Many people have been logging on to Black Friday websites to get the early word about retail deals well in advance of the Friday after Thanksgiving. Retailers have just barely been tolerating the existence of these sites. After all, they don't really want their competition to know about their pricing. Now Wal-Mart has had its lawyers send nasty cease-and-desist letters to several Black Friday websites. But this has only created more interest in people about these sites. Clark thinks some off-shore website will probably publish the Black Friday prices and there won't be anything Wal-Mart can do about it.

But are you as a consumer prepared to get up at 3 a.m. and wait in the dark before a store opens just to get a deal? Clark certainly won't be doing that. As an alternative, keep in mind that online retailers start offering their big deals on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to work. There's a temptation to think that everyone is shopping online these days. But the reality is that only about five percent of all purchases are made online. Most holiday shopping is still done in person because customers want to see and touch the merchandise. One thing that people don't mind buying online is electronics. Clark predicted in March or April that GPS units would be the big electronics item this Christmas. He was wrong; they're about the fifth most wanted item. But the price could be right this season. The Kansas City Star reports that GPS units were around $1,000 two years ago. Last Christmas they were an average of $433. This holiday season they'll probably be in the $100-$200 range. Clark has a GPS he loves that cost him around $160.