When do Black Friday sales start? Full A-Z list of UK retailers with early deals live today

Black Friday may not have the silliness of Bonfire Night, the excitement of Christmas, or the gravitas of New Year's, but it's still deserves a big red 'X' in your 2026 calendar.

The annual sales window – which now lasts the whole of November – sees thousands of deals and discounts pouring out of UK retailers, from gaming and tech to fashion to kitchenware.

Last year, Black Friday itself was the UK's biggest shopping day of the year, with Brits spending a whopping £1.16 billion, and the overall spend across the month reaching £26.9 billion (according to Adobe).

This marked a 4.1% increase on the year before, and this year is expected to rise again. A new study from PayPal suggests spend is set to reach £6.7 billion across the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend, with most adults currently deferring purchases until they know the deals are there.

But are they there? We all know there is a healthy amount of scepticism around the Black Friday sales and honestly, as someone who has covered four years of them now, there's sometimes good reason. Last year in particular, consumer champion Which? found that eight out of 10 products from major retailers were not at their best price during the Black Friday sale.

Out of 175 items from eight major stores, 83% were cheaper or equal in price at least once outside the four-week Black Friday period, which means you could have got them cheaper at another point during the year.

But look, the year is nearly ending and if you've been waiting until now to buy a certain product or get your Christmas shopping done, this really is the last chance you'll have to get it cheaper. Again, having covered plenty of these now I can honestly say there are always some genuine gems of deals out there – I'd always recommend checking out the TV and music streaming discounts in particular, plus the savings on Virgin Experience Days.

So below, I've laid out exactly what you need to know to get the most out of this year's Black Friday sale, including which retailers you can trust and how to spot the real deals from the fake.

Jump to:

• Which UK retailers have started early Black Friday sales?
• When is Black Friday 2026?
• When do the Black Friday sales start for UK retailers?
• How long do the Black Friday 2026 sales last?
• Should you wait until Black Friday itself to buy?
• How to spot a genuine Black Friday deal in 2026

Which UK retailers have started early Black Friday sales?

• Absolute Collagen – Up to 50% off collagen drinks, powder and more
• AO – Up to 30% off thousands of electricals including TVs, fridges and kitchenware
• Argos – Offering guarantee that prices won't go lower before Christmas on hundreds of products, including 50% off beauty and 60% off jewellery and watches.
• Boots – Early offers on fragrance, gifting and electrical. 'Star Gifts' are their big savings on luxury items e.g. YSL Black Opium Perfume for £57 off.
• Lebara – 50% off SIM plans for three months, 5GB from £2.50 a month and 100GB for £10 a month.
• LG – Up to 20% off TVs, washing machines and homeware.
• MenKind – Up to 50% off Christmas gifting and tech.
• O2 – Bundles and bigger trade-in discounts for iPhone and Samsung, including Apple AirPods 5 for just £1 with O2 Priority.
• Sky – Ultimate TV (with Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max and more) plus 500Mbps Full Fibre Broadband from £40 a month.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday 2026 falls on 27 November – the last Friday of the month and the day after American Thanksgiving.

While Black Friday isn't until the end of November, the sales period typically lasts the entire month with most retailers already going live with their deals.

Often, we see UK stores starting their online deals from now. However, some choose to wait for what's known as 'fake Black Friday' i.e. the Friday before, which would be 20 November.

How long do the Black Friday 2026 sales last?

The official end of the Black Friday sales period is the following Monday, known as Cyber Monday.

This year, Cyber Monday is on 30 November and will be the last day retailers run their deals.

Should you wait until Black Friday itself to buy?

Short answer: No.

In Which?'s 2025 study, it found that not only were most products not at their cheapest during November, not a single product was at its lowest price on Black Friday itself.

Most retailers were found guilty of relying on the 'hype' of Black Friday to pull people in, which means there's no pressure to actually by the product on 27 November.

My advice is, don't wait. If you see a good deal on something you've had your eye on, snap it up before it sells out. It might also be helpful to spread your spending across the month.

How to spot a genuine Black Friday deal in 2026

Now the tricky part. As I've said there has been, let's say, questionable behaviour from retailers in the past years. So that poses an interesting challenge when it comes to spotting real deals.

1. Check the RRP – The RRP (recommended retail price) is what the product first cost when released and you should always be aware of it to know how much you're saving. Sometimes, retailers will put a big flashy 'X% off' sign on their website which doesn't actually reflect the reduction in price, so we use price trackers such as CamelCamelCamel to find out how much the original cost was.
2. Check other retailers – Don't just stick to the sponsored section on Google, always make sure you shop around a few different sites to check what's on offer. If you're looking at smaller/ lesser known retailers, you should also check them out on TrustPilot.
3. Ignore the countdown – Don't pay attention to any little sign that says 'selling fast' or 'trending' unless you know for a fact stock is low. I'm talking the pS5 Pro or iPhone Duo, not the air fryer you've had your eye on. It's just a way of getting you to click quickly.
4. Use publishers – I know it's an extra step in the purchase, but teams like ours at Radio Times have spent years monitoring and writing about Black Friday sales, and we're not interested in wasting our own money, let alone someone else's. Subscribe to the Technology newsletter or bookmark this page to get the most up-to-date info on sales we think are worth it.

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