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The Best Deals from Walmart's Early Black Friday Deals for Days Event

Photo: Sarah Kobos

Walmart is officially joining the early Black Friday rush. The first of Walmart's "Deals for Days" sales began on November 3 and continues until Sunday, November 7. Although more early Black Friday sales are good in theory, especially since shipping delays and stock issues are weighing heavily on people's minds this year, this first offering from Walmart has left us with a single question: Where are the deals?

Despite all of the promotional hubbub, so far we've found only a few worthwhile deals on Wirecutter picks among Walmart's offerings. The retailer will have a second early Black Friday sale from November 10 through 14, and while that sale will offer a slightly more promising assortment of discounts, we still think that most of the best Walmart deals will appear closer to Black Friday. That doesn't mean you shouldn't still be looking right now—if you see something specific on your list and you're worried about Christmas gifts arriving before January, it's still wiser to get your shopping done sooner rather than later.

But if you just can't wait to get your hands on a Wirecutter pick from Walmart, or if you're a regular Walmart shopper, Walmart+ may be worth your attention. The Walmart+ program gives members a head start on a number of Black Friday deals, starting at 3 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. Eastern (shoppers who are not Walmart+ members don't get access until 7 p.m. Eastern). This window of time could include early access to a rumored restock of the hotly sought-after PlayStation 5. However, unless you plan on frequently ordering all your essentials and groceries from Walmart, a Walmart+ membership probably isn't worth the $100 a year or $13 a month for most people.

The Best Early Walmart Deals

If you're one of the few people who have yet to invest in a robot vacuum, this is a great opportunity to pick one up for cheap. A variant of our budget robot vacuum pick, the Eufy Robovac 25c is a capable cleaner with strong suction power and Wi-Fi connectivity. Deals on these vacuums have become more rare, and this price matches the lowest we saw during Walmart's last Black Friday sale.

While it's not the exact same model, this close-cousin of our top robot vacuum is part of the Roomba 600 series bots. These intrepid navigators work every day (that you schedule them to), keeping your space tidy and making cleaning a breeze. The 670 also gives you Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing you to control it via the app or with your voice through a smart assistant.

As long as you're fine with the potential privacy concerns of sending off your DNA to a for-profit company for analysis, this is a solid deal on our top pick for best DNA testing kit. AncestryDNA stood out as the best DNA testing service because it provided test results in a clearer manner than other services we tested. Like 23andMe, Ancestry participates in biomedical research with both for-profit and nonprofit groups, but it shares anonymized data and does so only with customers' explicit consent.

If your friends and family have begged you to stop giving macaroni art for Christmas but you're still in the DIY-gift spirit, an electronic cutting machine is a great way to step up your game. The Cricut Maker, our upgrade electronic cutting machine pick, is a pricey but worthwhile machine if you're serious about your cutting craft. It's one of the fastest machines we've tested (twice as fast as our top pick), can cut more materials (including fabric and balsa wood), and it's the quietest cutter we tested. While it may drop a little lower for Black Friday, this is still a solid chance to save.

About your guide

Dan Kim

Senior Staff Writer, Deals

Dan Kim is a senior staff writer for the Deals Team at Wirecutter and has been covering everything related to deals since 2016. When he's not hip-deep in the trenches combing through deals on our picks, he enjoys writing about video games, computers, gaming accessories, and tech that he can't afford.