Now that November 11 is over, there’s another day that savvy shoppers look forward to. Black Friday on November 25.
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year in the US because it is an opportunity to cash in on some of the biggest savings of the year. From smartphones and television, to beauty products and household products, consumer take advantage of this 24 hours sale on 25 November. There’d be retailers extending the sale over the next few days to Cyber Monday and some over two weeks.
What about Singapore?
Black Friday has only gained traction in Singapore in recent years but don’t expect it to be as crazy as in the US. Sure there will be sales, but to score the best deals, you’d have to look elsewhere. By elsewhere we do not mean going to the next store in the mall but going right up to the origin of the source — in the US.
Top stores international bargain hunters shopped online at:
- Amazon.com
- Adidas
- Gap
- Forever 21
- ASOS
- Nordstrom
- Drugstore.com
- Newegg
- Neiman Marcus
- 6PM
Tips on how to shop Black Friday
1. Prepare a wish list a few days before
Black Friday officially starts on the midnight of 25th November EST/PST in the US. That’s 1PM or 4PM in Singapore on 25 November. You don’t want to start shopping when everyone starts carting out the sale items, so prepare a few days ahead and add them in the shopping cart. Check out when the sales officially start to prevent them from going out of stock.
You can start shopping at Amazon for their Black Friday Deals Week.
2. Make use of international delivery service providers
Some US retailers don’t offer international shipping (even on Amazon.com), so that’s when things get a little tricky. You can use parcel forwarding services like vPost and comGateway that provide you with a US shipping address. But you won’t know the shipping costs till they have received your parcels.
A more convenient way is to use Uskoop. Uskoop has recently launched in Singapore that takes care of everything for you from the purchasing to the shipping and insurance. You don’t even need a US address since every orders will go through them, making shopping a breeze. Plus, you get your shipping instantly and much cheaper than the merchant’s direct shipping fees. (that is if they ship to you!)
3. Know what and where to shop
Most electronics, apparels and toys are cheaper in the US than in Singapore since distributors import these goods and sell them at markup price in the brick-and-mortar stores.
a. Laptops
A 13″ HP Envy i7 laptop costs about S$1499 in Singapore but you can get the same for US$809.99 on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, this item does not ship to Singapore. Thanks to Uskoop, you can now ship it to Singapore for S$1307.25 after including shipping and handling fees. Add the GST and you’d still be better off buying from Amazon.com.
b. Cameras
This Canon EOS 100D/Rebel SL1 Digital SLR with 18-55mm STM Lens costs S$999 on Canon Singapore store. You can get it from Amazon.com at US$499.00 or S$817.24 including shipping and handling fees.
c. Toys
This LEGO City Fire Station set costs S$179.99 on Toys ‘R’ Us. On Amazon.com, it costs US$63.99 or S$154.27 after including shipping and handling fee.
d. Apparels
Brands like H&M, Michael Kors, Forever 21, Tory Burch, Adidas and Nike are definitely not sitting this one out. Expect great savings with huge discounts on their Black Friday sale this weekend.
This Faux Suede Moto Jacket from Forever 21 is a Black Friday Special and you can only purchase it at their official site for US$25. To ship it to Singapore, however, it will cost you an additional US$38 for shipping. That doesn’t make sense when you are paying more for the shipping.
You can however check out with Uskoop for a more reasonable shipping and handling fee at S$18.26.
4. Use right credit card to maximize your savings with cashbacks & more discounts
There are many cards that offer cashback on your online purchase. The Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Card offers 7% cashback on eligible online purchase. In addition, the OCBC Frank Card offers 6% cashback on online shopping.
The DBS Live Fresh Card provides 5% cashback on online purchases as well as 3 DBS Points per S$5 spent online. For those holding the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card can get up to 10X UNI$^ (or 4 Miles) on online shopping and entertainment!
Using the right card means stretching every shopping dollar.
5. Shop smarter and quicker with a click of a button
There will be thousands of retailers in the US and UK that will be slashing price on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Keeping tab of many retailers and carting out at the same time can be exasperating. What if you can do your shopping and consolidate your cart all in one click?
Enter Uskoop Assistant. 
Uskoop Assistant lets you shop smarter and quicker online — all in just one click. It is a nifty plugin for your browser that automatically consolidate your shopping from different merchants in one place. It also shows you the total cost including the shipping and handling fees converted to Singapore Dollars, fuss-free!
Simply download the Chrome/Firefox plugin and start shopping!
Found an item you like? Click on the Uskoop icon and it will be automatically show up on Uskoop!
Uskoop provides free shipping to your local address and also free insurance coverage for every single order! No more worrying about your item getting lost in transit.
Making a big ticket purchase? Uskoop has collaborated with DBS to offer you 0% interest instalment plan program for up to 12 months!
Still want more?
From 23 – 30 November, Uskoop provides you with discount of up to S$30 on your purchases!
- SGD10.00 off (minimum purchase SGD80.00)
- SGD30.00 off (minimum purchase SGD200.00)
Discount will be automatically reflected when you check out your items.
