Were you up early for the second day in a row yesterday? Not, this time, for the delights of Christmas gift opening, but for Boxing Day shopping (or returning those gifts that you can’t stand).
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The day after Christmas has long been a day for a trip to the local shopping mall or CBD - the heady mix of a day off, post-Christmas specialsand, perhaps, a few extra dollars in your pocket a drawcard for the credit-card waving hordes.
It’s also the day to contact online vendors from whom you bought gift subscriptions/presents/gift cards to figure out how to activate them (details of which are well hidden on some sites. Makes you think they don’t want you to use them.)
Yes, the great consumer event of Boxing Day buy-ups lives on, even if the sales began early this year. Yep, well before Christmas in fact.
A bit of research for a Christmas gift lead to me to the conclusion that with leg work, you could cut hundreds of dollars off premium goodies. Across four different retailers I found the same kitchen gadget on sale, just the colour on offered differed from shop to shop. The price difference if you bought the wrong colour at the wrong shop? $150. It paid to price check for a tidy saving.
All sales are the same– do your research, drive a hard bargain. Same for resale sites. At this time of year people after extra cash could be offloading kayaks and paddleboards (or any piece of exercise equipment, really) bought for a failed 2018 New Year’s resolution list. Just in time for your 2019 ‘I’m gonna do” list.
There’s still time to get up from the couch and actually visit a store in person. Not just online. Smaller retailers would love you for it. The kind that keep towns vibrant and local people in retail in jobs. You’d also learn the delight of an unearthed bargain that you wouldn’t necessarily have found online (or possibly even realise you need).
In your sales meanderings, don’t forget charity shops. I found a long lost (and out of print) cookbook in a St Vinnies recently. It now has pride of place in my collection and in the process I helped out those in need.
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