Black Friday scams you'll want to avoid

• A new poll finds 76% of shoppers would gladly give something up in order to not have to deal with Black Friday chaos, while 26% would actually rather have root canal than deal with the craziness
• If you do shop on Black Friday, you’ll want to keep an eye out for four typical holiday scams by stores
• Doorbusters are rarely easy to get, while discounts may not be as good as they appear, price matching is often not available, and a lot of stores have conditions on sales, so read the fine print 

Black Friday is almost here and while some people love to head to the store to snag deals, there are plenty of people who can’t think of a worse way to spend the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, a new eBay poll findsthat 76% of shoppers would gladly give something up in order to not have to deal with Black Friday chaos, while 26% would actually rather have root canal than deal with the craziness.

But if you are actually one of those nutty people that plan to shop on Black Friday, you’re going to want to be careful not to be tricked by the stores. Many will promise deals that look too good to be true, and in many cases they are. “Money” has come out with four common Black Friday scams you may want to beware of or else you’ll be regretting that trip to the store. They include:

• Doorbusters – Lots of stores will be offering some insane deals to get you into the store, but unless you line up days before Black Friday you aren’t likely to get your hands on them. These Doorbusters are often “limited quantity,” which can sometimes translate to as little as four items. Instead, look for Doorbuster guarantees, in which stores often guarantee a price as long as you arrive by a certain time.
• Discounts aren’t as good as advertised – Stores will often inflate the original price of an item to make it look like the discount you’re getting is more substantial than it really is. To avoid being tricked, don’t pay attention to the percentage of the discount, and instead try and find out how much the actual price of the item is at other stores to see if you’re really getting a deal. 
• Price matching may be exempt – When it isn’t the holidays many stores will match a cheaper price found at a competitor, but often from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, stores will suspend or limit the policy. Because of this, shoppers really need to be careful to comparison shop to make sure they're getting the best price. 
• Fine print makes a difference – Stores go out of their way to make it difficult for shoppers to get deals, with the fine print on advertised sales often revealing that they aren't as good a they seem. Such fine print is usually located t the bottom of an ad, so make sure you know all the info before you start shopping.

Source: Money