Conor Pope rounds up the best Black Friday deals

Some Black Friday sales started in Ireland last week and everyone from Argos to Zara is now promising discounts of anywhere between 20 and 70 per cent.

Among those who have announced sales to date are:

Aer Lingus: With its Black Flyday deals, the local airline wins the cute play on words award this year. It is promising €100 off some transatlantic flights – although you do have to fly as far as the west coast of the US to make the biggest savings.

All Saints: The clothes retailer is offering "30 per cent off everything", and its website is also promising free delivery on orders of over €150.

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Amazon: Kindles and Echoes are selling with discounts of up to 40 per cent while some products are similarly discounted.

Ancestry.ie: From now until next Monday, its DNA kits are down to €55 from €95.

Argos: Deals include €480 for a sim-free Samsung Galaxy S8, which had been priced at €780. A rose gold Fitbit Charges which had a retail price of €190 can now be bought in the shop for €130. It is, however worth pointing out that – as with many other retailers – questions should always be asked about the pricing. While the Galaxy may have cost €780, it can also be found selling for around €500 in multiple locations outside of sale periods, suggesting that the discounting is not quite as profound as it might appear.

Arnotts: is not having a Black Friday sale. It is however having a Christmas Mega Event which sees 20 per cent knocked off most of its stock. There are a whole lot of impressive deals to be found on the shop floor and if you find you can't wait until the Winter Sales which start in four or five weeks, now might be the time to shop there.

Booking.com: The hotel booking website is promising 40 per cent off stays at its participating hotels, apartments, B&Bs, holiday homes and villas between now and November 27th with the savings to apply for a stay between December 2018 and March 2019.

Boots: If you are in the market for knockdown fragrances, then Boots is definitely worth a look with many recognisable brands selling with as much as 50 per cent off. We are not entirely sure why Boots – the chemist – is selling Soda Streams but the Black Friday price of €49.99 is a lot less than the full price of €125.99 they list. The Fitbit Charge €105 – a saving of €30 – it is also €30 cheaper than the Argos sale price although it is the regular black rubber version.

Brown Thomas: Just like Arnotts, BT has turned its nose up at Black Friday and is instead having a pre-Christmas sale which lasts until midnight on Monday. There is a dizzying array of high-end bags, glad rags and all manner of other stuff on offer and if you are in the market for a swish Christmas present than now might be as good a time as any to buy it there.

Call of The Wild: This outdoor sports retailer has shops in Galway, Sligo and Castlebar. It is not offering discounts on Black Friday but it will give 10 per cent of its sales today to charity. It did the same thing last year and supported Ability West in Galway and the North West Hospice in Sligo.

Chupi.com: The Irish jewelry maker has four very attractive sounding deals this weekend. If you spend more than €179 you get a free piece worth €119. Spend €489 and you get a solid gold ring worth €179 – with further enticements for bigger spenders. We like the code you have to enter to avail of the deals – "made with love".

Copeland, Louis: The most famous tailor in Ireland is offering discounts from Friday to Sunday and customers in the market for a suit or some class of smart casual wear can look forward to 20 per cent discounts.

Currys/PC World: Not so much a Black Friday "event", but a Black Tag one. There are some great deals on offer here. There's €250 of a 50" LG TV. Laptops, fitness trackers, speakers and a whole lot more have also been substantially discounted.

Debenhams: This retailer is running a Black Friday Spectacular with "12 days of amazing deals" – last year there were only seven days of amazing deals if memory serves us correctly. Offers will come and go each day until Monday. When we checked on Wednesday the best deals – up to 50 per cent – were to be found in women's clothes and children's toys. There were also big savings to be made in the Craghoppers outdoor wear brand.

DID: This retailer is promising discounts of as much as 70 per cent – and if you are in need of a big ticket item and can cut the price by that amount then now will definitely be the time to buy.

Eurocamp.ie: You will struggle to find a better value family holiday than a camping one. Eurocamp is promising people some early summer sun for as little as €20 per party, per night in dozens of campsites across Europe. The cheapest deals are to be found from the start of May next year to the May 24th with the prices rising in the selected sites to €40 per party, per night between May 25th and June 30th, 2019.

Elverys: The sports shop is running a buy one, get one half price set of deals until the close of business on Monday.

Gutter Bookshop: No Black Friday deals but – arguably – a more important message which the bookshop posted on Twitter yesterday. "Ok, as #BlackFriday frenzy starts, please remember that local independent shops can't afford to half-price their stock right before Christmas. Try to keep a bit of money back to support local too - they pay taxes, employ staff & they make our towns nicer places to be! #ShopLocal."

