An AI shopping expert explains how to skip the hype, spot dupes, and save smarter this season

• Not every Black Friday deal is a steal: Experts warn that toys, gift cards, and fitness equipment are better bought later in the season.

• AI can help shoppers save smarter: Tools like Dupe.com compare millions of products instantly to spot genuine discounts and avoid impulse buys.

• Research pays off: Knowing what you want and what its really worth is the best way to protect your wallet this holiday season.

Black Friday may be the biggest shopping event of the year but that doesnt mean every doorbuster is worth your dollars. With prices fluctuating, political uncertainty affecting consumer confidence, and retailers rushing to clear inventory, many so-called discounts arent the steals they appear to be.

ConsumerAffairs interviewed Bobby Ghoshal, CEO of Dupe.com a platform that uses AI to help shoppers find affordable, high-quality alternatives to viral products to learn more about this years sales season.

From overpriced gadgets to white-label items that mimic luxury brands, Ghoshal says understanding how to separate the hype from the honest deals can make or break your holiday budget.

Best and worst Black Friday buys

The deals can be overwhelming, and it can be hard for consumers to know what deals are actually steals. Ghoshal broke down the best and worst buys to expect this Black Friday.

Best Buys:

• TVs: Black Friday has always been the best time of year to upgrade your TV. Each year we see a new doorbuster deal that breaks records from previous years. You can never go wrong upgrading your set this season. With one caveat: make sure youre purchasing one from a trusted, reliable brand. Oftentimes, retailers will push solid prices on off-brand TVs that will likely die on us before the deal does.

• Other electronics & tech gadgets: Historically, these categories deliver strong discounts during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Make sure to look at Target, Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy for the most popular items and compare prices. Some will offer bundles and others will seduce you with gift card deals.

• Beauty products: Black Friday is a great time of year to stock up on your favorite beauty must-haves. We often see store or sitewide deals boasting up to 30-50% off brands that typically dont heavily discount. You can also expect to see more bundles of products or impressive gift with purchases that make for a nice stocking stuffer.

Worst Buys:

• Toys: While you will see solid deals on toys during Black Friday, the discounts will only get deeper as Christmas approaches. Unless youre concerned that the items on your childs wish list will go out of stock early, I suggest waiting closer to Christmas.

• Gift cards: Gift cards are another item that improves around December. We see more retailers offering promotions with gift card deals. For example, if you spend $50 in-store you may receive a $10 gift card. These are great stocking stuffers and certainly worth the wait.

• Fitness Equipment: Wait until the new year for deeper discounts on fitness equipment and gym memberships. January will see much more impressive deals on these items as we all make new years resolutions to undo what the holiday season did to our health (and wallets).

Utilizing AI for holiday shopping

With so many deals to sift through, using the latest AI tools can help you speed up the process and ensure that youre getting the best deal possible.

At this point everyone should be using AI to shop, Ghoshal said. AI is good at comparing millions of products in seconds. You can do product research in seconds, so you feel less of a need to impulse buy and can make more informed purchases with confidence.

AI and data can also help you prioritize: If you have many wants, an AI tool could help rank which purchases deliver the best value given your budget.

Ghoshals biggest piece of advice for holiday shopping: do your research!

The most important thing any consumer can do this holiday season is their research, he said. There are tools available to you to eliminate post-purchase regret and allow you to stay within your budget. Know what you want, what you want to spend, and stick to it.

A change decades in the making but disputed by critics

The agency says newer evidence shows hormone therapy risks depend on age, timing and dose
Somecall it a major step toward modernizing womens health care
Some doctors still urge caution for older women and those with existing health risks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has removed the black box safety warning from most hormone therapies used to treat menopause symptoms, ending a 20-year era of caution that began after the landmark Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study. FDA said the move reflects growing scientific consensus that the dangers once associated with hormone therapybreast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clotsare not uniform and depend on a womans age, health history and the timing of treatment.

But not everyone agrees.

HHS and the FDA have claimed that the removal of the boxed warning for hormone replacement therapy will restore gold-standard science to womens health. In fact, the opposite is true. These treatments have well documented cardiovascular, cognitive and cancer safety risks," saidNina Zeldes, PhD, a health researcher at Public Citizens Health Research Group.

The black box warning, the most severe safety label a drug can carry, was added in 2003 after the WHI trials suggested higher risks for older postmenopausal women taking certain estrogen-progestin combinations. But the FDA said researchers have since clarified that those findings applied largely to women who started therapy long after menopause and were using higher doses of oral formulations no longer common today.

