Experts warn "don't buy into the hype of Midnight Black Friday Sales"

According to TheStreet, consumers shouldn't buy into the hype of early morning Black Friday sales, such as the one recently announced by Target.

"Early sales are media events more than anything else," says Steve Schaffer, CEO of Offers.com. "You don't need to get to a store at midnight to find good deals."

In fact, the only thing the early bird may actually be getting a jump on is holiday debt, as the longer hours decrease a consumer's odds of actually scoring the limited number of doorbuster deals retailers use to hook them.

"Stores seem to be just pushing the early envelope to create an urgency, hoping people will buy early before realizing they've spent too much," says Andrea Woroch, consumer savings expert with CouponSherpa.com. She says retailers aren't likely to add extra doorbusters just because they are opening up earlier. "There are lots of big sales out there, but it doesn't seem there are more of them than in the past," Woroch says.

All experts suggest consumers increase the odds of scoring the lowest prices by researching beforehand. Schaffer says consumers may even want to consider sticking to online shopping because it enables them to compare prices rather than succumbing to impulse buys in person.