TOP TEN HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIPS

The Holiday Shopping Season is here. I want to do my part to help you get the most out of your shopping experience, and to avoid getting ripped off. The worst feeling (other than getting the least number of gifts under the tree... every year), is opening your bills on January 15th and realizing that you got jacked at the mall the month before. So here to help you, are the Top Ten Holiday Shopping Tips:

1. BLACK FRIDAY: AN EXPLANATION
The biggest shopping day of the year is so called Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This was not named for African Americans, but if you are African American and want to claim it, go right ahead. Just don’t get ripped off during the celebration. Please remember, Black Friday is not a Holiday for the consumer. It’s a Holiday for the retailers. This is the day that retail stores put themselves financially "in the black." Because of internet holiday sales, which traditionally happened on Monday after Thanksgiving, (when people returned to work and shopped on the high speed internet at the job) they now also have Black Monday.

2. CRITICAL MASS
Because Black Friday is when the stores hope to balance their books before the end of the year, it is the worst time for you, the consumer, to go shopping. There is NO incentive for the stores to give good bargains at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Their goal is to: 1. get you into the stores and 2. encourage you to pay as much as possible for something you kinda want. Don’t do it! You have to strike what my high school science teachers would call a critical mass. You have to hit the stores after the first crush and before all the good stuff runs out. You want to catch the stores when they are less cocky and wanting to clear their merchandise, but before they run out of what you want to buy. I would say December 10th or so.

3. SHOP FOR HOLIDAY NON-PERISHABLES DURING KWANZAA
The best time to shop for things you will use every holiday is AFTER Christmas, for the following year. Kwanzaa is an African American cultural holiday which emphasizes family values such as self-determination, faith, and cooperative economics. But most importantly, it is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st every year. This is the perfect time to buy your Holiday Non-Perishables. All the ribbons, gift boxes and wrapping paper; mugs, sweaters and dishes with snowmen, snowflakes and pine trees on them; artificial trees, Christmas decorations, angels, garland, those little glass balls for the tree; and anything red and/or green goes on deep discount immediately after Christmas. The stores are trying to get rid of this stuff. Take advantage of this windfall.

4. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH
Before you leave your house, ask your friends and family about items similar to the ones you want to buy. Buy a newspaper and comb the sales circulars. Walk through the stores and price your intended items. Make sure you know the regular (non-sale) price of the item before you go shopping. When you go back and make your purchase, you will be able to determine if you’re getting a good deal.

5. BRING A LIST
Make a list before you leave the house. Follow it religiously. Get the stuff on your list before you get anything else. Leave after you get what’s on the list. Reach home with no regrets and everything you need. Tell yourself you will get impulse, non-list items on the next trip. On the next trip, bring a list. Get the idea?

6. KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS
...and if you are buying something for someone else, give the gift receipt, which allows for returns if the product is defective or the wrong size...or just gawdawful and it needs to be returned. This is especially important for electronics. Stores pull out all the stops during the holiday shopping season. Some of the stuff they pull out may be broken.

7. FOR BIG TICKET ITEMS
Research Research Research! Get a copy of Consumer Reports magazine or get on the Consumer Reports website and research several models and versions of cars, jewelry, furniture, flat screens, computer or musical electronic items BEFORE you reach the store.
Keep all Paperwork. Receipts, Warranties, Instruction Booklets. Should anything go wrong, should you need a replacement part two years from now, or should you need to return it, you will need one or all of these pieces of paper to make things right. Keep all these documents in the same place, such as an unused kitchen drawer, or in a shoebox labeled “receipts.”
Use a Credit Card. (not for a car, a car loan will have a lower interest rate) This will gives you extra protection should you have a dispute with the retailer.
Cars: Cars usually go on deep discount in the winter in the Northeast. The weather prevents most outdoor aggressive sales tactics. Take advantage of this if you can.

8. LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT...UNLESS
Use cash (keep the receipt!) or your debit card. This will keep you from buying expensive impulse items. You don’t want to face a nasty credit card bill surprise in mid-January. If you do bring that plastic, remember it is all about the interest rate. Use only one card. Use a major credit card and not the store card. Use the one with the lowest interest rate. If you use a credit card with 15% interest to buy a $500 item, for instance, the interest on that item is $75, along with whatever else is on your card. Miss a payment sometime in April, and the interest can skyrocket to a “default rate” in the high 20s%, maybe even 30%. Despite all of your good intentions, you will not be able to pay off the full balance before March. Try to leave home without it.

9. NON TRADITIONAL STORES
Office Stores, Houseware Stores, Grocery Stores, Mega Drug Stores, Book Stores, Health Food Stores and Craft Stores have sales during the holiday shopping season, but no crowds. Gifts from these stores will be unique, possibly cheaper and shopping at these stores will cause you less holiday stress. You may be able to get traditional gifts from the non-traditional stores, as well. For instance, you can buy certain toys at larger drug stores; small furniture can be found at office stores; some music can be found at bookstores; back massagers, foot massagers and foot baths can be found at some specialty health food stores. Make sure you research the prices before you go, so you don’t pay too much.

10. BUYING BLACK/ SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS
Please support ethnic, women owned and small businesses during the holiday shopping season. As we heard over and over again during the last election, small businesses stimulate the economy. Gifts from these businesses are often beautiful, one of a kind, and they may be more economical than gifts from larger stores. However, professionalism, quality and customer service are important regardless of where you shop. Any establishment that does not treat you as a valued customer and potential repeat customer has not earned the right to take your hard-earned money this holiday season.
 
Enjoy your shopping experience, whichever holiday you celebrate.

Let's Be Careful Out There.