Retailers are rolling out savings earlier each season. According to NerdWallet, Black Friday 'gets stronger and goes longer every year,' and retailers 'are known to roll deals out early' as consumers grow more price-conscious.2 During Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. 6 and 7, 25 of the 137 products in this basket were cheaper than on Oct. 5 on at least one of those two days, showing that discounting began well before November.
Of the 113 products at retailers that display a reference price, 9 carry a sale claim such as a 'was' price or savings badge, and all 9 of those claims represent the lowest price seen for that product since Oct. 5. Lenovo pages show no reference price to the price collector, so no sale claims are counted there.
Is it better to buy now or wait for Black Friday?
For Costco TVs, waiting may cost you: 8 of 11 tracked models are already cheaper than they were on Oct. 5, with a median cut of 15%. That is a meaningful discount now, not a promise of one later. NerdWallet advises shoppers to 'keep a bead on the tech you want in the days leading up to the sale holiday,' noting that retailers roll deals out early and a worthy discount can appear on any given day.2
For other categories, patience may still pay. NerdWallet notes that Cyber Monday, Nov. 30, has in past years produced lower prices on some kitchen gadgets than Black Friday itself at Amazon and Target.2 Shoppers tracking black friday TV deals or using a black friday price tracker can set alerts now and compare when the Nov. 27 prices land.1
Which retailers cut prices earliest?
Among the three retailers in this basket, Costco is cutting prices earliest and deepest. Its TV category shows 8 of 11 products cheaper than on Oct. 5, a share no other tracked group matches. Barnes & Noble and Lenovo show smaller proportions of early cuts across their tracked products.
Among major retailers not in this basket, Walmart is moving early too. According to Retail Dive, Walmart's first Black Friday deals event runs Nov. 12 to 15, ahead of its core sale Nov. 23 to 29.3 Target's Early Black Friday Sale opens even sooner, Nov. 5 to 7, according to Today.com.1 Telsey Advisory Group analysts told Retail Dive that 'Walmart should be another winner this holiday season,' and that Target and Costco are also expected to perform well during the period.3
Walmart's 2026 holiday sales span 14 days across three events, up from 10 days across three events in 2025, according to Retail Dive.3 That longer window means more days when Costco black friday sales and competing retailer events overlap, giving shoppers more chances to compare.
How do this year's early deals compare with last year?
A direct product-level comparison with last year is not possible from this basket, which began tracking on Oct. 5, 2026. However, the broader pattern of earlier and longer sales events is documented. Retail Dive reports that Walmart's 2026 holiday sale window is 14 days, four more than its 10-day 2025 equivalent, reflecting a deliberate expansion of the discount season.3
NerdWallet notes that the Black Friday sale holiday 'gets stronger and goes longer every year,' with online retailers dropping deals on any given day rather than concentrating them on a single Friday.2 The presence of 25 products at lower prices during Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. 6 and 7 suggests that october sales events are now a regular feature of the pre-Black Friday calendar, not a one-off. Whether Barnes and Noble black friday or Costco discounts run deeper in 2026 than in 2025 will be clearer when the 8-week low comparison is published with the first cuts on Nov. 24.