How to Score Hot Gadgets for Cheap on Black Friday

The following is a guest post from Tarrah a blogger who helps write for dealio.com, a website dedicated to helping people find the best deals online.

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Each year, before the Black Friday kickoff to the holiday shopping season even rolls around, retailers and shoppers alike wait with baited breath to see what the hottest “must have” gadgets will be. Retailers hope for large profits on high dollar items while shoppers anticipate getting those high dollar items at rock bottom prices. Although there’s really no way of knowing what the biggest sellers of the season will be until the sales actually get under way, the current market is usually a very good indicator of what will be hot - or not.  For 2010, current market trends show that the most popular items this holiday season are likely to be Apple products, Sony’s new gaming console and the Amazon Kindle 3G eBook Reader.

• Tablet PCs, like The Apple iPad look to be wildly popular among consumers this holiday season. The iPad has dominated the tablet PC sales so far, but will it hold of the other tablets this season?
• Smartphones are another potentially hot item this season. Android phones such as the Droid and HTC Hero continue to take market share away from the iPhone, but at 50 Million sold, an “iPhone killer” has still yet to be seen.
• Speaking of Apple, the new iPod touch is another item to watch for. It combines all the technology of a regular iPod with advanced features like a gaming center, video chat and video recording plus editing.
• The Amazon Kindle 3G is an eBook reader that can hold over three thousand eBooks. Unlike previous Kindle models, the 3G offers free 3G web browsing, which can be accessed at any Wi-Fi location.
• Sony's new gaming platform will be available just in time for Christmas. The PS3 Move combines the Nintendo Wii with Microsoft Kinect and includes a camera that records all your movements in 3D. The camera is integrated with a motion-sensitive controller so all the game moves can be re-enacted again and again.

Because of their popularity among shoppers, getting the best deal on these items means planning your shopping strategy ahead of time. Search as many “leaked” Black Friday sales ads as you can find. These ads will tell you which merchants will be offering these items so you’ll know where to go first, whether you do your Black Friday shopping online or in person. Remember to take advantage of any coupons or shipping offers to make great deal even better. If you find that a merchant has sold out of a particular item on your list before you get there, ask if they offer a rain checks. These will allow you to purchase the item at the advertised price long after the sale has ended. If you have no luck with rain checks, try searching for the item on eBay. Some eBay sellers will purchase popular items in bulk and sell them for slight profit. Even at the inflated reseller prices, you still have a chance of getting the item well below retail cost. You can also search your local classified ads for people selling these items. Some choose to do their reselling this way instead of auctioning the items so you may still be able to land a deal. If all else fails, you might have to wait until after Christmas to purchase that hot item on your list. Although this isn’t the ideal situation, if you combine sale prices with coupons and other promotions, you may still be able to get the item at very near the Black Friday sale price long after Black Friday has come and gone. >

Oh, and if standing in line at 4:00 am for low prices isn't your thing, then consider shopping on Cyber Monday.