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Black Friday can be a dangerous day for shopping, but it’s also the best day for great deals.  Here’s how to stay safe on Black Friday!

<p>The busiest shopping weekend of the year begins earlier every year. While Black Friday deals used to start in the wee hours of the day after Thanksgiving, more and more retailers are opening their doors on Thanksgiving evening. Retailers are also beginning to sell their Black Friday deals online, and millions of online-only stores are following suit.</p>
<p>The question becomes, how can you stay safe on Black Friday while shopping? In stores, the violence and danger of Black Friday is evidenced by thousands of videos and stories every year, while online dangers can include scammers seeking your credit card information or to sell you false products.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s take a look at the ways you can stay safe in nearly every situation on Black Friday!</p>
<h2><strong>Preparing for Black Friday Shopping</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img alt="Woman driving at night and tired." src="https://d6y5eqdcxq8w3.cloudfront.net/assets/blog/blog_content_cases/pattersons-black-friday-1.jpg" title="Boris Jovanovic" width="700" /></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Get plenty of rest before you start your holiday shopping.&nbsp; If you&rsquo;re shopping in-store, driving tired is dangerous to you and other drivers on the road.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll also move more slowly and be less aware of your surroundings, both of which are important for shopping in stores on Black Friday.&nbsp; Online shoppers may not be clear-headed enough to safely shop online on Black Friday, so getting plenty of rest is important regardless of how you&rsquo;re planning to shop.</li>
<li>Study and plan for which deals and stores you&rsquo;re wanting to hit first.&nbsp; This helps you avoid indecision the day of and gives you an itinerary to follow so you know where to be and when.</li>
<li>Ensure you have money where you need it.&nbsp; Move funds around to the proper debit or credit cards to make sure you&rsquo;re best utilizing your finances, have any cash already withdrawn, counted, and ready to go, and make sure you know your budget so you don&rsquo;t overshop.</li>
<li>Before leaving your home, make sure that you and anyone shopping with you have attended to their biological needs.&nbsp; Restroom trips, morning medicines, and having a breakfast before you leave with ensure that no one is neglecting their bodily needs for Black Friday deals.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Make sure everyone in your group has their cell phones on and fully charged so that you can easily contact them should you get separated.</li>
<li>Check the weather and make sure that you and anyone else in your group are properly dressed to best ensure comfort during your shopping outing.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Black Friday Parking Lot Tips</strong></h2>
<p><img alt="Young Woman putting shopping bags in the car." src="https://d6y5eqdcxq8w3.cloudfront.net/assets/blog/blog_content_cases/pattersons-black-friday-2.jpg" title="dardespot" width="700" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Be patient while searching for a parking spot.&nbsp; Watch other drivers as they pull in and out of the lot and the different spots, as some drivers may not be paying as much attention as they need to due to their own impatience, excitement, and exhaustion.</li>
<li>If you can park underneath a light post, do so.&nbsp; That way, you can see your vehicle clearly in the case that potentially dangerous people are loitering in the parking lot.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Check and double check that all windows are up and the doors locked before you leave your vehicle.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Make sure that any valuable items left in your vehicle are hidden from view.&nbsp; For instance, you can bring newspapers or a blanket to cover previous purchases or necessary equipment so that they cannot be seen by passersby.</li>
<li>Before getting out of your vehicle or returning to it from a shopping trip, scan the parking lot for potential dangers.&nbsp; These can include speeding vehicles, reckless drivers, or persons who do not seem to be actively walking from or returning to their vehicles (these can sometimes be thieves).</li>
<li>Stay aware of your surroundings as you walk to your vehicle with your purchases, especially when you reach your vehicle.&nbsp; Make sure that you only unlock your vehicle right before you open the doors so that you don&rsquo;t give any potentially dangerous people access before you reach your vehicle.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>In-Store Black Friday Shopping Tips</strong><strong><br /></strong></h2>
<p><img alt="Huge crowd shopping in a mall. " src="https://d6y5eqdcxq8w3.cloudfront.net/assets/blog/blog_content_cases/pattersons-black-friday-3.jpg" title="sculpies" width="700" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Shop with a buddy or group if you can.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s safety in numbers, as thieves are less likely to target shoppers who travel together.</li>
<li>Only take your necessary items with you.&nbsp; A big purse heavy with extraneous items can be a dangerous accessory in a crowded store.&nbsp; All you really need are your driver&rsquo;s license or ID, your phone, your funds, and anything you absolutely cannot live without (such as medicine).&nbsp; Leave your purse at home, or, if you absolutely must bring it, place it in your trunk before leaving your house.</li>
