We are The Wirecutter, a group of people with years of experience testing and reviewing gadgets. We’re here to answer all your questions about Black Friday, terrible deals, and whatever else. AUA.

Hey Reddit! We’ve done this before, but the third time’s a charm.

We are the writers and editors of The Wirecutter and The Sweethome, two sites dedicated to helping you find the best equipment no matter what you’re looking for. Whether it’s the best open-back headphones under $500 or meat thermometers, we put tons of hours into researching and testing every article we write.

We’ve also spent the last three years scanning, tracking and reporting deals on our Wirecutter and Sweethome deals pages. During the holidays, we put the collective minds of our staff to good use by scouring the Internet for anything worthwhile. In all that time, we’ve learned one absolute truth about deals - the Internet is filled with crap. Some sites like to say something’s a deal when they’re really just matching the price of another retailer, some drastically lower the prices on items they know are going to break in a week anyway, and some just like to mess with you by jacking up the price for a while so they can drop it back down to normal and call it a sale.

We’re sick of putting up with that stuff. Over the last few days, we’ve been quoted by Motherboard, NBC News, and even the New York Times talking about the best ways to avoid being suckered by Black Friday. Since the beginning of November, we’ve looked at over 50,000 “deals” or “sales” and only .68% of them have met our standards for posting on the site.

And that’s why we’re here today. That’s why we’ve done this twice before. We want to talk to you about deals, answer your questions about products you’re interested in buying, and hopefully save you from making an impulsive decision you’ll regret later.

We want to put at your fingertips the combined knowledge of our staff. Post a deal you’re thinking about getting. We’ll tell you about the price (if it’s a scam or something good) and the product (whether it’s worth buying at any price). And if we can point you to something even better, we’ll do that to.

We’ve got a wide-range of people from both Wirecutter and Sweethome in here to answer your questions, so expect to see a lot of names:

Proof

More current proof.

Edit: We're pretty much done at this point. But if you ask a question that doesn't get answered, tweet us @wirecutter or @homesweethome. Thanks!

Comments: 320 • Responses: 6  • Date: 

littleloudernow9 karma

Any update on the Sweethome pillow recommendation? The current recommendation is on sale today, should I just go with that?

In other news, I'm debating between the Nexus 5x and the Galaxy S6. Do you guys have any thoughts or insight that could help me decide? Is the Verizon sale price on the S6 good enough to make that the deciding factor?

Thanks guys! I use both websites to make a lot of my buying decisions so thanks for being here today!

EDIT: Forgot to ask, are there any items for which its usually better to wait for Cyber Monday?

JD_Wirecutter2 karma

Forgot to ask, are there any items for which its usually better to wait for Cyber Monday?

Not usually, no. At least if you mean between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Generally if someone is putting something on sale on Cyber Monday, they're also putting it on sale on Black Friday because it's just the bigger day.

The main benefit to Cyber Monday over Black Friday is that the deals are more concentrated to the tech sector. So if you're looking for gadgets, the non-gadget noise will not be as loud.

zuzubear4 karma

Who do you buy holiday gifts for and what are you getting them this year?

JD_Wirecutter6 karma

I usually do a secret santa sort of thing with nearby family, but it generally doesn't go well. Last year I bought a Sodastream Jet and walked away with a tie. I don't wear ties.

Nevermore4163 karma

Do you have any tips on how to find good deals on cyber Monday?

JD_Wirecutter5 karma

Hah, yah, I mean, stick with our deal pages. Follow our Twitter deal handles. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at sorting through the noise out there.

We'll be running an event similar to what we're doing today on Cyber Monday where we post deals as we find them (in advance if we can) straight to our Twitter feed. Super fast, easy click to the best deals and prices we can find.

But other than me, there's plenty of great sites you can use: SlickDeals, 9to5Toys, Kinja Deals.

If you want to find the deals yourself - my tip is to always pinpoint exactly what it is you're looking to buy. use a price tracker like Camelcamelcamel to alert you when it drops to the price you want. Or search for it specifically on Cyber Monday.

The more specific you can be about a deal you want the better it's going to work out for you because you can watch for the drop.

benjals43 karma

Do you have a rec for a quality can opener? Ideally under 20 bucks.

JD_Wirecutter6 karma

Indeed, sir. Just under $20, too.

Edit: It's our current pick and in an update to the guide will be our budget pick. $17

Semitar13 karma

Just curious if anyone is looking into my question from about an hour ago about unlocked phones? I am not sure if it got lost in the shuffle or not. Thanks again for all these responses!

AqueousBeef5 karma

I can't find your comment. Would you mind reposting it here?

Semitar12 karma

Hi, I like to buy unlocked phones, however I always have issues regarding getting consistent LTE service. And I suspect it has something to do with the band frequencies. I cannot get a firm answer on how well/poorly unlocked phones will or will/not work on carriers. Cab someone could explain how that dynamic works? - surprisingly, the tech support departments tend to be useless in explaining things. It would help in phone reviews to understand that.

JD_Wirecutter2 karma

For some odd reason that comment shows up in your user history but not here, and I couldn't even link them to it (permalink opens a blank page). Sorry about that! We'll get you an answer, though.

ahuster3 karma

What are some items that are rarely discounted or get paltry discounts that we should just buy now instead of waiting for a deal that might not come?

JD_Wirecutter5 karma

Ganda's example of the Breville is a good one. Very rarely go on sale, or if they do it's for really bad refurbished models with really bad warranties (new Brevilles have crazy long warranties... going from 12 years to 90 days is just not worth it).

The thing with most gadgets though, if you're willing to wait eventually everything drops... Like in the case of Apple, who rarely offer discounts on their stuff... once the new versions come out all the old ones get cheaper. Definitely wouldnt hold my breath on new models getting discounted, though.