Walmart.com switched on the first of its three Black Friday events just after midnight Eastern this morning, and the limited-quantity items Walmart calls “hot Deal drops” went to Walmart+ members first. Whatever is left of those opens to everyone at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday. In stores, the deals started at 6 a.m. local, and the whole Early Black Friday Deals event closes on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Among the early listings reported on Thursday: Beats Solo 4 headphones at $69, a 50-inch Vizio QLED TV at $128, and a pile of Hasbro board games (Jenga, Hungry Hungry Hippos) at $5 each. Deal roundups also put category discounts at up to 30% off TVs and up to 40% off holiday decor. Some of those may be genuine lows. Others may only look good next to a “was” price, and the only way to tell is to check what the item has actually sold for recently.
Walmart isn’t alone. Amazon has been running early Black Friday markdowns for several days, with its Black Friday page advertising up to 65% off Amazon devices, and Target already ran a three-day early sale from Nov. 5 to 7. Black Friday itself is Nov. 27. So the real job this week is sorting what to buy before Sunday from what can sit until the second wave.
The dates that matter between now and Cyber Monday
Walmart announced three separate events this season in its October press release, and Amazon published its own schedule on Nov. 9. Put together, the next three weeks look like this:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Thu, Nov. 12 | Walmart Early Black Friday Deals start: 12:01 a.m. ET online (Walmart+ first on hot Deal drops), 6 a.m. local in stores |
| Fri, Nov. 13 | Remaining hot Deal drop items open to all Walmart shoppers at 12:01 a.m. ET |
| Sun, Nov. 15 | Walmart’s early event ends |
| Thu, Nov. 19 | Amazon Black Friday Week starts at 12:01 a.m. PT and runs through Nov. 30 |
| Mon, Nov. 23 | Walmart Black Friday Deals go live online, Walmart+ early access at 12:01 a.m. ET |
| Tue, Nov. 24 | That event’s remaining hot Deal drops open to everyone |
| Thu, Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving; Walmart stores are closed |
| Fri, Nov. 27 | Black Friday; Walmart stores open the event at 6 a.m. local |
| Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 | Walmart’s Cyber Monday deals online |
The detail that changes how you shop this week is Nov. 23. Walmart has a second round of Black Friday deals coming in 11 days, with a fresh set of hot Deal drops, and Amazon’s main event lands four days before that. Anything you see this week that isn’t scarce gets two more chances to show up cheaper.
Thursday and Friday: the Walmart+ question
Walmart+ costs $98 a year or $12.95 a month. During this event and the Nov. 23 one, members get the first 24 hours on hot Deal drops, and some online-only deals are reserved for members for that first day, while supplies last. Membership also covers free delivery whenever a scheduled Walmart order reaches $35 and a choice of Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential (the ad-supported versions).
The math for this week is narrow. A single month started today would cover both early-access windows, since Nov. 23 falls well inside it. That only pays off if a specific item you already planned to buy is in the members-first batch and is the kind of thing that sells out, like a cheap TV or a toy on a lot of wish lists. If the member price saves you $40 on something you were buying anyway, $12.95 is easy to justify. If you’re just browsing to see what turns up, it isn’t.
Two cautions. Walmart+ renews on its own, so put a cancel reminder in your phone the day you join. And Walmart’s rules on whether free-trial members get early access have changed from year to year, so read the current terms on the sign-up page before counting on a trial for this.
What to buy before Sunday, and what can wait
I sort a sale week like this into three piles. It takes ten minutes with a written gift list and it stops the “might as well” purchases that quietly eat a holiday budget.
Buy this week
- Cheap, popular toys and games. A $5 board game is already near the floor. Waiting for a better price saves pennies and risks an empty shelf.
- Holiday decor and anything you’ll use in early December. A discount on a tree or lights is worth more on Nov. 12 than on Dec. 20, because you get the whole season out of it.
- Gifts with a name attached and a price you’ve checked. If you know the item, know the person and the price is below what you’ve seen it sell for, there’s no prize for waiting.
Watch, don’t buy yet
- TVs, laptops and other big-ticket electronics. Both Amazon’s Black Friday Week and Walmart’s Nov. 23 event are still ahead. On a $400 purchase, waiting 11 days to see two more rounds of prices costs you nothing unless the model is scarce.
- Anything you added to a cart “just in case.” Leave it there and look again on Nov. 19. If you’ve forgotten why you wanted it, you have your answer.
Skip entirely
- Items where the only proof of a deal is the crossed-out price.
- Marketplace listings from sellers you can’t identify, especially on electronics. More on that below.
A three-minute check before you place the order
Deal pages are built to make you decide fast. These steps slow you down just enough:
- Read the seller line. Walmart.com mixes its own inventory with third-party Marketplace sellers. “Sold and shipped by Walmart” means Walmart’s return policy applies. A Marketplace seller sets its own rules, and Walmart’s holiday return extension may not cover it.
- Ignore the strikethrough price. Compare against what the item has actually sold for. Amazon now shows up to 365 days of price history right on many product pages, which makes a handy benchmark even if you end up buying at Walmart.
- Match the exact model number. A $128 50-inch TV and a $300 50-inch TV from the same brand can be different products. Compare model numbers across stores, not screen sizes and brand names.
- Remember a cart is not a hold. Limited-quantity drops go to whoever finishes checkout first. Save your address and payment method before the drop if you’re chasing one item.
- Screenshot the order page with the price. You’ll want it if the price drops later.
When a price falls after checkout
This is where Walmart and Target part ways. Target’s holiday price match covers anything bought from Nov. 1: if Target’s own price falls on or before Dec. 24, you can request the difference at checkout, at Guest Services or through chat. It only matches Target’s prices, a team member has to verify the lower price on Target.com or in Target’s ad, and the official policy page says screenshots aren’t accepted. If you bought something during Target’s Nov. 5 to 7 sale, it’s worth checking those items again this week.
Walmart’s event announcement includes no price-drop promise like that. Your safety net there is the return window. Walmart extended it for the holidays: purchases made between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 can mostly be brought back until Jan. 31, 2027, and that includes electronics, which normally get only 30 days. Some categories can be excluded, such as wireless phones and major appliances, and Marketplace sellers decide for themselves whether to join the extension.
In practice, if something you buy this weekend shows up meaningfully cheaper at Walmart on Nov. 23, you can buy it again at the new price and return the first one with the receipt. It’s clunky. On a $20 item it isn’t worth the trip. On a $300 vacuum it might be.
How the rest of this week should go
Tonight or tomorrow, write down the five to ten things you actually need to buy this season, with a ceiling price next to each. Go through Walmart’s early deals against that list only. If you’re not a member, check back after 12:01 a.m. ET Friday, when the remaining hot Deal drops open up; the best-known items may be gone, but plenty of early-event prices don’t depend on the drops at all.
Over the weekend, check Amazon’s early deals against the same list and look up the price history on anything over $100. By Sunday night, when Walmart’s event closes, every item should be in one of two places: bought, with a receipt saved, or written on your list for Nov. 19 and Nov. 23 with the best price you saw this week next to it. That number is what you’ll measure the next two events against.
