The Thanksgiving holiday usually comes with family, friends, food comas, and for those who enjoy shopping, some of the best deals of the year.

Unfortunately, if people are not careful it can be easy to get warped into sales that are really no different from the rest of the year.

“I’m not interested in the Black Friday deals mostly because I think it is just another capitalist tool to keep broke people broke, and rich people rich, “ said Joshua Chamble, senior child development, and family studies student.

“The deals usually aren’t as great as people think.”

Originating in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, the term Black Friday was once used to describe the heavy traffic and number of people in town after the Thanksgiving holiday. Years later, the term was utilized by retailers to describe a profit from being “in the red” to being  “in the black.”

In recent years, Black Friday has turned into Black Thursday with some retailers offering promotional sales on items from clothes to toys, and opening as early as 5:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving day.

The good news is a majority of retailers will offer some of the same sales throughout the entire weekend both online and in-store, which would give opportunities for every type of shopper to purchase items.

Stores including Belk, JCPenney, and Kohl’s will help people save the most money on everyday items by having some of the largest percent discounts ranging from 60-68 percent off of various products, according to WalletHub. These department stores will also offer extended sale hours into Saturday afternoon.

For those looking to secure big electronics; Target, Walmart and Best Buy will have some of the best options on a limited amount of smart televisions, game consoles, and small appliances.

To avoid lines, crowds, and dangers that often accompany Black Friday there is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is also an available option for purchasing Holiday wish list items without ever leaving the bed.

“I think Cyber Monday is worth it, but I think Black Friday just has people putting material things over people, and use it as an excuse to be heinous individuals,” said Raegan Brown, senior computer engineering and computer science student.

Amazon’s Black Friday deals will start on Friday, Nov. 16, providing a full week for shoppers to get deals on Amazon Fire Sticks, Alexa technology and the array of products sold through their external retailers.

eBay has also started early sales where a variety of different brand electronics will have discounts of hundreds of dollars off if caught at the right time.

Whether interested in going out to the major retailers to take advantage of doorbusters, or preferring to shop online from home, there are plenty of deals to go around. With a little research and planning, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can assist with getting some holiday shopping out of the way early along with lower prices.