What is Black Friday Sale & How to Make the Most of it in India?

Black Friday sale starts 23 November. This is how Indian shoppers can benefit from it.

Black Friday Sale kicks off on 23 November.

(Photo: iStockphotos)

Okay, for the ones who think that Black Friday has some christian connotation attached to it just like Good Friday, yes, it does! Black Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas holiday season in the US.

This is the period where offline retail stores in the country offer ‘crazy’ deals on electronics and appliances. It is one of the busiest shopping day in the US.

Seeing this, there are many Indian retailers and e-tailers like Flipkart who are jumping on-board offering discounts. But, those discounts are measly compared to the what US retailers are offering.

So, is there a way the avid Indian shopper can cash upon some of the attractive offers overseas? Read on.

Where to Look for Black Friday Deals?

Although Black Friday sales kick off on 23 November in the US, an buyer in India too can make purchases and have the products shipped here. Amazon and many other international retail outlets will have products listed on their websites from where you can make the purchases.

Many of these retailers are also offering international deliveries of these products. You have the best chances of finding what you want if you hunt for the products on Amazon and eBay.

Newegg is another option you can consider although there is a limited number of products this company ships outside US shores.

Just be careful about the fact that all these companies levy shipping charges separately so you’ll end up paying more than what the product is worth.

There will be some heavy discounts on smartphones, TVs, home appliances and many other gadgets which you can cash upon on 23 November this week.

How to Shop Smart this Black Friday?

The best thing to do is list out the products you want to buy and then try finding the price of the same products in the Indian online space. Calculate the difference between the international price (plus shipping and courier charges) and then see how much the Indian price is. If the deal is worth the moolah then go for it.

I am sure there will be a considerable difference between both the prices listed on the website.

The thing you need to make sure of before you make the purchase is that the product has international warranty valid and also it has its part available in India.

How To Ship Products to India?

There are chances that you’ll find many retailers who don’t ship the products. In that scenario you can always make use of third party service providers who can ship the products for you. There are companies like Viabox and Shop and Ship that offer such services and are reliable.

To use the service you’ll have to sign up after which you’ll be allotted physical addresses in multiple countries from where your purchased order will be shipped to you.

The moment you make the purchase and the product reaches your account, these companies will ship the product to your local address in India.

These is a certain fee that you’ll have to pay for this service and that excludes the online store's shipping fee and import duties. Both these services also offer calculators which will help you calculate estimated prices for shipping products to India.

Since you have a very small window to avail these discounts I suggest you do your homework and prep that list of gizmos before d-day.