Here at Consumerist, we’ve been complaining about Christmas Creep for the better part of a decade, but maybe it’s time to admit defeat. The American public has apparently accepted retailers’ efforts to force the holiday shopping season to begin even earlier. According to PayPal, Americans kicked off the unbridled commerce season sometime in the evening on September 30.

How do they know? They’re PayPal, which means that they know everything about us and what we buy. Well, not everything: the company claims that 1/6 of all online purchases go through PayPal, which gives the company a “unique perspective” on our shopping habits in general.

PayPal says that payments tend to increase dramatically on the day that people as a whole begin their holiday shopping. On September 30, the company noticed that payments suddenly went up by 62.81%.

I haven’t started my holiday shopping yet, but I’m old. That’s relevant because a recent study shows that only about 59% of people between ages 18 and 29 find Christmas creep annoying. (Warning: auto-play video) That’s because they’ve grown up with it: they have never lived in a world where you can’t buy a Christmas tree in August. 12% of people in that age group told pollsters that they actually like early holiday merchandising, and a few of them even told pollsters that they love it. These are the youngsters who we should be worrying about.

PayPal Says Holiday Shopping Has Commenced [ECommerceBytes]

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