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Which?-tested Black Friday buys for under £30
If you're not shopping for a 'big ticket' item such as a washing machine or television on Black Friday, it's still a good time to find discounts on smaller items and everyday essentials.
We're talking small appliances and gadgets such as handheld blenders and power banks, but also household staples such as dishwasher tablets and batteries.
The prices might be smaller by comparison, but Which? still applies the same rigour and dedication to hunting for these discounts as we do on more expensive products.
Check back once the sales start to see what we've uncovered.
When is Black Friday? Find out when the biggest sales event falls this year.
What everyday essentials does Which? test?
Over the past couple of years, we've massively expanded the range of everyday items we send to our test lab.
Everything from toilet brushes to travel mugs gets the full Which? treatment, and we're expanding our range all the time.
We regularly ask our members for their suggestions on what we should test next. From cholesterol monitors to dog harnesses, we've got all sorts of interesting tests in the pipeline.
Find out more about what we test and why and see the full list of everything we test.
Why should I shop the Black Friday sales with Which?
In previous years, we've seen discounted products that are poor-scoring or even Which? Don't Buys: simply not worth your money. Our round-up of Black Friday bargains under £30 will only include products that performed well in our test lab and are offered at a genuinely good discount. But you’ll need to read our reviews for the full picture.
Not yet a member? Sign up to Which? to get ahead with your Black Friday shopping prep.
How to get a genuinely good price this Black Friday
1. Check deals are real
Don't assume a deal is worth it just because it claims to offer a big saving.
Our Black Friday research shows that many discounted products are actually similarly priced – or even cheaper – at other times of the year.
In our 2024 investigation into Black Friday deals, we found that nine in 10 deals we analysed were cheaper or the same price at other times in the year.
Luckily, there are ways to check whether you've spotted a genuine discount. Price comparison websites such as PriceRunner, PriceSpy or, for Amazon, CamelCamelCamel can show a product's pricing history at different retailers and reveal whether a price cut is genuinely a good deal.
You can also set up notifications on specific items’ prices on comparison sites if there’s a particular product you’re after. These can help you understand what a ‘good’ price is for an item by tracking when its price goes up or down.
Get more tips on how to check if a Black Friday deal is real.
2. Shop around and use price-match schemes
An item that's discounted in one store could well be on sale for an even better price elsewhere, so it's worth shopping around to find out where it's cheapest. If you're shopping in-store, you could just do a quick online check on your phone.
You could save money if you find out that a retailer will match prices. A study we did in 2023 found that price-match schemes offered by some best-rated retailers could save shoppers as much as £300 on big-ticket purchases.
If a retailer doesn't have a price-matching policy, it might still agree to refund the difference if you challenge it about a price drop soon after you’ve bought something.
John Lewis brings back 'Never Knowingly Undersold' price promise.
3. Use Which? to shop the sales
Retailers aren't always entirely upfront about the 'special' offers they’ve got, and they have tactics that can trick you into thinking you're saving. For example, the ‘was’ prices you see in shops or online could refer to an item’s Recommended Retail Price (RRP) when it was first released, rather than its current price. So price reductions might appear better than they are, and even a price drop of 1p could be flagged as a discount.
Which? experts not only know which products are worth buying, but also whether the sales prices you see represent a genuine saving on what you'd pay normally.
Join Which? to read all our in-depth product reviews.
