Shoppers go online for holiday sale prices

Hundreds of millions of Americans celebrate the day after Thanksgiving by going shopping.

This year, because of the economic downturn, experts expect that number will decrease by five percent.

But there is a silver lining for those who deck the malls this Friday: more and bigger sales.

And now, for the first time, more than 100 of the largest stores are posting prices on their own Web sites.

Prices don't mean a lot for four-year-old Robbie Violante. "I want only three things," he said, pointing to the toys that intrigue him.

But Robbie's mom, Monica Violante, has to worry about her pocketbook. "We budget every year," she said.

Major retailers are now departing from the tradition of keeping post-Thanksgiving prices secret until their ads are released in the Thursday newspapers.

Every bargain price is posted online — right now — at the Web sites of many of the nation's biggest retailers.

There are also several independent Web sites dedicated to indexing those sale prices so you can easily find the best buys on "Black Friday," so named because it heralds the time of year when the ink on the balance sheets of many retailers turns from red to black.

At BlackFriday.info, prices for each retailer are separated into specific categories. It notes that at Walmart a flat screen TV that sells now for $448 will be marked down to $388. A GPS tracker will be $60 cheaper.

Last year, Walmart threatened to sue over leaks like this, but not this year.

"We can show you all our Black Friday deals and people can come in with their list ready to check it off as they shop," said Walmart spokesman Daniel Morales.

News 8 went online to figure out the best deals, but found it nearly impossible to compare prices because each store offers slightly different brands or models of a product.

One exception was the popular Guitar Hero World Tour video game. Target has it on sale for $40 less than anywhere else we found.

Most of the other hottest products in the post-Thanksgiving sales won't be out on store shelves until they open extra early Friday morning. Many retailers will start the day at 5 a.m.; there are a few, however, that will swing their doors open at midnight in a bid for those elusive consumer dollars.

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com