Get a Jump on Holiday Shopping
By Guest Blogger Ashton Taylor
Holiday shopping is not that far away.
If you shop online, you can do it any time to get your gifts before Christmas.
Now, is the time to hunt for the deals. These sites will provide you what you
need.
First up is dealnews,
which has people who are deal hunters looking for products at more than 2,000
online retailers. In addition, they get tips from merchants and visitors about
bargains. The deal hunters hand pick the best deals among the thousands they
get daily and update the site.
The site also bans stores with poor customer service. Customers
can give the site its e-mail for alerts to deals and gift ideas. The site
features a Black Friday page is one of
the best out there. It features both confirmed and leaked ads (before they're
officially released). It also shows when stores that haven't released ads yet
are scheduled to publish them.
Second on the list is GottaDeal.com.
Some people find deals here that aren’t elsewhere.
Third, Slickdeals.net is driven by users for
deal-sharing. It features a few deals on its homepage daily, but its forums are
where you'll hundreds of deals posted daily.
When you visit the fourth site,
DODTracker.com, you don’t
have to do any work. It lists
hundreds of items from deal-a-day sites and daily deal offers from retailers,
such as Amazon.com. It shows how long the deal has been posted, time when sale
ends, amount of discount (if available) and whether the item still is in stock.
Of course, Amazon is always available. You can find anything
you want on Amazon. The site often has good deals. Whatever you need, you’ll
find the most results and the lowest prices.
No. 6 Pronto.com fetches prices on 70 million
products from more than 25,000 on-line merchants, including eBay. It also lets
you sign up to receive email alerts when your favourite brands or products go
on sale.
Competing with Amazon, Google's shopping search engine, Google Product Search, is great if you
want a price comparison tool. What you'll get are lots of results for your
search, product reviews, seller ratings and a "local shopping" option
to help you find products at stores near you.
Companies, like Cheap Voucher Codes, are designed to present
the consumer with discount codes and
digital coupons. You get coupons you can use on a number of sites for the
holiday shopping season.
CouponWinner.com has
more than 27,000 coupons from about 9,000 retailers. You can use the Coupon
Scout tool to compare coupons from up to
five retailers. Click on a category, such as women's apparel, and the Coupon
Scout tool will appear on the left-hand side of the page.
With No. 10, Alex’sCoupons, you get something while giving something. The site will donate a
portion to children who have cancer. It has given more than $20,000 to
charities fighting childhood cancer.
Some sites, such as 11 and 12 will allow you to get a discount
on gift cards. Plastic Jungle and Gift Card Granny sell merchants' gift
cards for less than face value. They'll also buy gift cards you don't want (for
80 per cent to 90 per cent of the card's value). Buying a discounted gift card
to use for your own shopping is a good way to score additional discounts.
The high cost of buying on-line comes from the shipping
charges. Therefore, you can check out No. 13, FreeShipping.org. The first offers free-shipping
coupons for more than 3,800 stores, including Amazon.com, Target and Best Buy.
You can get free delivery codes here. And all you last-minute shoppers don't
want to miss Free Shipping Day Dec.
17. More than 700 merchants already have signed up to participate this year and
guarantee Christmas-Eve delivery for all items purchased on Free Shipping Day.
How Can I Get Started?
Before setting out to shop online, plan ahead. Know your budget
and your list. Start as early as possible, look for the on-line sales and make
use of them. Take advantage of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales or
Veteran’s Day sales. Write down people’s names and make notes of gift ideas for
them. Remember to include people, such as teachers, hair stylists, letter
carriers, massage therapists.
While you're making your shopping list, don't forget to add
Christmas tree ornaments, stockings, wreaths and other holiday decor to it.
Your budget will ensure you narrow down your search for the perfect gift, and
it will save you from post-holiday spending regrets. Include Christmas
decorations in your budget, too. If you plan on hosting holiday parties or big
family dinners, include those as well.
To help yourself stay on budget, make sure to shop on the big
sale days. Cyber Monday and Black Friday are always great days to find
discounts on hot gifts, so don't let them slip by. Sign up to be notified by
email when the sales are going to start; you may even get early access to sales
that way.
So, don’t be afraid to get started on your holiday shopping
now. Even stores are putting up Christmas decorations below fall decorations.
It might look odd, but the stores know they have to capture the market right
now before the holiday rush begins. You can jump on the bandwagon and get your holiday shopping
done with discounts, coupons and sales and relax this December.
Author Bio:
Ashton Taylor has Bachelor’s in Fashion Designing and
Communications. She is currently working with a fashion agency in Houston, Texas.
In her free time she enjoys freelance writing about cosmetic & beauty
products, fashion trends, as well as natural beauty tips.
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