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If you’re a Black Friday newbie, you might want to check out this shopping guide from Consumer Reports. It has links to the best Black Friday information sites, as well as tips for grabbing the best deals. [Consumer Reports]
This is the time of year when scammers try to weasel nice people out of their cash by pretending to represent a charity. Don’t fall for it! When considering giving to a charity, take some time to do a little research. Here are few websites that will help you find a legit charity that will use your money for good — rather than evil. Or iPods.
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PC Magazine offers a slideshow of the top 10 Black Friday sites, for those of you who still have money to burn on doorbusters. [PC Magazine]
When Sharper Image went under (oh no, where will we find a new vibrating massage pinball machine for dad?), people lost about $60 million locked up in gift cards, reports NYT. If you’re holding a gift card, you’re technically an unsecured creditor. If they go bankrupt..
Mea culpa. It sounded like a good idea, but the “people-powered” comparison shopping site we wrote about, beatmyprice.com, got one of our readers scammed when she used it in a non-savvy fashion. Rebecca ordered a PS3 from the sketchy-as-hell looking “omexelectronics.biz” for $260. After she ordered it with her Discover Card, she got an email telling her to complete the transaction via Western Union instead. She did so. Big mistake.
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Need gift ideas? Curbly user ModHomeEcTeacher has put together a list of 45 different holiday gift guides from around the web. [Curbly]
Personal finance blogger JD Roth is on a mission to help us all save a bundle during the holidays. First he shared a ton of frugal Christmas ideas, and now he’s posted a list of 34 gifts you can make yourself. A few of our favorites include:
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HEY EVERYBODY! Click here to see what you’re getting for Christmas.
Reader Annie spotted this early Christmas ad while browsing through the New York Times Machine. It’s from November 11, 1908.
Today Best Buy announced that it was officially freaking out about the current financial meltdown: “In 42 years of retailing, we’ve never seen such difficult times for the consumer,” Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy, said in a statement. “People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we’re not immune from those forces.” A Best Buy employee forwarded us an email that went out to all associates this morning — stressing that a renewed commitment to customer service was the way forward during these troubled times.
Christmas Creep may be more out of control than ever this year (Were Veterans Day sales always Christmas-themed?), but that doesn’t mean that these are happy holidays for professional Santas. Yes, according to the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, an organization that actually exists according to the Wall Street Journal, Santa bookings are down. Way down.
If you thought that you could avoid Christmas Creep by staying out of stores — think again. It’s annoying you on the radio as well.
An anonymous reader, who works at a certain bookstore, says that her manager started playing Christmas music a week before Halloween… and on Halloween itself.
Retailers are scared this year, what with the whole economy coming crashing down around their ears and all, and the Black Friday marketing frenzy should be crazier than ever this year. Best Buy is even holding an essay contest. The topic? Why Black Friday shopping is an “important family ritual.” Yes, seriously.
Christmas Creep is mutating. First, we were alerted to the existence of “Halloween Trees” that appear to grow out of a fake human skull and feature festive orange lights. Now, reader Courtney introduces us to “Halloween Egg Nog.”
It’s bad enough when people send us pictures of Halloween decorations mixed in with Christmas ones, but a “Halloween Tree”? What the hell is a “Halloween Tree?”
Kiplinger’s is more optimistic than we are, so they had the cheerful idea to put together a list of 10 things that are going right for consumers — despite the financial apocalypse. Hooray!
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If you live in St. Louis, get ready for Santa! A radio station has already switched to 24/7 Christmas music! [KSDK via Fark]
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