When is Black Friday?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 2026 to 2035

Where the date comes from

Thanksgiving Day is one of the eleven US federal holidays listed by the US Office of Personnel Management, fixed on the fourth Thursday in November by a law of 1941. The following Friday became the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States. The name is often explained as the day stores went from loss, in red, to profit, in black; it was first used by police in Philadelphia in the 1960s to describe the traffic and crowds.

Black Friday in the UK

British retailers began to promote Black Friday in the early 2010s, and online shops did most to spread it. Today offers often run through the whole of the last week of November, sometimes called Black Friday week, and Cyber Monday extends them into the following week. For anyone budgeting, the timing matters: in most years Black Friday comes just before or just after the last payday of November, which many employers pay on the last working day of the month. The simulator under the summary shows that date next to Black Friday for any year.

Delivery and Christmas

From Black Friday there are usually 26 to 32 days left until Christmas. Parcel networks are at their busiest from Black Friday to mid-December, and last recommended posting dates for Christmas fall in the third week of December. The Christmas countdown gives the days and sleeps left, and the Christmas bank holidays page shows which days in late December are not working days, which affects delivery promises counted in working days. The Boxing Day sales are covered there too.

Comparing prices

Consumer groups often find that many Black Friday prices were matched or beaten at other times of the year. Price-tracking tools and a retailer's own price history can show whether a discount is real. For large purchases, compare the Black Friday price with the price in the January sales, which begin on Boxing Day, before deciding.

Online orders placed over the Black Friday weekend can usually be cancelled within the standard cancellation period for distance sales; the retailer's terms give the details, and gift receipts make returns easier after Christmas.