Buying Guide Guides
3 articles
14 min read
The Black Friday Mattress Playbook: When to Buy, What to Avoid, and Why Most Sales Are Lies
A queen mattress that costs $280 to manufacture sells for $1,899 in November and $1,499 on Black Friday. The math behind the markup, and the two weekends that actually beat it.
A. Tomlin·Mar 11, 2026
15 min readHoliday TV Shopping: Decoding Model Numbers and "Door-Buster" Tricks
Most Black Friday TVs aren't last year's premium model with a price cut. They're a model number that didn't exist six months ago, with a different panel sourced cheaper. Reading the suffix tells you which is which.
Hilda S. Park·Apr 1, 2026
13 min readBack-to-School Without the Back-to-School Tax
The back-to-school season is two markets at once: genuine loss-leader bargains on supplies, and a hidden markup on backpacks and dorm goods. Here's where to spend, where to wait, and which state tax-free weekends actually matter.
A. Tomlin, Buying Guides Editor·Mar 24, 2026