<li>Be aware of the different security measures in place at each store, and of any special sales they may be having inside.&nbsp; This helps you stay safe and out of the way of any potential crowd surges.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Whether you&rsquo;re shopping with a group of adults or children, it&rsquo;s important to establish meeting points and times in case of separation.&nbsp; Even if everyone has a cell phone, sometimes there may be too much noise or not enough signal for cell phones to work.&nbsp; Having a plan in place before separation occurs can keep everyone safe.&nbsp; Especially with children, it&rsquo;s important to make sure that they know your contact information by heart and know how to approach and speak to a security guard or employee in case of separation.</li>
<li>Don&rsquo;t get into any fights or arguments with other shoppers or store employees.&nbsp; Emotions are already running high on Black Friday, so the likelihood that you may be injured or even arrested because of what seems like a small argument is much higher.&nbsp; You may not be able to get that great deal because someone jerked the product out of your hands, but at least you won&rsquo;t spend the weekend in jail.</li>
<li>Once you&rsquo;re done shopping, place your purchases in your trunk.&nbsp; This is a safer place for them than any other place in your vehicle, as it is usually harder to access your trunk and, unless you have a specific sort of trunk, there is no visual access.&nbsp; In the case that your trunk has windows seeing into it, make sure to bring a blanket or newspapers to hide your purchases underneath.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Online Black Friday Shopping Tips</strong></h2>
<div>
<p><img alt="Close-up shot of a young woman holding a digital tablet and shopping online on Black Friday at home."  src="https://d6y5eqdcxq8w3.cloudfront.net/assets/blog/blog_content_cases/pattersons-black-friday-4-header.jpg" title="VioletaStoimenova" width="700" /></p>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Make sure you have a secure internet connection before you begin shopping.&nbsp; If you&rsquo;re at home, you&rsquo;ve probably already got a password-protected network to keep you safe.&nbsp; However, if you&rsquo;re out and about while shopping online, it&rsquo;s important to make sure you are not connected to an unsecured network.&nbsp; In that case, your personal and financial information may be compromised and easy for scammers to access.</li>
<li>Shop only on websites that you have used before as much as possible.&nbsp; While there&rsquo;s no harm in visiting other websites to see what specials they have going on, safe shopping is key on Black Friday, so tried-and-true websites are the best way to go.</li>
<li>Before shopping from a website you&rsquo;re unfamiliar with, do research on it.&nbsp; Check customer reviews, see if there have been any public complaints or lawsuits, and especially pay attention to ratings regarding customer service.&nbsp;</li>
<li>If you are shopping on a new website, make sure it is secure.&nbsp; Look for the lock icon next to the URL.&nbsp; If there is no lock, or if your browser warns you that there is no security on a particular website, do not use it.</li>
<li>When creating a new account on a website you haven&rsquo;t shopped with before, make sure to use a strong password so that you&rsquo;re account is as secure as possible.</li>
<li>Use Paypal to make online payments wherever possible.&nbsp; Paypal has built-in safety measures for purchasers that are especially handy for keeping your bank account, debit, or credit card information safe from potentially-dangerous websites.&nbsp; You can also request refunds through Paypal in the case that a website cannot fulfill your purchase but refuses to communicate with you about it.</li>
<li>If the sale looks too good to be true, it probably is.&nbsp; A KitchenAid ProRange for $800 is not happening with any appliance retailer, so if you see an ad for one, that website is probably not real.&nbsp; In that case, the moment you enter your payment information is the moment a scammer receives that information and can use it as they wish.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Tips for After Black Friday Shopping</strong></h2>
<p><img alt="Man using calculator. "  
src="https://d6y5eqdcxq8w3.cloudfront.net/assets/blog/blog_content_cases/pattersons-black-friday-5.jpg" title="SARINYAPINNGAM" width="700" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Keep all of your receipts from your purchases.&nbsp; This is important not only in case you need to return your items, but because&hellip;</li>
<li>You also need to watch your bank account for the next few days after your shopping.&nbsp; Actually, you&rsquo;ll want to keep tabs on any of your financial accounts to ensure that none of your debit or credit cards have been picked up by a scammer.&nbsp; If you find any purchases on your accounts that you did not make, double-check your receipts to ensure that you didn&rsquo;t purchase it, then contact your card company or bank to cancel the purchases.</li>
<li>If you shopped online with stores you don&rsquo;t frequent often - which usually happens when trying to pick up just the right Christmas presents - then wait for the first promotional email to come to you and remove yourself from their subscriber list.&nbsp; This will help eliminate irritating promotional emails from retailers you don&rsquo;t purchase from for yourself, lessening the stress as the holidays ramp up.</li>
</ul>

Stay Safe on Black Friday with These Online and In-Person Shopping Tips

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Stay Safe on Black Friday with These Online and In-Person Shopping Tips

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