Black Friday lands on Friday 27 November this year, and the adverts have already started. Countdown clocks, red stickers, “today only” banners: it’s the loudest shopping week of the year, and children notice. Many of them now have their own pocket money, a birthday list, or a game with a shop inside it.
That makes Black Friday one of the best money lessons of the year, as long as you treat it as a lesson and not just a shopping trip. This guide covers what’s really going on with Black Friday prices, the sales tricks worth pointing out to a child aged 7–11, and three questions they can ask before buying anything that’s “on offer”.
Are Black Friday deals really deals?
Often, no. Every year the consumer group Which? tracks the prices of hundreds of Black Friday “deals” at big UK retailers, before and after the sales. The results are strikingly similar year after year.
| Which? found | What it means |
|---|---|
| 83% of products on offer in the Black Friday sales were the same price or cheaper at some other point in the year (2025 study of 175 products at eight retailers) | Most “deals” could have been had without the rush |
| None of those products were at their cheapest price of the year on Black Friday itself | The day isn’t special, whatever the countdown clock says |
| For six in 10 deals in its 2024 study, the higher “was” price had been charged less than half the time, and 14 “was” prices hadn’t been charged at all in the previous year | The “was” price is sometimes more advertising than history |
Source: Which?, Black Friday price analyses published November 2024 and November 2025.
None of this means every sale is a con. Some discounts are real and worth having, especially on something you were going to buy anyway. The point is that the sticker alone can’t tell you which is which. That’s exactly the skill children can learn.
Five sales tricks to point out together
Children can’t avoid sales tricks they can’t see. Naming them out loud, in a shop or while scrolling, is often enough to take the magic away.
- The big “was” price. A high crossed-out price makes the new one look small. Ask: did it ever really cost that, and for how long?
- The countdown clock. “Ends in 2 hours!” is designed to stop you thinking. Most Black Friday sales run for days or weeks, and prices often come back down later.
- “Only 3 left!” Scarcity makes people grab first and think later. If you didn’t want it yesterday, you probably don’t need it now.
- Bundles and “3 for 2”. A good deal only if you wanted all three. Buying something extra to “save” is still spending.
- Percentages that sound bigger than they are. “Up to 70% off” usually means one or two things are 70% off, and most of the rest much less.
Three questions to ask before buying anything on offer
1. Would I buy it at the normal price?
If the answer is no, the discount isn’t saving money. It’s persuading you to spend money you weren’t going to spend. This is the single most useful question, for children and adults alike.
2. What did it cost last month?
Price-tracking websites show how a product’s price has moved over months. Looking one up together takes two minutes, and children love catching a “was” price that never really existed.
3. Is it cheaper somewhere else?
A sale at one shop can still be dearer than the normal price at another. Comparing two or three shops is a simple habit that pays off for life.
And one for pocket money
If your child is spending their own money, ask: “What else could this money buy?” Every choice means not choosing something else, and a sale doesn’t change that.
What to say at each age
Ages 7–8. Keep it concrete. Show them a sale sticker and ask what the two prices mean. Work out the difference in pounds together. Talk about how shops use bright colours and big words to make us feel excited.
Ages 9–11. Bring in fractions and percentages: is “half price” really half? Check one real product’s price history online together. Talk about why a shop might want people to believe a deal is better than it is, and why misleading prices are against the law in the UK.
Let them practise
The quickest way to make this stick is a game. Our new free activity, the Sale Sticker Detective, turns your kitchen table into a shop full of sale stickers, some real and some not. Your child works out the saving on each one, checks the secret price history, and decides which deals are real. It takes about twenty minutes and needs nothing more than sticky notes.
The goal isn’t to make children suspicious of every shop. It’s to give them one calm habit: before you get excited about a saving, check what you’re really paying, and whether you wanted it in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
When is Black Friday 2026?
Black Friday is on Friday 27 November 2026, followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. Many UK retailers start their sales a week or more before.
Should I let my child spend their own money in the Black Friday sales?
It can be a really good learning experience, as long as they decide what they want before they start looking at deals. A short wish list, written in advance, is the best defence against impulse buys at any age.
What if my child really wants something that’s on offer?
Go through the three questions together. If it passes all three, it may well be a good buy. If it doesn’t, suggest waiting a week: most things that are “must-have” on Friday feel less urgent by the following weekend.
Are fake “was” prices legal?
No. In the UK, shops must not use misleading reference prices to make a discount look bigger than it is. That doesn’t stop it happening, which is why checking a price history is still worth doing.
Spotting real value, comparing prices and the difference between needs and wants are all part of the Smartmonies course: ten lessons for ages 7–11, taught one-to-one by qualified teachers or as an interactive digital course. The first digital lesson is free. For more ideas to try at home, browse our free money activities.
Sources: Which? (November 2025), Most Black Friday deals the same price or cheaper at other times of the year. Which? (November 2024), Nine in 10 Black Friday deals cheaper or same price at other times of year.