By Dan Howdle | Tuesday, November 12th 2019 Not everything that rubs off on us from the United States is good, and there are many of us out there who don't care much for Black Friday. It is, after all, a day that marks the Friday after Thanksgiving – a celebration you won't find any Brits getting involved in. However, shun Black Friday at your own cost. Because if you know where to look, there are deals to be had on just about everything, and that includes broadband. If you're looking to switch provider, the week before and Black Friday is a good time to go looking. There are pitfalls, though, and not everything is always exactly as it seems. Read on to find out more. Black Friday is American. We borrowed it. It's the next Friday after American Thanksgiving – a day that many, including students and others, have off work. That makes it a prime day for shopping. This has become a day which big American department stores have historically declared to be the first shopping day of Christmas. And to kick things off, they have tended to load their most enticing offers onto this particular day. Black Friday has come a long way since then, though. It has been exported outside the United States to places like the UK where seldom few have any real idea of its original significance beyond 'that's the day when all the retailers have their pre-Christmas flash sales'. The history of the name is actually in dispute, some arguing it harks back to the crash of the US gold markets in 1869, others that it refers to businesses going 'into the black' as regards their accountancy books. Whatever the truth behind the term's origin, it's now a thing in the UK, and between it and Cyber Monday (the Monday following Black Friday where a lot of tech deals cluster), you are going to see a lot of retailers, especially in technology, offering discount prices on certain items, and that includes broadband. Generally speaking, Black Friday broadband deals come in three flavours. If you're just looking to pay a low price, pickings are actually pretty slim this year. Vodafone's free upgrade will provide you its fastest fibre broadband for the price you'd normally pay for its slowest. And there are one or two deals with Virgin Media and TalkTalk where you can get money directly off, or bill credit, provided you bundle in certain services. Our advice, then, is actually to look out for the deals that provide you with what you need, along with some sort of cashback or voucher incentive, rather than sign up to additional services you perhaps don't need just to get the benefit in question. That is, after all, why the more enticing bonuses tend to sit with broadband and TV bundles – providers are hoping you will tie yourself into more services. Also, be wary of signing up for a deal on or around Black Friday just because the vouchers or cashback look good. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not the only times of the year when deals like this are available. Far from it. And in fact, in our experience, rarely are the Black Friday deals the best the entire year has to offer. Just bear that in mind. You can see what Black Friday deals are available by using our comparison tool. Everything with a limited time sweetener is listed there. You can see what the offer entails by reading the text just below each box or by looking at the round badges on the right. Since you're down here reading, though, it would be remiss of us not to run quickly through what's on offer this year. Compare deals This comes down to a few different questions. To answer this question for yourself, we recommend you think about… Compare deals Sometimes they are, often they aren't. Big providers often reserve their offer budget till the end of their financial year. That's the time when 'crazy' deals can often crop up offering hundreds of pounds cashback to sign up. Black Friday is a good time to buy if you just want to guarantee you get a little something extra however. Depends. If it's earmarked as 'cashback' or a 'reward card' this is basically the same thing – usually a pre-paid Mastercard, with an amount on it your can spend anywhere that takes Mastercard. If it's marked with the name of a retailer such as Amazon, though – Amazon is the only place you will be able to spend it. No. And this is very important. You will usually not be able to claim your cashback until after your cancellation period. Your provider wants to be certain you are going to be around for the length of the contract before lavishing you with cashback, vouchers and gifts. What's more, our rewards are not going to simply arrive in the post without your input nine times out of ten. Providers want you to remember to claim it yourself. Why? Well, because a lot of people forget, and that suits the provider just fine. Yes. Usually Black Friday broadband deals can start anywhere from the previous weekend and end anywhere up to the weekend of the week after Black Friday – week of Cyber Monday. Plus, offers can change and morph across this period, so it's worth keeping a constant eye on. No. Usually these deals are specifically formulated to offer something that other providers don't. After all, if everyone offers £50 of Amazon vouchers, then why choose one provider over another. There will usually be a rainbow of different types of offer available. Go back to deals
UK telecoms firm TalkTalk is adding 30 entertainment channels to its Fast Broadband with TV Plus bundle for half the price in a Black Friday promotion. The package now costs £25.95 a month on a 12-month contract, while customers opting to add Faster Fibre will pay £33.50 per month. In October, TalkTalk dropped prices by a quarter for a limited period to whet customers' appetites for the November e-commerce event.