Black Friday 2015: Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon ads; Thanksgiving hours ...

Thanksgiving 2015 is here and that"s means Black Friday is only a day away.

That doesn"t mean you have to wait until tomorrow to cash in on the best bargains. Many major retailers are opening today or have posted tons of Black Friday deals online. Here"s a rundown and where you can shop today, who is opening tomorrow and what time and how you can plan your day to make sure you"re getting the best bargains.

Pros and cons of Black Friday

Before we look at bargains and hours, let"s look at the pros and cons of Black Friday shopping. Here"s some pluses and minuses from NerdWallet.com.

Pro: Stores offer giveaways, usually for being one of the first in line. This year Cabela"s is offering $15,000 in prizes to the first 500 people in line at 5 a.m. on Black Friday and Sports Authority: $15 in Sports Authority bucks (which go toward any purchase in the store) to the first 80 people in line at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving

Con: Sales are usually for a limited time and quantities are sometimes limited, too Most Black Friday ads say things like "while supplies last" or "limited quantity." That means you may not be able to find everything you want.

Pro: It"s a great time to buy electronics Electronics are usually one of the top items in every Black Friday sale. There are usually multiple retailers offering the same items so be sure to compare costs.

Con: Be wary of promotions NerdWallet found that 93 percent of Black Friday ads this year contains deals that have previously been offered by retailers. It also found many of the deals were available at other times of the year.

Pro: It can be fun For many people, Black Friday is a tradition and shoppers enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

Con: There are crowds Tons of people use Black Friday as the time to get most of their Christmas shopping done, which means you can expect large crowds. That sometimes means fights over the last item on the shelf and general Black Friday craziness.

What to expect this year?

BestBlackFriday.com is predicting Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales will see a huge boost from online buyers this year.

Thanksgiving day spending at brick and mortar stores is expected to be about $3.79 billion, up about 19 percent from 2014. That upswing is due mostly to the increased number of stores opening on Thanksgiving this year. Black Friday spending at brick and mortar stores is expected to be about $8.8 billion, a drop of about 3 percent.

How to survive Black FridayBlack Friday is right around the corner. For many people that means planning an early Thanksgiving dinner and then waiting in line all night for a chance at getting a discount on your Christmas shopping. If you are one of those people, weve put together a video on how to handle yourself when wading into the Black Friday crowds.

Online sales are where retailers will see the biggest change. Thanksgiving day online sales will be about $1.5 billion, an increase of 49 percent over 2014. Black Friday online spending will be $1.85 billion, up 23 percent.

And where are the biggest bargains?

Bestblackfriday.comdetermined the average discount on sale items for three major retailers. Amazon came in with an average discount of 25-30 percent; Walmart"s average discount was between 30-25 percent; and Target"s was 35-40 percent.

Who is open and who is closed?

If you"re curious about who is open on Thanksgiving, you can use this list as a guide. Local stores sometimes set their own hours so be sure to check. You can go to BestBlackFriday.com to see more.

Retailers closed on Thanksgiving

• Ace Hardware (locally owned stores closed)
• AT&T (customer service will remain open; retail stores will close)
• Barnes & Noble
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Burlington
• Cabela"s
• Costco
• Crate and Barrel
• Dillard"s
• DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse
• GameStop
• Guitar Center
• H&M
• Harbor Freight
• Hobby Lobby
• Home Depot
• HomeGoods
• IKEA
• Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores
• Lowe"s
• Marshalls
• Mattress Firm
• Neiman Marcus
• Patagonia
• Petco
• PetSmart
• Pier 1 Imports
• Publix
• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Sam"s Club
• Staples
• T.J.Maxx
• True Value
• Von Maur

Hours for major retailers

Many stores will open on Thanksgiving. Here are some of the Nov. 26-27 Thanksgiving/Black Friday sale hours.

