Black Friday is best known as an American tradition that saw people scooping up giant TVs for discounted prices, but the event this year, in South Africa, doesn’t just need to be about electronics.
This is because Black Friday 2021 is the perfect time to get textbooks – and other items for school – for less money.
Below are several online stores in the country which are running Black Friday promotions. Our links will either go directly to the sales page or to the home page where the sales will be updated.
Of course students, or their parents, will want to search by book name or ISBN number.
For Matric students or others who are starting university next year, getting a hold of those book detail may be tricky. The websites for the respective universities or other institutions should have the required books listed under the coursework section or in the informational pages for each module / subject.
Universities will, along with a prescribed textbooks list, also usually provide a list of approved sellers to give parents and students some direction as to where to get these books.
If you already have access to that list for your university use it to check our Black Friday deals.
New students should also be reminded that, if you’re lucky, you may find a copy of your textbook available at the school library. Usually when this is the case the books get taken fast so try and get in there before the universities close for the holidays. It’s the cheapest, legal way to get access to textbooks.
We also advise that those who prefer paper textbooks give electronic versions a try. Many universities and booksellers offer textbooks as official digital books that can be cheaper to buy even when there isn’t a sale.
Van Schaik Bookstore mentioned above offers this for many paper textbooks, a point we discussed in a feature about digital books for students. That feature has a focus on Unisa students but it should apply to many other universities too.
Other deals to look out for: stationary, food and more
While textbooks usually rival tuition as the main cost of higher education there are other expenses savvy shoppers should consider during Black Friday.
One of them is stationary. Even for those who have gone completely digital a few pens and notebooks still go a long way. Many of the bookstores linked to above have branched out into stationary too so you can look for those products while shopping for books.
Then there’s food. For the students living away from home when studying the cost of food is a constant worry so buying it in bulk during Black Friday is a good idea.
Shops such as Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Checkers, Spar, Game, Makro and more all have specials running.
In the case of food it seems that it is one of the product segments that you will usually find better deals on in store compared to shipping online.
Finally it’s worth nothing that, while Black Friday itself is on 26th November, many businesses are running their promotions until the end of the month and some even past that. If you’re working on Friday or can’t make it out during the weekend, you should still have some time to grab some deals for school.
