Strollerderby : black friday deals

They Say: Black Friday Will Be Gray

Brett Singer — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

So, like, will there be good deals this year or not? Inquiring minds want to know.

CNET talked to some experts in the field of bargain-hunting who offered a few tips for consumers. For example, Daniel de Grandpre of Dealnews suggests patronizing regional outlets such as MicroCenter and Fry's Electronics rather than Best Buy or Circuit City.

While there is definitely money to be saved by savvy shoppers who like to get up at 5am and hit the mall, it may also be possible to get the same deals by staying home and shopping online. Even brick and mortar stores are offering "web only specials". Kmart's "Early Black Friday" deals started on November 2, and CNET says that "some retailers are doing Black Friday month specials." Online-only outlets like Amazon.com have been pushing their Black Friday specials for several days now. So you might not even have to wait until Friday to get the stuff that you want.

One thing I've noticed is a certain desperate feeling among retailers. For example, I got this email from CompUSA a couple of days ago. Then I got it again. And again. They want to make damn sure I know what they've got on sale. Toys R Us has been sending at least one sale-trumpeting email per day for the past two weeks. And Amazon let users vote on which products they wanted discounted.

If polls are to be believed, retailer's feelings of potential doom may be justified: CNET cites a Consumer Electronics Association polls that says "consumers...plan to spend $200 less on the holidays" this year.

One bit of good news, I guess. If you do plan on shopping, whether on Black Friday or some other time, you'll probably get more for your money than you would if the economy were more robust. That's something I suppose.

Source: CNET

Babble's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

Maybe The 80s Are Retro

Save Money with A Holiday Game Plan

Cole Gamble — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:31:00 GMT

I don't want to sound Pollyanna-ish, but this week you're gonna find one heck of a silver lining to the economic downturn. Retailers are slashing prices to historical lows to stave off an anemic holiday shopping season. That mean's your shopping dollars just multiplied in value many fold.

Before you get carried away with your new found richness, you should map out a strategy to maximize your spending this Friday. Actually, you don't have to map anything out. I've already done it for you. Here are a few tips for making the most of your holiday shopping (and not go broke).

Scout deals online. Go online to check out the most up-to-date Black Friday deals on websites such as www.black-friday.net, www.theblackfriday.com and www.blackfriday.info. This will save you the time and gas from driving store to store for comparison shopping.

Make a list. Know ahead of time what you want to buy for each friend and relative. Trying to guess while you're at a crowded mall is not only time consuming and frustrating, but could also lead to a hasty and more expensive decision.

Know how much you want to spend on each person before you go. Kind of goes along with the tip above.

Avoid gift cards. You can actually save a lot by finding something thoughtful and on sale rather than having to set out a certain amount on a card so you don't look cheap.

Hopefully with these tips, you'll save some money and hair pulling this holiday season.

More by this author:

10 WORST. BABY. PRODUCTS. EVER! (Part 1)

The 26 Most Disturbing Kids Movies Ever

10 Things You May Not Know About Pregnancy (and might shock you)

Cute Overload: White Tiger Kitten and Monkey are Friends (PICS!)

Men with Baby Heads

Are You Cutting Back This Holiday Season?

Brett Singer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

In case you haven't heard, the economy has been doing its imitation of David Caruso's career before he got a part on CSI: Miami (and if anyone can tell me what show that line is from, I will be impressed because it's pretty random). Which begs the question: are you going to spend less this year than you have in the past?

TodaysMama.com released the results of their survey, which says that a whopping "85 percent of moms plan to cut holiday spending due to economic conditions." (I guess all of the dads were too busy playing fantasy football and visiting strip clubs to participate in the survey. I kid.)

From the press release:

SALT LAKE CITY.– November 24, 2008 – TodaysMama.com today announced the results of their 2008 Holiday Economic Survey, revealing that 85% of Moms across the United States are trimming their holiday budgets due to concern about the long-term economic outlook. Of those, 14% plan to cut holiday spending by an astounding 75%, and 32% will cut holiday spending by 50%. The survey, which included 1050 respondents, also found that 62% of Moms do not plan to shop on Black Friday, and 66% believe it will take two to three years for the economy to recover.

So – moms, dads, and everyone else – how about you? Will gifts be closer to "a package of socks" rather than "a flat-screen television"? (Nothing wrong with that, by the way. I could use some new socks.) Are you planning to cut back on your spending this year?

source: TodaysMama.com

image: CCTV Blog

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

Maybe The 80s Are Retro

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

Brett Singer — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

When the economy stinks, sometimes you can count on stores lowering their prices in an effort to entice customers to part with some of their hard-earned cash. Business Week reports that sales figures are down everywhere. So on Friday November 28 – the day after Thanksgiving, aka "Black Friday" – stuff should be even cheaper than usual, right?

Maybe not. According to Engadget, Walmart's deals are looking pretty lame, at least the so-called "doorbuster" early morning specials. Specifically, they mention "the already-discounted Magnavox Blu-ray player drops from $198 to $128…50-inch Samsung plasma of unspecified resolution is only $798 (720p, bet on it), and Xbox 360 + Guitar Hero III & wireless guitar pack…for $199." Also mentioned are "a $398 HP desktop PC and $175 gas grill." In other words, if you had your heart set on a new TV or the kids are begging for Guitar Hero/Rock Band/Other Fake Music Video Game, you might be able to get as good a deal online. So far, there's nothing really worth getting up early for, shopping-wise.

We'll have to wait and see if the other stores follow suit or cut prices even more drastically in an effort to get at least SOMEBODY to consume more conspicuously than they were initially planning on doing.

Source: Engadget

Strollerderby : black friday deals

They Say: Black Friday Will Be Gray

Are You Cutting Back This Holiday Season?

Babble's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

Maybe The 80s Are Retro

Save Money with A Holiday Game Plan

10 Things You May Not Know About Pregnancy (and might shock you)

Are You Cutting Back This Holiday Season?

Babble's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

Maybe The 80s Are Retro

Will Black Friday Deals Be Good This Year?

They Say: Get Some Sleep or Die

Babble Podcast for November 17, 2008

The Candy That Time Forgot

Incredibly Good Homemade Halloween Costumes

The Obamas wear cheap clothes