Black Friday / Cyber Monday F2P offer and UA checklist
BF/CM still needs operator gates beyond CPM folklore: offer freeze, web-shop readiness, fraud watch and creative teardown.
Black Friday (day after US Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday remain commercial peaks for F2P offers and web shops.
2026 anchors
US Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday 26 November, so Black Friday is 27 November and Cyber Monday is 30 November. These are commercial conventions, not federal holidays (except Thanksgiving itself).
Checklist
- Offer freeze — SKU prices and timers locked 72 hours prior; UA CTAs match store/web-shop.
- Web-shop readiness — Checkout load tests; PSP peak-season posture (Xsolla peak-season note).
- Fraud / chargebacks — Heighten review using vendor AFS/chargeback playbooks (Xsolla chargeback).
- UA pacing — Split BF vs CM budgets; do not invent a single Q4 CPI.
- Creative — Promo end-cards with explicit end dates.
- Refund macros — CS scripts for double-charge and missing goods.
- Teardown — Tuesday after CM.
Facts versus limits
| Field | Evidence or limit |
|---|---|
| BF/CM 2026 dates | Derived from Thanksgiving 26 Nov 2026 |
| Industry CPI | Not asserted |
| Xsolla guidance | Vendor primary/blog — not a regulator |
