With the economy in shambles (even the wealthy are losing big money) I
wanted to do my part to tell people how to save a little cash this
holiday season. We began with Please Buy Stuff Part 1 – Cheap Toys, which featured a half-off toy sale at Target. Now here is Please Buy Stuff Part 2 – Free Shipping.
If you put off your holiday shopping because you were (a) busy, (b) waiting until the last possible second in an attempt to secure the best price, or (c) all of the above, more than 100 merchants are in your corner. On Thursday, December 18, web retailers from 1800Mustang (specializing in Mustang parts – the cars, not the horses) to Zappos.com (shoes) will ship your stuff for free AND guarantee delivery by Christmas. On the list are Babies R Us, Apple, Big Toe Soccer, OhToy.com – a huge list, and it keeps growing, according to FreeShippingDay.com.
Once again, procrastinators are rewarded. In fact, the web site even says, "Free Shipping Day is the last chance for many procrastinators."
As one who celebrates Chanukah, I wish the same deal applied for the festival of lights. That said, The First Night of Jewy Christmas coincides nicely with Actual Christmas this year – the evening of December 21, with the final night occurring on December 28. So you can pick up some chachkis to give the kids on the first few days (thereby supporting your local merchants), then give them the good stuff later in the week.
That actually works well for the way we do Chanukah in our house. We do eight gifts, but most are of the smaller variety, with a big one on or about the final night. So although FreeShippingDay unsurprisingly focuses on Christmas, it also works for Chanukah, as well as Kwanzaa, which begins on December 26.
It's as if merchants everywhere are saying, "Please – please buy something! The toys are half price, you get free shipping with guaranteed holiday delivery even if you wait until the last minute – wouldja just buy something already? Please? No, really. Buy something. Anything. What's that? My watch? Um, it's not for sale… oh, you'll take a Barbie Dream Car Set if I throw in my watch? And my shoes? Uh… sure! It's the holidays. Why not? Merry New Year!"
Anyone else feel like retailers are desperate? And while it's nice to be the beneficiary of some of this stuff-based holiday cheer, doesn’t it feel a teeny bit weird?
Oh well. Get it while the getting's good. Nothing distracts a kid from the world's problems like a shiny new toy. And seeing them open it is still one of the best freebies around.
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