"Overblown press conference announcements and unsubstantiated labeling updates do not protect womens health. The FDA should advance womens health by making decisions based on high-quality data from long-term randomized controlled trials and the formal advisory committee process," Zeldes said.

Quick checklist for patients

• Consult a healthcare provider to discuss whether hormone therapy is appropriatefor you, considering age, time since menopause, personal risk factors (e.g., breast cancer, cardiovascular disease).

• Understand the form/delivery of hormone therapy (oral, patch, gel, vaginal) risks and benefits differ by route and dose.

• Ask about the timing: starting closer to menopause onset appears safer than starting many years later.

• Review any personal/family history of cancer, clotting disorders, heart disease these affect appropriateness of HT.

• Ensure regular monitoring/screening (e.g., mammography, cardiovascular risk assessment) as recommended.

• Dont assume therapy is one-size fits all individualized decision-making is key.

• If youve been avoiding therapy due to fear of warnings, ask if updated evidence/recommendations apply to your case.

Updated science and new context

Recent studies show that hormone therapy started within about 10 years of menopause, particularly for women younger than 60, carries far fewer risks and offers clear benefits for symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption, and vaginal dryness, according to the FDA. Localized, low-dose estrogenlike creams or ringshas minimal systemic absorption and is now considered safe for most women, yet the old warning covered those products too.

By lifting the black box, the FDA acknowledged that a single blanket warning no longer fits the evidence. This restores nuance and allows doctors and patients to have honest, individualized conversations, said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society, which had long urged the change.

The Menopause Society is a non-profit organization whose revenues come fromfees, exhibit/booth fees at conferences, royalties from its journal, and sales of educational materials.It has a Corporate Liaison Council (CLC) programin which companies with a business interest in menopause and mid-life womens health can join by paying annual dues (listed at US $8,000 for 2025). In return, the companies receive benefits such as complimentary membership, complimentary meeting registration, preferred exhibit space, acknowledgement at the annual meeting, website recognition, and so forth.

The list of 2025 CLC member companies (on the website) includes:

• Amgen
• Astellas
• Bayer
• Bonafide Health
• Kenvue
• Novo Nordisk

The organization recentlyannounced a major grant of $5 million from anonymous donorto support the NextGen Now initiative.The program, which is prominently funded by large gifts, is aimed at a large scale training goal (25,000 professionals) and includes digital and video components.

"Well-documented safety risks"

Public Citizen charged that HHS and the FDA have claimed that the removal of the boxed warning for hormone replacement therapy will "restore gold-standard science to womens health" when "in fact, the opposite is true."

Public Citizen said the HRT treatments "have well documented cardiovascular, cognitive and cancer safety risks. Overblown press conference announcements and unsubstantiated labeling updates do not protect womens health." It said the FDA should advance womens health by making decisions based on high-quality data from long-term randomized controlled trials and the formal advisory committee process.

In todays announcement the FDA also seemed to blatantly promote the off-label use of hormone replacement therapy for some conditions for which it is not approved, such as preventing cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline. Unsubstantiated claims by senior FDA officials about the effectiveness of hormone replacement therapy for unapproved indications undermines public trust in the agencys decision-making.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has consistently recommended against hormone replacement therapy for the prevention of chronic conditions in post-menopausal women. Instead of making unsubstantiated claims about improving womens health, the FDA should encourage or fund research that establishes the benefits and risks of short-term and long-term use of hormone replacement therapy, it concluded.

The result might be slightly lower payments but inflated prices and lower equity build-up

Trump suggests 50-year mortgage as a fix for the housing crisis
Economists warn longer loans could inflate prices even more
Borrowers would pay far more interest over time

Trump floats longer mortgage terms

Former President Donald Trump has proposed a 50-year mortgage as a possible solution to the nations housing affordability crisis. Speaking recently about ways to ease the financial strain on homebuyers, Trump said extending the standard mortgage term from 30 to 50 years could make monthly payments more affordable and unlock a market frozen by high interest rates and soaring home prices.

Under his idea, borrowers would have two additional decades to repay their loans, potentially reducing monthly payments. However, economists caution that such a change could have major unintended consequences.

Economists see risk of higher prices

Housing experts were quick to point out that longer loan terms would also mean slower equity growth and much higher lifetime interest costs.

A 50-year mortgage results in almost double the interest payments of a 30-year mortgage, said Joel Berner of Realtor.com, in comments to CBS News. It also delays the path to meaningful home equity.

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told Business Insider that the plan could undermine homeownerships traditional role in wealth building.

