Deals on deals on Black Friday

Black Friday used to be my favorite holiday. You indulge in a feast the night of, hang out for a few hours, and then the adventure begins. When I was younger, I’d always beg my mom to take me to the outlets an hour away. We’d get there at midnight and shop until sunrise (sorry, Mom!).

Now that I’m working for Marie Kondo, the Beyoncé of tidying up, I’ve somewhat reined in my shopaholic ways and am feeling less bogged down by stuff. Still a bit traumatized by her unannounced visit last month, but that’s another story for another time… Let’s just say I’ll be doing my best to keep it under control this Black Friday.

However, that doesn’t mean I don’t still appreciate a good deal.

One way to take these once-a-year deals to the next level is to pay for your purchases with discounted gift cards. I’ve used Raise for a while now, mainly for Whole Foods gift cards (sometimes at 20% off!). Sellers determine how much of a discount they want to offer. Buyers can set up alerts for brands that they’re interested in. Certain gift cards, like Trader Joe’s and Costco Cash, are almost always sold out. Surprisingly, lululemon.com gift cards are often available — up to 10.8% off at the time of this posting.

If you’re buying a gift card now to use on Black Friday, you’ll want to double check that it’ll be delivered electronically and not mailed. In my experience, electronic orders are typically fulfilled immediately or within several minutes, but it can take up to a day.

Raise provides a 100-day money-back guarantee. I’ve encountered one issue so far, when barneys.com rejected my gift card (!!!), and Raise provided excellent customer service.

If you’re doing some post-turkey dealhunting, you might as well see if you can save even more.

$5 towards your first purchase: http://geta.raise.com/jning1