The Best Times to Score Holiday Shopping Deals
Today marks two weeks until Black Friday. Are you ready?
While I’ve never been much of a Black Friday shopper, preferring instead to laze around and take the day off, I know that many of you love thrill of the chase.
If you’re in the market for electronics, you can get some screaming hot deals on Black Friday. But did you know that things like TVs are usually cheaper during the two weeks before and the week after Black Friday than at any other time during the holiday shopping season?
That’s according to Dan de Grandpre, the Grand Poobah of DealNews. In fact, the only cheaper time to buy a TV than during those three weeks (again, the two before and one after Black Friday) is in May when new models are typically introduced and the old ones are marked down.
This tendency for the best deals to bracket Black Friday actually applies to most higher-end electronics. In fact, according to de Grandpre, Black Friday is typically a time to buy cheap stuff at cheap prices. But if you have more expensive tastes, you can do better.
As for toys, the best times to buy are typically during the second and third weeks of December. Of course, you run the risk of missing out on this year’s hottest toys, but that’s when retailers are looking to reduce inventory. After that, prices go back up as stores seek to profit from last minute shoppers.
Cyber Monday, which seemingly appeared out of thin air back in 2005 or so, can be a good time to score deals and it’s certainly more convenient. That being said, I’ve never found much of interest on Cyber Monday.
One potentially useful tip: Apparently certain airlines held fare sales on Cyber Monday last year, so if you’re planning on traveling in the couple months that might be a good time to check flight prices.
And with that… I’ll simply wish you good luck on your holiday shopping. Just be careful to keep your spending in check. The last thing you need to do is wake up on Christmas morning with a boatload of credit card debt.
Source: Vanguard.com
Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of this site.
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
Modified on November 11th, 2012 - One Comment
Filed under: Consumer, Frugality
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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November 10th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
I live in Canada and we don’t have a black Friday here, but I can still take advantage of the deals online. I know a lot of people that go across the border but the wait times and stress of shopping around that time is just too much for me. Good tips about the flights for Cyber Monday!