ShopAdvisor: Black Friday Not Best Deal Day

It's the day after Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals are there for shoppers to get a good head start on holiday shopping. 

But are they getting the best deal?

ShopAdvisor, a website that connects consumers with the best prices on proucts they want to buyi, finds Black Friday sales are not the best of the holiday shopping season.

"Our experience tracking more than a hundred million products shows that although Black Friday may be a good day for shopping, there are 'blacker' days to be found during the holiday shopping season," says Scott Cooper, CEO of ShopAdvisor.

According to the ShopAdvisor study:

• Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011 was the day with the highest percentage (59 percent) of products on sale.
• Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 (after Black Friday) was the day with the next largest percentage (57 percent) of products on sale.
• On Black Friday 2011, 24 percent of the toys on ShopAdvisor's list were priced above their initial holiday season price.
• Dec. 23, 2011, two days before Christmas was the day after Black Friday with the most toys (40 percent) selling at a premium price.

ShopAdvisor suggests holiday shoppers, "watch for sudden price drops and avoid price spikes that often last only a day or two before plunging back down to their original price or lower."

The vendor also says shoppers can expect steep discounts in the two weeks before Christmas, and then again after Dec. 28. 

"Avoid day-after-Christmas shopping; wait until Dec. 29. If the toy you are giving does not have to be under the tree on Christmas day, it pays to wait until Dec. 29 when 17 percent of all the toys in the ShopAdvisor Watchlist were available for 30 percent less than their pre-Black Friday prices," PR Newswire reported.

A copy of the full report can be downloaded from ShopAdvisor here.