Every merchant knows that around Christmas time almost everyone will be buying something. To get more people to buy what they sell, they'll offer discounts. Their competitors will do the same. They'll probably offer better deals. For some of those things which aren't cheaper any month of the year would it better to wait till December to buy them because there's a higher likelihood of getting better deals at that time?
Christmas is actually both the cheapest time and the most expensive time for shopping. Depending on the items you will purchase, you can get a good discount or you have to pay higher. For Christmas items like trees and decorations, definitely you are paying more than when you purchase those before December. But so many items are being put up on sale like household items that you may need for summer. With food, they are expensive in December but we have no choice.
Nope - its definitely not for me and I'm clearly living in the wrong place - as shopping during the holiday season here is quite the opposite of what has been described - in fact so much so - that its generally considered to be the most expensive time of year to shop - for anything. As not only are there absolutely no discounts or deals available on anything at this time of year - but as Christmas is way less commercial here and there are no festive items in the stores - prior to 10th December - the traditional start of Christmas shopping - this is the one time of year that all stores, service establishments etc really steam in - as the prices of everything and particularly festive items sky-rocket to almost double and more of what they would normally be. Which is of course why I like to be organized and stock up with everything I need prior to 10th December - so that I can keep shopping to a minimum over this period - as doing that not only avoids paying over the odds for everyday items but saves a huge amount on the overall cost.
I think most stores would have their holiday clearance sales, so that is a good time to shop for clothes, shoes, bags, etc. but I don't think supermarkets will lower their prices around this time of the year, because the demand is high for food, so they will take advantage of it and not have discounts on the items found in there.
I personally almost always wait for the end of the year to do the bulk of my shopping for this reason. I find that the cheapest prices are always during the holidays and I do monitor sales throughout the year so I have a fairly accurate comparison throughout. However, this still isn't applicable for all items though as some might already be gone by the time the holidays come around and some just don't get that big of a price cut, but the certain thing is that stores usually give site wide discounts and coupons so it still is more favorable to shop during this time in my opinion.
It depends on what you want to buy, because many stores will have more stock, so they will have more choice at competitive prices. I still think after Christmas is the best time for clearance, but if it's something specific you want then Black Friday or a tax free weekend is still a better deal in most cases.
I definitely think the holidays have some of the best deals. A lot of retailers are competing around this time and a lot of stores offer better deals in stores and they are trying to drive customers into their stores to shop as opposed to shop online. Retailers tend to offer some of the best deals around black Friday and the weeks before Christmas. In addition, there are some good sales right after the holiday season and stores are trying to convince consumers to exchange as opposed to return items.
I like to shop a couple of weeks before the holidays. I'll put stuff on layaway. Things might not be there closer to the holidays.
