Walmart is queen not only of the Black Friday sale, but of early Black Friday sales. Since 2020, Walmart has released multiple waves of official Black Friday deals in several-day chunks. And in some cases, the deals that came around during the first wave didn't come back during the second.
Here's what to expect from Walmart's 2025 Black Friday sale so that you're ready for anything.
Use our new Deal Planner™ feature in the free Krazy Coupon Lady app to set alerts when all the biggest sales drop. We'll remind you when they start so you don't miss out. Download the KCL app now.
Walmart Black Friday is a 2-part sale with different waves every year.
Since 2020, Walmart's been experimenting with multipart Black Friday sales (including a 3-part sale in some years). But for the past few years, they've settled on a 2-wave format, with one wave kicking off in early November and running a week, and then another weeklong event kicking off Thanksgiving Week. In 2024, the early Walmart Black Friday wave began Nov. 11 (and ran through the 17), and the second Walmart Black Friday wave started on Nov. 25 (and ran through Dec. 1). Walmart Cyber Monday usually kicks off on Sunday.
KCL predicts Walmart's Black Friday Sale will kick off Nov. 10 and Nov. 24 in 2025.
How do we make our prediction?
Walmart's been spreading out its Black Friday sale into multiple parts for several years. In 2020, it had three waves (each about a week long). But it's toned it down to two waves the past couple of years. In 2024, it had two waves, kicking off Monday Nov. 11 and Monday Nov. 25.
Here's how things went in 2024:
Event 1: The first wave of early Black Friday at Walmart started Nov. 11 online (noon ET for Walmart+ members and 5 p.m. ET for everyone else) and ran through Nov. 17. Deals started in stores on Nov. 15.
Event 2 began at 5 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 25, and continued in stores at 6 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 29. Walmart+ members got five hours of Early Access shopping on Nov. 25. One thing new for 2024: Walmart dropped new deals in the middle of the event, exclusively on Walmart.com and in the Walmart app.
These were the most-shopped products for Walmart Black Friday 2024:
Wonder Nation Kids' Underwear, $5 (reg. $7.98)
T-fal Cookware Set, $49.76 (reg. $129.99)
Samsung Galaxy Watch4, $99 (reg. $199.99)
Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Bundle, $249 (reg. $299)
Crocs Toddler or Kids' Clogs, $16.99 (reg. $39.99)
Paw Patrol Stories to Share Book, $5 (reg. $9.98)
Our Favorite 2024 Walmart Black Friday Deals
In addition to the most popular deals above, our editors found some other great deals, including some products at their lowest prices ever. All these deals appeared during either the first or second wave of the Walmart Black Friday sale in 2024:
Beats Solo3 Headphones, $69 (lowest price ever, Event 1 only)
AirPods Gen. 3, $94 (lowest price ever, Event 1 only)
HP 14-Inch Laptop, $124 (Event 2 only)
Mario Kart Deluxe Nintendo Switch Bundle, $249 (Event 2 only)
AirPods Pro Gen. 2, $145 (lowest price ever, Event 2 only)
65-Inch TCL 4K TV, $288 (Lowest price this screen size, Event 2 only)
Apple Watch SE, $149 (Lowest price ever, Event 2 only)
JLab Wireless Earbuds, $9.88 (60% off, Event 2 Only)
All Walmart Black Friday deals are available online first and in stores later.
In fact, deals go live online several days before they go live in stores. In 2024, for both waves, deals went live on Monday online and then Friday in stores.
Doorbusters are no longer a thing at Walmart Black Friday, but they sort of live on in the form of "Special Buys."
Walmart no longer has any exclusive in-store doorbusters. That said, when Walmart announces their Black Friday deals, pay attention to anything marked "Special Buy." This is Walmart’s term for items with super-low prices in limited quantities. Items labeled as “special buy” do drop online first (when the sale launches) and tend to sell out quickly. If stores have them stocked, you can sometimes find them there when the store deals launch on Friday.
Paid Walmart+ members get early access to Black Friday deals online five hours before everyone else.
In 2024, Walmart+ members got access to the deals five hours early for each part of the Black Friday event.
During Round 1 (which kicked off Nov. 11), a few items did end up selling out during the regular sale, but not during the early access period. It wasn't until days after the sale opened to the general public that we saw two popular deals go out of stock: A Hisense 50-inch TV for $138 and AirPods 3rd Generation for $94.
So there's really no reason to sign up for Walmart+ just to get the best Black Friday deals. The only exception would be if you're after a super hot item that's out of stock leading up to Black Friday and Walmart says they're going to restock during the early access period.
Walmart stores are closed on Thanksgiving.
Walmart stores haven’t been open on Thanksgiving since 2019.
Walmart stores open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.
Since 2020, Walmart has opened at 6 a.m. for Black Friday in-store shoppers, and it's likely that trend will continue in 2025.
Here's the deal on Walmart policies on Black Friday:
Price Matching: Walmart doesn't match any prices “that are on special events (including but not limited to clearance, Rollback, Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals, or other limited-time promotions).” So no price matching on Black Friday.
Rain Checks: Walmart never offers rain checks. If something sells out on Black Friday, you can't ask Walmart to hold that price for you until it comes back.
Shipping: Walmart shipping and store pickup are free on orders of at least $35.
Returns: Walmart extends their return policy for the holidays. For most items purchased as early as Oct. 1, you have until Jan. 31 to return them.
Walmart Cyber Monday deals will likely start the Sunday after Thanksgiving— online and in the Walmart app only.
In 2024, Walmart Cyber Monday deals started Sunday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. if you're a Walmart+ member) and ran through Dec. 2.
Walmart's Cyber Monday deals tend to be unique from their Black Friday deals. That doesn't mean they're always better, though. In 2024, we didn't see any of Walmart's Black Friday Nintendo deals come back. We also saw Walmart repeat most of its Black Friday deals, including its pricing on Apple products. But it did offer a 65-inch QLED smart TV for $387 ($120 off), a deal it didn't offer on Black Friday. And it offered a PS5 Fortnite bundle for $424.97 ($100 off) that we didn't see during Black Friday (however, this was more of a collector's item than an incredible deal).
So should you wait to shop until Cyber Monday? Definitely not. If you see a great deal during any wave of Walmart's Black Friday sale, jump on it. You could always rebuy an item and return the original if the price falls dramatically.
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