With Black Friday almost upon us, chances are you have been looking through pages and pages of sales fliers, trying to plan out the best route of attack.  Although many of the prices and ads you will see are fantastic savings, sometimes the products listed are not discounted at all.  It really pays to do your homework before getting up at the crack of dawn for a deal that really isn’t a deal.

For example, in our local Walmart flier, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire is listed in all its shiny glory (guess what’s on my wish list) at a low, low price of just…$199.  That happens to be the exact selling price at every store carrying the Kindle Fire.  This happens a lot in sales fliers, but isn’t something you would expect from the fliers advertising the sales of the year.  The Xbox Kinect deal through Walmart IS a great deal, however – you get the Xbox 360 with Kinect for just $200, and you get a $50 Walmart gift card to boot.

Other top deals that are actually deals this year include Kenmore washers and dryers for $469.99 each at Sears, or the Lenovo Dual Core Laptop from Best Buy at just $179.99.

Most of the things you will see in Black Friday ads are great – or at least good – deals, but before you go brave the crowds, chaos and lines, take the time to make sure you really are getting a good deal.  In some cases, you can get a better price online and not have to leave the comfort of your home.