If the goal is to get people access to homeownership as a way to accumulate wealth, the 50-year mortgage could actually defeat that purpose, Fairweathersaid.

Slower equity and more debt

Analysts warn that spreading loan payments over 50 years would make it harder for homeowners to build equity and could push housing prices even higher. Easier credit terms tend to increase demand without adding to supply, driving up prices across the market.

They also note that while a longer term might lower monthly payments by a few hundred dollars on a typical $600,000 home, the total interest paid over five decades would be dramatically higher. Property taxes, insurance, and maintenance would continue to rise with inflation, potentially offsetting any short-term relief.

Underlying problem: lack of supply

Most economists agree that the root of the housing crisis lies in too few homes being built. They argue that expanding supply through new construction, zoning reforms, and faster permitting would have a more lasting impact than extending loan terms.

As one analyst put it, increasing access to credit without addressing supply could be like pouring gasoline on a fire fueling demand and pushing home prices even further out of reach for first-time buyers.

How to quickly spot these "lower price tags

• Target is cutting prices on about 3,000 everyday items (pantry, baby, cleaning) through the holidays, but prices can vary by store and AK/HI are excluded

• Shoppers can spot real drops by looking for fresh new lower price shelf tags with November dates, comparing prices in the Target app to last week, and watching for tags that say thru 12/24

• Target is also bringing back its under-$5-per-person Thanksgiving meal and donating $500,000 to Feeding America as part of a bigger holiday goodwill push.

Starting this month, Target says its lowering prices on about 3,000 food, beverage, baby, and household items to make the weekly shop a little less painful through the holidays. They noted that the items seeing price drops this month include pantry stuff, baby items, and cleaning products. All the unglamorous things that quietly eat your budget.

Lisa Roath, who runs food/essentials/beauty for Target, said the company moved quickly because families are still on tight budgets and the holidays make that worse.

Translation for shoppers? Consumers are price-sensitive right now and Walmart/Aldi/Costco are rolling out early deals, so Target has to do the same.

Target did note the fine print: exact prices and availability will vary by store and online, and Alaska and Hawaii are excluded from the price drops.

How to tell what products have dropped in price

Saying theyll drop the price on 3,000 items is good marketing, but not something the casual shopper can easily spot. Here are a few tips to help you spot the real deals at Target between now and Christmas.

Look for new shelf tags / price cards

When Target rolls out big price drops like this, they typically print fresh price tags with a start/end date or language like New lower price. Look at the bottom right of the tag for a recent date, if its dated mid-Nov 2025, you know that product is part of this price drop initiative.

Compare to last week in the app

One of the cool features of Targets app is that it shows you current store-level pricing as well as what you paid last time. Use this info to do some detective work.

Specifically, the next time you add your usual weekly staples like milk, bread, Up&Up diapers, etc., to your virtual cart, scroll to your order history and see if todays store price is lower than what you paid last week. This is by far the easiest way for loyal shoppers to spot the cuts without memorizing prices.

Check for through the holiday season language

Some tags will have an end date or a line that signals its a seasonal cut. If it says something like thru 12/24, thats one of the price-reduction SKUs, not just a weekly ad sale.

Use last weeks circular vs. this weeks

Even if the drop isnt on the front-page ad, Id recommend screenshotting last weeks price for a staple item you regularly buy, and then compare the two.

If its lower now but not marked as a sale, thats Target quietly lowering the base price.

Thanksgiving dinner for under $5 a person is back

Target is also bringing back its value Thanksgiving meal, and this year theyre calling it the lowest price yet. Its a full holiday dinner for less than $5 per person using quality ingredients and trusted brands. Thats clearly aimed at shoppers who want the traditional meal but dont want to spend $120 feeding everyone.

Its part grocery play, part were on your side branding. If they can get you in for turkey and sides, youll probably grab dcor, pajamas, and a Starbucks while youre there.

Theyre pairing it with a big food-bank donation

Target didnt just stop at the price cuts. The company also announced a $500,000 donation to Feeding America, which distributes food through 200 food banks and 60,000 partner agencies nationwide. Target estimates that the $500,000 will be able to create about 5 million meals this season.

Kiera Fernandez, who oversees community efforts at Target, said this is about showing up with care and consistency in the 2,000 communities Target serves. Theyre using this a reminder to shoppers that they do the corporate-giving thing year-round.

The company says its tracking toward $400 million total in products and cash to nonprofits this year, and that its given more than $16 million to Feeding America over the last 20 years.