HandyHardware.ie: This palace of DIY has joined the madness with many discounts on serious looking kit. The DEWALT DCD796 XR Brushless Compact Hammer Drill Drive, for instance comes with "an ultra compact, lightweight design that makes it perfect for use in confined spaces". The shop also tells us that the "two speed all metal transmission provides increased runtime and longer tool life with drill driver and hammer features for multiple applications." They had us at "Hammer Drill" to be honest. The price is marked down from €612 to €236 which seems like a massive discount to us.

Harvey Norman: Harvey Norman is rarely found wanting when it comes to the sales stakes so it is hardly a surprise that it is taking Black Friday very seriously. It is offering up to 30 per cent off TVs, as much as €400 off laptops, up to 50 per cent off tables and chairs and mattresses and up to 60 per cent off bedroom furniture. It is also promising to price-match its competitors.

Lidl: We like the look of the Lidl Black Friday sale which – weirdly – actually starts on Friday. The Nutribullets for €50 are very good value for money and are, Lidl say, half price. We have seen them selling for less than €100 elsewhere although never as cheap as €50. The weird looking heated shoulder pads are also half price down from €20 to €10. We also like the look of the 50" Philips smart tellies for €400 - down from €549.

Littlewoods Ireland: Maybe this retailer should change its name to Hugewoods because it is promising "huge deals" on large amounts of stock. There are pages and pages of deals to scroll through so if you're in the market for bargains you should probably have a look here.

McCauley, Sam: We came across some pretty impressive sounding deals in this chemists. There is a Lancome Beauty Box Set that once cost €254 but now costs €77 and a DJI Spark Drone which was once priced at €600 is now €250.

Mothercare: Babies are many things but cheap is not one of them so anything that can be done to take the sting out of the costs it to be welcomed. Mothercare's Black Friday sale started earlier this week and runs until Monday. The Quinny Moodd 3 Piece Bundle is now €705, a saving of €359, the Comb AxissFix Plus Car Seat is €329, down from €499.99 and the Tommee Tippee Complete Feeding set is now €69.99, a discount of €130. There are also big discounts on toys and clothes for babies and their mammies.

O'Briens Wine: Chances are there will be some wine drunk across Ireland over the weeks ahead which is why the O'Briens Wine Black Friday sale is so timely. There are offers on over 200 Christmas wines, bubbles and spirits.

Peter Mark: This is an area which leaves us mystified, to be honest. But €30 off the Original Mark IV ghd stylers, €25 off select ghd stylers and €25 off the incredible L'Oréal Steampod and DAFNI heated hairbrushes in salons nationwide and online might be enough to pique your interest.

Ryanair: The airline is celebrating Cyber Week with new deals being rolled out each day. When we checked on Wednesday we could have got to either Rotterdam or Manchester for €7.99.

Smyths Toys: Although Irish parents are fortunate that Santa Claus takes care of many of the gifts which will be found under Christmas trees across the land this year, this retailer will probably still be quite busy in the run up to the big day. A Barbie Dream House which once cost €300 now costs €240 and there are also a lot of discounted Lego products and FIFA 19 style game available. There is a tenner off Hatchamils – which if memory serves us correctly – was the must have present a year or two ago.

South William Clinic and Spa: This Dublin city spa has range of offers across treatments and gift sets but what struck us as a real bargain were the gift cards. You can buy a €100 gift card for €59 or a €500 gift card for €269.

Tayto Park: Season tickets to Tayto Park are being sold with a €50 discount on Friday.

TUI: The tour operator is promising discounts of €50 per booking on short and mid-haul package holidays or an extra €100 discount per booking on holidays to Mexico.

Virgin Mobile: RED is apparently the new black at Virgin Media as it continues with 12 days' offers up to November 26th. Virgin Media TV and broadband customers can get four months free unlimited 4G data, calls and texts on a 30-day SIM only contract, a saving of €100. Non-Virgin Media customers who sign up to Broadband, TV and Phone bundles from €59 for 12 months can get a free 32" LG smart TV.

Zara: These people took us by surprise by having a Black Friday sale, details of which were only made aware to us very recently. The shop is pretty cheap at the best of times so with discounts promised of 50 per cent it is worth looking out for. And it allowed us to complete our A-Z of Black Friday deals which made us eternally grateful.