Bellbrook graduation 2012
Fairfield Senior 2012 graduation
Kroger Aquatic Center opens
Home > Blogs > Here's the Deal > Archives > 2009 > November > 29 > Entry
Here’s the Deal on Cyber Monday
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to make a list of what you want to buy for the holidays.
The best way to save money is to know what you want, compare prices and buy the items when they are at an optimum price.
This will help you set a realistic budget for your holiday spending as well, and help prevent a credit hangover into the new year.
Also, having a list in hand will help you avoid extraneous purchases in your many shopping travels.
Cyber Monday
Speaking of shopping, this Monday, Nov. 30, is Cyber Monday, which has become is expected to be the biggest single online shopping day of the year.
Last year alone, $846 million was floated through cyberspace on that day.
This year, that figure is supposed to rise, as it has done each year since it started in 2004.
If the early-season online rumblings and subsequent price wars are any indication, toys, books and electronics will be products to watch. Walmart, Amazon, Toys R Us and Target have been big players in the extreme lowering of prices.
For a preview of the deals that will be offered, and just like there were for Black Friday, Web sites are devoted to finding out what the Cyber Monday deals will be ahead of time.
Here are a few of the sites to check:
www.dealio.com/cyber-monday.html
CyberMonday.com will feature a new online deal each hour on Monday and will distribute $250 in gift cards from the bigger retailers each day through Dec. 25 to its fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter.
Signing up with various retailers online is another way to find out about upcoming sales at any time of the year, as well as any promotions that can earn you prizes.
For instance, this Cyber Monday is Stride Rite Fan Celebration Day. Fans can log on to Facebook.com/striderite from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. to take part in contests each hour.
There are also sites like www.PromotionalCodes.com and CouponWinner.com that will feature pages dedicated to Cyber Monday, and have coupons and codes to add to the deals being offered.
Comparison shop
One of the best parts about shopping online is that it is very easy to comparison shop.
On Cyber Monday, if you see a price on an item that you want to check, open a new tab and type in the product name on comparison sites like PriceGrabber.com.
That will tell you the running price on that product and can help you know how much you are saving — or not.
Shopping can help our furry friends
On Monday, if you log onto more than 140 retail sites through www.BringPetsHome.org, a portion of the purchase (which varies by retailer) will be donated to shelters nationally or used to provide immediate assistance to a shelter in their community.
In addition, one shopper will be selected and have $5,000 donated to the shelter of their choice and the winner will receive a $5,000 online shopping spree.
Be careful out there
Wherever your cursor finds itself Monday, it pays to be careful.
John North, president of the Dayton-area Better Business Bureau, advised shoppers to adhere to some safety tips when shopping on Cyber Monday or online in general:
— Do your research on prices; make sure you are getting a deal.
— If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
— Look for spelling and grammatical errors on the site. That can be a sign of spammers.
— All of your purchases need to be secured. “A secure site will have the ‘https’ in the Web address,” he said. “And the little lock shows you that you are on a secure site.”
This week’s deals all about 50 percent off
For those of you still hoping to shop the old-fashioned way, here are a few of the better deals in stores this week:
Dick’s Sporting Goods has a great sale this week, with many items for 50 percent off, including cold weather apparel and accessories for the family, select drivers and golf bags, the ESPN Action Sports Games and a 54-inch Goaliath Glass System basketball hoop.
Toys R Us has many items up to 50 percent off, including the Star Wars Millennium Falcon.
The toy store also is giving away a free remote control Corvette, valued at $44.99, with the purchase of any Barbie doll or playset costing $100 or more.
JCPenney has many gifts for the home for up to 50 percent off, and a host of gift ideas for less than $30 — those include team gifts, such as hoodies, blankets and slippers supporting Ohio State, the Steelers, etc.
Kmart is having good one-day specials. Today’s is half off Trim a Home Holiday decor. Monday’s is half off Trim a Home light sets.
Kohl’s is having a two-day sale today and Monday, with 50 percent off women’s sweaters, turtlenecks and outerwear. Men’s shirts, sweaters and outerwear are up to 50 percent off.
Walgreens has LED lights, from 25 count to 300 count of varying sizes, for $9.99 and you can buy one and get one free.
And, veering just a bit from the half-off concept, Best Buy is continuing the big TV sales of late with savings of hundreds of dollars off many LED HDTVs.
For example, a 46-inch Samsung LED HDTV is marked down $770 to $1,929.99.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Savings, Sunday columns, Thanksgiving and Christmas
Comments