shopping

Happy December!

If you have to brave the crowds for last-minute gifts, check out these hints for any last-minute sales.

• Check out the ads, both online and in store.
• Most stores will have early-bird or night-owl hours where an extra percentage will be off of their products.
• Most stores will have a doorbuster. These items are usually hot items for the year at a much reduced price. This year’s Black Friday doorbuster was a laptop for approximately $200, Target’s was an LCD television for close to $500 bucks.
• Each of these stores has a limited amount of doorbuster items. Best Buy’s laptop doorbuster had “no fewer than 10″ computers per store. The local Target here had approximately 100-200 televisions, but had more than 500 individuals standing outside before the store opened.
• A “Rain Check” is when an item is on sale, but out of stock. Some stores will normally (though not during these sales) hold an item at that price for you.
• Do your planning ahead of time the week or so before the event. While some stores may have “Strict on Sale” (SOS) dates for letting people know when sales or certain items are released (SOS’ are usually found in the video gaming, movie and book industries). Any store that breaks the SOS date (sells before they are supposed to) usually will receive a hefty fine.
• Check internet vs. store prices. A hot item this year is the Twilight Saga Box Set (ISBN: 9780316031844). One bookstore sells this for the list proce of $83 dollars, while they can ship it to your home (without shipping charges) for close to $53. Ask about any ship-to-home orders before the date.
• On that same note, MOST STORES WILL NOT COMPETE WITH THEIR ONLINE STORE. If you look at a business model, it’s much cheaper to run an online business than a brick-and-mortar store. With online businesses, you have a small office, and a network of warehouses that you may or may not own. With a (for instance) physical store in the mall, you have to pay for training and payroll of employees to act as customer service reps. With this said, online prices will usually be a bit cheaper than their physical stores.
• Sign up for email newsletters. Create a free email account (through Hotmail, AOL or Gmail), and sign up for as many as you can. This way your personal email account will be free of store emails and spam, but you can still access valuable coupons. Make sure to follow instructions perfectly to print out coupons, as some retailers might be very picky on redemption policies (see potential work-around Barnes & Noble example at the bottom of this post). Read the “Notes to Cashier” or “Cashier Instructions” to see if the coupon code is there (See Best Buy Example and Barnes & Noble Example at the bottom of this post).
• It is worth it to try to ask any cashiers or customer service people where doorbusters might be located, or how many of an item they have in stock. Please note that store policy for this does vary greatly from store-to-store. Best Buy will NOT answer these questions, while other stores may have it behind counters (as seen in Gamestop or other video game stores). With the latest release of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Barnes & Noble employees were not able to say how many copies were ordered of the book. In addition, employees weren’t allowed to see or take pictures of the packing boxes the books came in. While the latter is the exception, the point remains the same, the policies for hot items vary greatly from item to store, and may very well not make much sense.
• Gift Receipts are always a good idea. Make sure to ask for them at the beginning of a purchase, as sometimes the cashiers cannot print gift receipts for past transactions. In addition, read the back of the receipt for the return policy. MOST gift receipt returns will be for store credit.

The next tip comes from About.com:

• Saying “Charge It” Can Pay Off: Obviously, there is no bargain in running up high credit card bills and paying big interest rates, however, with proper spending disciplines intact, using the right charge card can be of value to consumers. Many credit card companies entice consumers with free benefits, which include extended free warranties, return protection and sale price protection.
  • Warranty Coverage – Your credit card company may offer to double or triple a manufacturer’s warranty for free on a product you purchase – a good option instead of purchasing a service contract that costs money and has a shorter duration period.
  • Return Protection – A credit card company may guarantee a refund on a product up to 90 days where as the store may not. This is becoming particularly more important as retailers stiffen the allotted return days.
  • Sale Price Protection – Some of the credit card companies will offer this protection and refund you the difference if a product you buy is marked down further than the price you paid within a certain time frame (usually 60 days).

Or, if you really don’t want to deal with the crowds, you can always shop online!

Merry Christma-Hannu-Kwans-ica, and a Happy Winter Solstice to all!

(Full Disclosure: The author of this blog post moonlights at a Barnes & Noble.)

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