Like the arrival of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, each year retailers deliver a host of deals, discounts and freebies for shoppers as part of a highly anticipated shopping event called Black Friday, which falls on the day after Thanksgiving.

Read more: The best days to shop between now and Christmas, according to Clark Howard

Are you really getting the best deal on Black Friday?

Many of the deals are legitimate bargains, but others are nothing more than ordinary sales wrapped in shiny packaging. How can you tell the difference? We have the secrets you need to know about the annual discount shopping bonanza, which this year is November 24.

1. Doorbusters are few and far between

Doorbusters are the blockbusters of Black Friday. They’re deeply discounted products that are available for only a limited window of time — usually on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday. The products look good, and the prices certainly sound good, but the reality of actually getting your hands on one of these items isn’t so rosy.

In 2015, for instance, Sears plastered a Kenmore Elite washer and dryer on the front page of its Black Friday ad, with the promise of 51% off on the pair. But the fine print below the deal revealed that there were approximately only four available per store.

The story is similar at other retailers. If you don’t secure a spot at the front of the line or log online the moment a sale starts, you could miss your shot at these big deals. Shoppers should look for stores with doorbuster guarantees. In some cases, as long as you arrive at a certain time, you can be guaranteed the low price.

2. Discounts are often inflated

Deals can be difficult to grab, but they can also be misleading. Major department stores routinely inflate the amount of some of their Black Friday discounts to make deals appear better than they actually were.

Ac couple of years ago, The Keurig K45 Elite Single-Serve Coffee or Tea Brewing System was on sale for $89.99 at Macy’s and Kohl’s during Black Friday 2015 and for $89.98 at Stage. But each of these retailers advertised a different regular retail price: $174.99 for Macy’s, $149.99 for Kohl’s and $119.98 for Stage. If you shopped at Macy’s, it looked like you were saving $85, but at Kohl’s, it appeared you were saving only $60 — despite the fact that the product was on sale for the identical price.

If you shop this year on Black Friday, don’t pay attention to the supposed percentage of the discounts. Instead, judge the value of a product based on the sale price and how it compares with the item’s price at other stores.

3. Price matching may be exempt

Price matching is a common practice that allows customers to show retailers proof of a lower price elsewhere on an identical product and ask the store to match that competitor’s price.

But many retailers suspend their price-matching policies on Black Friday. At Target, “Price matches and adjustments to competitors will not be allowed for prices from Thanksgiving Day through the entire week after Thanksgiving (11/23/2017 – 12/2/2017).”

Similarly, Wal-Mart’s policy reads, “No price matches to other retailers for prices shown from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber-Monday,” which this year is November 27.

When price matching is largely off the table, it’s up to the shopper to compare prices and research which store has the best offer.

4. Fine print is everywhere

Finally, even if you manage to avoid all of the above tricks and traps, you could still be faced with more fine print. Retailers have a way of making some sales difficult to actually claim.

Certain deals may require completion of a mail-in rebate. Other products are available at their advertised sale price only for a few hours and then go up in price. Keep an eye out for such fine print and exclusions — usually located at the bottom of a Black Friday ad or beneath individual deals within the ad — so you aren’t surprised when you get to the store on Black Friday.

Read more: Here’s a long list of retailers that will be closed on Thanksgiving this year

Why you don’t want to buy gift cards for the holidays

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Courtney Jespersen is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:[email protected]. Twitter: @courtneynerd.