Cyber Monday: Best Day for Online Deals?

Black Friday -- retailers' big sale day on the Friday after Thanksgiving -- is what traditionally gets most of the attention. But the past four years, there's been talk of Cyber Monday -- the Monday after Black Friday -- being just as big of a shopping day.

The term was coined by retailers in 2005 to drive people to shop online on Monday for sales they missed on Black Friday. But according to Dan de Grandpre, CEO of Dealnews.com, with more retailers starting online sales earlier, Cyber Monday is no longer the day to get the best deals online.

De Grandpre told Walletpop that "we'll see 80 to 90 percent of tech doorbusters available online this year, with a lower percentage of apparel and other soft goods." The best deals will still be on Black Friday, he said, but Thanksgiving day itself will also be a big day for online sales since most Black Friday deals will be available by midday on Thanksgiving day.

So if you want the Black Friday prices, but don't want to face the crowds in person, PC World compiled a few tips for how to get the best deals online:

• Use price-comparison sites like PriceGrabber and Shopping.com to determine whether the Black Friday deal you're seeing is in fact the best deal online.

• Some sales will go live on Thanksgiving day, others will start between midnight and 3 a.m. Sites like BFAds.com will let you know when sales go live.

• Plan ahead by going to a retailer's site early, picking out what you want and adding it to your shopping cart. On Thanksgiving day, see if the products you want are available at Black Friday prices.

And this year, according to Time.com , both Black Friday and Cyber Monday will have competition from a new day called Free Shipping Day. Dec. 17 marks a day when some 500 retailers are expected to give out free shipping if you order something online from them that day. A list of participating retailers is been posted on FreeShippingDay.com .