Black Friday 2026: which discounts are actually real
Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on Monday 30 November. That is 49 days away.
20%
of the deals we looked into had no previous price we could verify
Of 1,641 deals whose reference price we have looked into, 331 had no previous price we could verify, so we show them with no saving rather than repeat a "was" price we cannot stand behind. The other 1,310 had a reference price we could verify, averaging 42% off.
A deal with no verifiable previous price is not necessarily a false claim: some come with no "was" price at all. These figures cover the deals we have checked, not every deal on the site or every discount on offer.
What a real discount looks like
Average genuine saving by category, across deals where we could verify the previous price. Fashion & Clothing discounts run deepest at 53%; Computing is the shallowest at 30%.
| Category | Deals checked | Average saving |
|---|---|---|
| Gaming | 238 | 51% |
| Electronics | 160 | 32% |
| Home & Kitchen | 155 | 38% |
| Fashion & Clothing | 93 | 53% |
| Health & Beauty | 84 | 46% |
| Outdoor & Hiking | 83 | 52% |
| DIY & Tools | 80 | 37% |
| Computing | 75 | 30% |
| Toys | 68 | 32% |
| Fitness & Sport | 62 | 47% |
| Smartphones | 59 | 39% |
| Watches | 50 | 33% |
| Garden | 44 | 34% |
Categories with fewer than 20 verified deals are left out rather than reported on a sample too small to mean anything.
How we check a price
When we check a deal, we look for the price the same item recently sold at, either at the same retailer or a comparable one. Where we find one, it becomes the reference price and the saving is calculated from it.
Where we cannot find one, we record that and publish the deal with no saving shown, rather than repeating a "was" price we cannot stand behind. That record is what the figure at the top of this page counts.
Frequently asked questions
When is Black Friday 2026?
Friday 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on Monday 30 November. Most UK retailers start discounting in the week before and run through the weekend.
Are Black Friday discounts genuine?
Often, but not always. Of 1,641 deals whose reference price we have looked into, 331 (20%) had no previous price we could verify.
What counts as a good discount?
Across 1,310 deals with a reference price we could verify, the average genuine saving is 42%. It varies a lot by category, so the table above is a better guide than a single number.
How do you check a reference price?
We look for the price the same item sold at recently, at the same retailer or a comparable one. If we cannot find one, we publish the deal without a saving rather than repeat the retailer's claim.