Uh-oh. Shit’s about to get real with day-after-Christmas sales. Mallwalkers! Gird your loins!
But an even bigger trend will be the early start of after-Christmas sales. Just like Black Friday started the day before on Thanksgiving, after-Christmas sales won’t wait for their appointed day. Some have already begun. Amazon is running “2013 After Christmas Sales” or year-end deals of up to 70% off, and Old Navy’s ” Mega Sale” offers 75% off in stores and 60% online and runs from now through Jan. 31*.
So where are the best sales to sharpen your retail hoarding techniques? Dealnews has a round up of the best bang for your buck:
For apparel — which is the most discounted item after Christmas — the best sales will come from Banana Republic, Club Monaco, GAP, and French Connection, all of which had “best of the year,” Editors’ Choice-level sales on the day after Christmas in 2012. For GAP and French Connection, it was the second consecutive year that their After Christmas sales turned DealNews editors’ heads with extra discounts ranging from 30% to 50% off on top of sales that already slashed up to 75% off.
Honorable mentions also go to Saks Fifth Avenue and 6pm, both of which offered their biggest percent-off sales along with no-minimum free shipping. And in-store shoppers will want to carry a stack of printable coupons for additional savings. Staples, Express, and Banana Republic are just a few of the stores with printable coupons that combined with ongoing sales.
Forbes indicates that retailers are not going to throw everything at you for almost free, tho:
But don’t expect a fire sale on everything. As gift cards rise in popularity each year, retailers adjust inventory planning and generally get a boost immediately following Christmas as shoppers redeem those gift cards.Sales of prerecorded media such as video games, movies and music (and their digitally downloaded versions) pop right after Christmas as shoppers look for content to play on their new devices.
But, hey, if you missed out on the batshitcrazy Black Friday deals for gadgets, you still may be in luck. Brand-name HDTVs and some other electronic products traditionally see more aggressive discounts post-Christmas, thanks to product cycling.
[After] Christmas we approach the point when 2014 models will be released and means retailers would prefer to clear out as much of the current year’s stock as possible. If you don’t mind a previous-generation device, now’s your opportunity to save up to 80%.
EIGHTY PERCENT. Hmm, maybe now is a good time to upgrade my old rabbit-ear bedroom TV? It has a VCR from 1997 duct taped to it, for the times when I want to lie in bed and watch old episodes of Designing Women I recorded onto tapes of my niece’s ballet recital. Yes. I am aware that they are online. I just do me, folks.
Image via Getty Images
*As a reader just pointed out, their website says Dec. 31, not Jan. 31.
