Best Buy is jumping the gun on holiday shopping, confirming it will launch early Black Friday deals on Halloween.
The move pulls one of retail’s biggest sales events squarely into October, signaling how aggressively retailers now court cost-conscious shoppers long before the turkey hits the table.
Why Halloween Becomes Black Friday’s New Starting Line
Holiday “creep” is no longer a novelty—it’s strategy. Surveys from the National Retail Federation show a majority of U.S. shoppers begin buying gifts in early November or earlier; they are chasing limited inventories and early markdowns to stretch their budgets.
Adobe Analytics and Deloitte have made similar observations in recent seasons, with retailers attempting to spread promotions over a longer window to ease shipping pressure and reduce stockouts. Best Buy’s Halloween start reflects that calculus: get shoppers’ attention while carts are still empty and consumers’ wallets are open.
How the Sale Will Roll Out
The retailer will seed its site, app, and stores with early offers beginning on Halloween, then escalate markdowns as November unfolds.
The “official” Black Friday sale starts more than a week before the big day and runs for 10 days through the following Saturday, with deeper savings targeting the most in-demand categories, including:
- Laptops and gaming gear
- TVs and home theater
- Wearables
- Smart home devices
Expect a standalone, tightly timed Cyber Monday event, starting the Sunday before Cyber Monday and running for 48 hours through the end of Cyber Monday, advertising savings of up to 50% on select tech.
Practically, this implies doorbuster pricing on classic gift items, such as:
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Streaming devices
- Gaming systems and accessories
- Robot vacuums
- Entry- to mid-grade laptops
Best Buy will release timed campaigns every Friday throughout the season, starting on Halloween. The first group is whimsically designated as “DoorBOOsters,” a subtle nod signaling that many of the best prices arrive well before the official Black Friday.
These weekly drops typically sell out quickly online and in stores, and they may differ by location, so alerts and curbside pickup options play a crucial role in the hunt.
My Best Buy Premium members will be entitled to up to $25 in extra rewards with certain doorbusters. Beyond discounted pricing and seasonal gift card promotions, the bonus is intended to encourage more regular subscribers.
The Best Buy price-match policy remains a straightforward fallback: if a seasonal purchase is made, contact the retailer if the price drops; the risk of buying early is limited, and—for most of the promotion’s duration—the chances of “buy now, fix later” tactics are reduced.
Returns are likewise lenient for the season. Almost anything purchased from Halloween through the end of December can be returned for several weeks in January, depending on the customer’s Best Buy membership status—through the end of January for Plus and Total members.
Early November will see stores shift to extended holiday hours, but they will remain closed on Thanksgiving—a choice many large-format retailers have made in recent years to simplify labor and account for the reallocation to online fulfillment.
What Shoppers Should Watch
Rivals such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target have yet to finalize their full holiday schedules, but once one of them makes a leap, the others often follow, resulting in overlapping events and selective price matching. Adobe Analytics has recorded substantial online spend before the conventional Black Friday–to–Cyber Monday period in recent years, indicating that significant deals are increasingly available in October and early November.
Moreover, big-ticket tech should be timed. Past years’ steepest television discounts have traditionally been offered during the week of Black Friday; comparable patterns hold for laptops, smartwatches, and audio in November.
Consoles and hot accessories, especially when they hit all-time lows in doorbusters, are even more supply-limited, and they are frequently sold out within hours.
Additionally, validate model numbers, panel types, and storage configurations—retailers often produce similar but different variations known as exclusive SKUs.
Bottom Line
Starting Black Friday discounts on Halloween gives Best Buy additional runway for capturing spend and fulfillment, and it pins down early-bird shoppers with price guarantees and member rewards. For shoppers, the strategy can pay off: nab must-have gifts early, rely on the price-match policy if prices dip further, and conserve your doorbuster bullets for Friday drops—especially those first few waves when competition is tightest.
