Walmart’s first big holiday sale of the season goes live today, with Early Black Friday Deals running from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15. The event opens online at 12:01 a.m. ET and in stores from 6 a.m. local time, and it is the first of three sale waves the retailer has planned before Christmas.
Walmart+ members get the first crack at select online-only hot Deal drops for 24 hours, with what is left opening to all shoppers at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, November 13. The deals span TVs, toys and home goods, with discounts of up to 50 percent expected on headline categories, according to deal trackers monitoring the event.
Three Waves Before Christmas
The November 12 event is only the start. Walmart’s main Black Friday Deals run November 23 to 29, opening online first with in-store prices starting at 6 a.m. on Black Friday itself, Friday, November 27. Cyber Monday deals then run November 30 to December 2. Walmart stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, as in recent years.
Other chains are already in the holiday season too. Target has run a Deal of the Day every day since November 1, with a new offer daily through Christmas Eve and a Holiday Price Match Guarantee over the same dates. Costco’s first round of holiday savings runs through November 15, with a second round from November 16 to 30. Best Buy’s early deals began November 6, with its Black Friday Doorbusters running November 19 to 28, while Kohl’s Black Friday Week runs November 22 to 28.
What Shoppers Should Watch
The early start changes the maths for bargain hunters. Yesterday’s preview of the Walmart event set out the three-wave calendar, and today’s launch is the moment to check whether the headline prices are genuinely lower than the everyday price, not just lower than a briefly inflated list price. Price-match guarantees help: Target will match its own later price drops through December 24, and Costco will refund the difference if its price falls within 30 days, according to deal trackers.
Amazon and Macy’s have still not announced their 2026 Black Friday dates, so more events are likely to be confirmed in the coming days. With Black Friday itself still two weeks away, the advice from seasoned deal watchers is the same as ever: make a short list, set a budget, and buy the item you actually need when the price is right, rather than chasing every doorbuster. The deals will keep coming, but the best ones rarely wait around.
