It's Official. The National Economic Research Institute has declared that we are in a recession. But we all knew it's been going on for longer than the "official" announcement. The market spin doctors and cheerleaders are all stating that Black Friday was one of the strongest ever.
Ok, great! But sales and profits are not the same thing. Retailers have massively reduced their merchandise to get shoppers in. And unfortunately, a Wal-Mart worker lost his life when crazed shoppers trampled him on that day. I don't know about you, but that's pretty insane! Anyway, the true fourth quarter numbers won't be revealed until the 1st Quarter of next year.
Another factor that is hurting retailers is that more shoppers have put a hiatus in using their credit cards. Retailers often depend more on the credit facilities than the actual purchases made. People are apparently using less credit and purchasing either by cash or Layaway (remember what that is?) My wife brought up a good point; if you are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy or are ready to go into foreclosure, why not load up on credit card debt and have a great holiday for your family? I bet a good portion of the sales may be attributed to that!
So the big question is do we all head out and start shopping or do we play the usual how-low-will-they go waiting game? Are prices already low enough where we can get our shopping over with and relax for the next couple of weeks?
There are plenty of bargains out there. How about using alternative resources for shopping like online retailers? There are shopping engines online that gives you comparisons on just about anything you can imagine. They even rate the stores that participate. These engines can tell you in an instant which vendor has the lowest prices.
But one often overlooked avenue for deals is auction sites, in particular eBay. Now, you may have an opinion about eBay, good or bad. But I have been amazed at just how good deals are there. Yes, you have to be a bit auction savvy but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. If you are just starting out, buy very low priced items to get the hang of it. Then as you get more experience you can delve into the pricier items.
The bottom line is it's too early to tell what the bottom lines for retailers are going to be. But you as a shopper are in the "cat birds seat." Seriously, there hasn't been an opportunity for these kinds of deals in ages and with the internet it just multiplies the savings that you'll see!
James is a writer for the web and blogs.
Please note: I have removed the link that was here due to the FTC's new and sketchy guidelines about what constitutes an endorsement. I apologize if you are reading this and it left you a bit puzzled. But there are too many unknowns in these new guidelines to take a chance.