When Do Black Friday Sales Start Online and In Store (2011)

Black Friday deals and sales are starting earlier than ever this year. I’m not just talking about all of the early Black Friday deals you can find at retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, but about the actual Black Friday sales that are kicking off in the store as early as midnight on Black Friday.

Normally, midnight deals are found online, and offer the best savings for the time you have to invest, plus you get to stay warm and keep eating pumpkin pie.

This year, expect to see lines starting earlier than ever, perhaps as early as Wednesday night and before you get breakfast on Thanksgiving.

Whether you plan to shop online, like me, or are going to go wait in line you need to know when the stores are opening for Black Friday 2011. Thanks to CouponSherpa, we have access to the Black Friday store opening times, and a clue as to when the online Black Friday sales start.

We’ve highlighted some of our favorite retailers below, but you can see the full list in the Comprehensive Guide to Black Friday Store Opening Hours.

Best Buy – Midnight Friday
Store special: Best Buy will distribute entry tickets up to two hours before midnight.
Online offer: Free shipping on everything, through Dec. 27.

GameStop – Midnight Friday (some stores open at 5 a.m.)
Store special: Get store credit for your iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Online offer: Free Value Shipping on game and accessory orders over $20.

Office Max – 6 a.m. Friday
Store special: Save $15 on a $100 VISA or MasterCard gift card.
Online offer: Free $10 OfficeMax gift card with purchase of 2 HP ink cartridges priced $24.99 or higher

Radio Shack – 5:30 a.m. Friday
Store special: Get $50 toward an EVO 3D when you trade in an eligible smartphone.
Online offer: Shop Black Friday sales on Thursday at RadioShack.com.

Sam’s Club – 5 a.m. Friday
Store special: 96-cents for a 4G Android smartphones when you purchase a 2-year qualifying service agreement.
 Online offer: Shop Black Friday deals starting 11 p.m. EST Wednesday at SamsClub.com.

Staples – 6 a.m. Friday
Store special: Free HP Everyday Photo Paper and Norton Internet Security 2012, with rebate.

Target – Midnight to 11 p.m. Friday
Online offer: Learn about unadvertised deals by texting “MORE TVs” to “Target.”

Walmart – 10 p.m. Thanksgiving. Midnight Friday
Online offer: Visit Walmart.com to download a map of your store, labeled with the locations of special items.

You’ll notice that Apple is absent from the list. While we expect a number of Apple Black Friday deals for 2011, we don’t expect the retailer to go crazy and open the numerous Apple Stores at 5 AM on Black Friday.

You’ll have better luck finding Apple Black Friday deals online just after the 12:01 AM Eastern on Black Friday. You won’t likely see any Black Friday iPhone 4S deals, but you can expect to find some Black Friday iPad deals and lots of Black Friday deals on the iPod Touch from third party sellers.

Image via Monica’s Dad on Flickr