Hi folks,
I’m really enjoying writing these Christmas posts, Christmas is ‘my thing’, I just love it all so much. I hope you’re finding them useful too and as always, let me know if you have any other requests.
Today though, I want to talk to you about getting a bargain with your Christmas shopping as I feel like there are a lot of offers out there and not all are as good as they first appear. Don’t get dazzled by the flashy marketing, know your facts and bide your time!
Preparation
Having an idea of what you want to buy for people really helps when you’re trying to get the best value. I talked before about how I organise my ideas lists for people, so go and check that out if you’re feeling a bit clueless. Once you’ve decided roughly what you want to buy you can keep an eye on the prices and buy when the price is low, rather than the hiked up price in the last couple of weeks before the big day.
Use a ‘deals’ app
I can’t recommend this enough, it’s so handy and has bagged me many a bargain over the years. I use the app Hot UK Deals. The premise of the app/website is people post a ‘deal’ when they find one and let me tell you, the people on there really know their stuff! So if a deal has been posted on there and it’s been rated ‘hot’ then you can be sure it’s a true bargain. What I also like is the feature to be able to set some key words that will then notify me any time someone posts a deal containing those words. For example I have the word ‘Lego’ as one of mine and then every time someone posts a Lego deal I get a push notification on my phone. It means I don’t miss out on any deals before they expire and all the notifications are relevant to what I’m looking for. So if you’ve been prepared and know roughly what you want to buy, then setting the keywords should be fairly straight forward.
Track Amazon Prices
I think most people are now aware that Amazon change the prices of items very regularly. It’s based on all sorts of fancy algorithms to do with what days and times people buy things etc etc. But let me introduce you to a website called Camel Camel Camel. Strange name you’re thinking but this is basically a site that lets you track the prices of anything on Amazon. All you have to do is copy and paste the URL of the item you’re looking at into the website and it’ll give you a graph showing the prices it’s been, including a maximum, minimum and average value. So if something averages at £64.95, then buying it at £70 isn’t a bargain, no matter what discount that claims to give you off the RRP. Often other retailers will put the prices up to show a large percentage discount when really it’s no cheaper than you’d ordinarily pay on Amazon. Also on the website it allows you to set up an alert for an item. You put in your email address and the price you wish to pay for the item and it’ll send you a message if and when the price drops that low. Obviously, it’s best to be realistic. That £85 product is never going to drop as low as £20, so be guided by what’s a realistic low price based upon the graph.
Don’t always wait for Black Friday
Whilst there are some great bargains to be had on Black Friday, it’s not always as rosy as it seems. Again, retailers up prices to show big discounts even though the product has probably sold for the lower price most of the year. If you’ve been prepared you’ll know what is a realistic price for the key items you want to buy so you won’t be fooled by the frenzy of Black Friday. Often some of the best deals are to be had around half term.
I hope these tips were useful, they’ve certainly saved me numerous times and I’ve often had to smile and nod to relatives who tell me what a deal they’ve found when I know better! Happy shopping!
Mrs B x