Black Friday specials: Bundles of joy, or retail sales trick?

One way retailers can bump up their average sales ticket while still offering savings for their customers is through bundling, or offering savings when you buy several items—say, a TV bundled with a Blu-ray player or sound system—as an assembled package.

Based on what we've seen so far, this is a tactic Walmart and some other retailers, such as Best Buy, will be using as part of their Black Friday strategies. This week, for example, Walmart's pre-Black Friday sales include several TV-based bundles. One $698 package combines a 40-inch 1080p LCD TV, a BD-Live Blu-ray player, and a 2.1-channel sound bar, all from a brand called Viore, which is sold primarily through Walmart (although we've also seen it at the company's Sam's Club warehouse outlets).

If you're more comfortable with a better-known TV brand and can live with a standard upconverting DVD player, there are two Vizio bundles, each of which provides a choice of TVs in two screen sizes. One package combines either a 37- or 42-inch 1080p Eco-series (VO370M, VO420M) LCD TV, at a price of $677 or $767, with an RCA-brand DVD home theater system and an HDMI cable. These TVs are selling separately on the Walmart website for for $547 and $648, respectively.

A different bundle packages the RCA DVD home theater system with either a 42-inch 1080p LCD (model SV420M, $888) or 47-inch 1080p (model SV470M, $1,074) and an HDMI cable. Both of these TVs have 120Hz technology to help reduce motion blur, plus the HDMI cable. Vizio sells these TVs separately for $797 and $997, respectively.

I can't be sure, but it looks like the bundled RCA system is sold separately by Walmart for $147, so you'll have to weigh the value of saving around $60 or $70 by buying the items together. You'll save even less with the Eco-series bundles.

An even lower price—$728— is offered on a similar bundle, but with Sanyo's 42-inch 1080p LCD, model DP42849. Like the other packages, it includes an HDMI cable. The TV itself sells for $628, so you'd save $47—and get a free HDMI cable—by buying the bundle.

Based on a leaked Black Friday circular (from bfads.net) Best Buy will have its own TV bundles, with a 50-inch 1080p Panasonic plasma TV (model TC-P50U1) packaged with its DMP-BD60K Blu-ray player, all for just under $1,000. While neither model is loaded with features, you can save about $300 to $350, based on current separate prices.

We expect to see a lot of bundles this holiday season, such as video game systems bundled with "free" games or store gift cards, TVs bundled with Blu-ray players, or Blu-ray players bundled with movie titles. But you should always price these items separately to see if you're getting as good a deal as it might first appear. —James K. Willcox