same deal with a new badge.
Often only slightly. On big-ticket electronics, Black Friday prices tend to match or narrowly beat October's. The exceptions are last-year models being cleared out, like the 2025 Kindles after Amazon's October 1 refresh, which can fall further as stock runs down.
Products that barely discount. Dyson's 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum and current-year flagship TVs like the Sony Bravia 9 have historically seen only shallow cuts. If one of those is the product you want, buy it when you need it.
Products Mentioned
Jump to the full ranking and community verdict for each pick named above.