Black Friday: If no price match, go for cash back

<span style="font-weight: 400;">On almost any day of the year, consumers can shop around, compare sale prices and ask one retailer to match a lower price at another retailer.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Black Friday is usually an exception to that rule.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">When price matching isn’t an option, cash-back websites, apps and credit cards can still ensure you’re getting a good Black Friday deal.</span>

Price matching exclusions</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">In most cases, you won’t be able to price match on Black Friday — or the days surrounding it.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are a couple of examples of store policies that exclude the day after Thanksgiving:</span>

Best Buy: <span style="font-weight: 400;">Price match will not apply to offers or items for sale between the Sunday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) and the Monday after Thanksgiving (Dec. 2) — whether offered by Best Buy or a competitor. </span>

Target:<span style="font-weight: 400;"> From Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, through Dec. 7, Target won’t accept price matches and adjustments to competitors.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">But just in case the store you’re shopping at is an outlier, always read the price matching policy before you hit the stores.</span>

Cash-back options

<span style="font-weight: 400;">With price matching largely out, finding other ways to save becomes even more important.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">First, scope out the deals before you shop on Black Friday (or Thanksgiving). Most retailers release their ads ahead of time, so you’ll know which items will be on sale and how much they’ll cost.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you decide what you’ll buy and where you’ll shop, use cash-back websites, apps and credit cards. If you do, you could get money back after you shop — almost like an additional sale on top of that already low Black Friday price.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are three ways to earn cash back on qualifying purchases:</span>

Websites.<span style="font-weight: 400;"> Become a member of </span> </span></span> </span> </span> cash-back shopping sites</span> </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> like Rakuten and BeFrugal to get money back when you shop at qualifying retailers. After signing up, you’ll need to click a link on the cash-back site before you visit the retailer’s site to place an order online. Once you earn enough cash, you can choose to get paid via methods such as check or PayPal credit.</span>

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Credit cards. </span></span> </span> </span> Cash-back credit cards</span> </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> can accrue rewards, too. If you’re disciplined enough to pay off the balance when the statement comes, using a credit card for items you were going to buy anyway can be a savvy holiday shopping strategy.</span>