• Target 6 p.m. Thursday midnight Fridays
• Walmart 6 p.m. Thursday
• JC Penny 3 p.m. Thursday
• Best Buy 5 p.m. Thursday 1 a.m. Friday
• Belk 6 p.m. Thursday
• Sears 6 p.m. Thursday 2 a.m. Friday

Check out the ads

(Click on the name to see Thanksgiving/Black Friday ads)

HP

J.C. Penney

CVS

Amazon

Kmart

Kohl"s

Lowe"s

Macy"s

Michael"s

Office Depot and OfficeMax

Old Navy

Overstock

Rite Aid

Sam"s Club

Sears

Staples

Target

Toys R Us

Walgreens

Walmart

More ads and deals

Dell $149 laptop, $99 desktop, $49 Bose headphones

Wal-Mart toy book, $199 Apple iPad Mini 2

Wal-Mart Black Friday sales 2015: $29 iPod Shuffle, $199 Apple iPad Mini

Dell offers Xbox One for $299.99, Alienware 15 laptop for $1,199

Dollar General Thanksgiving Day sale, Rite Aid Black Friday sale

Amazon rolling out a deal every 5 minutes starting Friday

PetSmart, Sam"s, Five Below, Home Depot, GameStop, Michael"s, Ulta

Target, Amazon, K-Mart toy books

Sears, NY & Co., e-Bay, JCPenny, PetSmart, Walgreens

CVS, Ashley Furniture, Costco, Big Lots, Cabela"s, Zales

Lowe"s, Gander Mountain. Groupon, d**k"s, K-Mart

Ace Hardware"s Craftsman deals, hhgregg, Pier One

Belk will open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Nov. 26

Black Friday 2015 sales live now: Amazon, Walmart, Kohls, Belk, Best Buy, Macy"s, Toys R Us, Target

Walmart"s Black Friday sale is live online now: More deals to come

Black Friday 2015 sales live now: Amazon, Walmart, Kohls, Belk, Best Buy, Macy"s, Toys R Us, Target

Want some free shipping?

If you"re done with Black Friday shopping and still have a couple of items on your list, check out the online sales and their shipping terms. Here"s a list of those offering free or reduced shipping this year:

• Apple Free shipping, no minimum
• Best Buy Free shipping, no minimum
• Dell Free shipping, no minimum
• e-Bay Free shipping on select items, including deals of the day
• Gander Mountain Free shipping, no minimum
• Goody"s Free shipping, no minimum
• hhgregg Free shipping, no minimum
• Microsoft Free shipping, no minimum
• Sports Authority Free shipping, no minimum
• Target Free shipping, no minimum
• Free shipping with minimum purchase
• Amazon Free shipping with $35 minimum purchase
• American Eagle Free shipping with $25 minimum purchase
• Barnes and Nobles Free shipping with $25 minimum purchase
• Bass Pro Shop Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase
• Bed Bath and Beyond Free shipping with $49 minimum purchase
• Belk Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase
• Cabela"s Free shipping with $99 minimum purchase
• Hallmark Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase
• Harbor Freight Most items ship for $6.99
• Home Depot Free shipping with $43 minimum purchase
• K-Mart Free shipping with $49 minimum purchase
• Kohl"s Free shipping with $75 minimum purchase
• Lowe"s Free shipping with $19 minimum purchase
• Macy"s Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase
• Office Depot and Office Max Free shipping with $35 minimum purchase
• Old Navy Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase
• Overstock Free shipping and $50 minimum purchase
• Petco Free shipping with $49 minimum purchase
• Sears Free shipping with $49 minimum purchase
• Staples Free shipping with $49 minimum purchase
• Toys R Us Free shipping with $19 minimum purchase
• Walgreens Free shipping with $35 minimum purchase
• Wal-Mart Free shipping with $35 minimum purchase
• Other
• PetSmart 99 cent shipping with no minimum purchase

What"s next?

Cyber Monday is Nov. 30. We"ll be rolling out the Cyber Monday ads today and tomorrow.

Source: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/11/black_friday_2015_walmart_targ.html