Every year, I offer a list of holiday shopping tips intended to help shoppers avoid overspending their budgets. Since the holiday season starts earlier and earlier each year, I’m moving up my tips post. According to the National Retail Federation, the holiday season actually started in October. So, here are my 2014 shopping tips as a checklist.

1. 
Set a budget (total and by person) and stick to it.

There will be sales every day leading up to Christmas. You do not have to wait until Black Friday for sales. Know that many stores have 30- day price matching policy AFTER a purchases.

Try not to buy ANYTHING at full price. Almost anything you want will be on sale between now and Christmas. Virtually every major retailer will be doing sales. Stores such as Macy’s run specials almost continuously.

Do not do all of your holiday shopping in one trip, no matter how convenient. Buy each item on the wish list as it goes on sale. Retailers run specials to attract people to the store/site and then motivate them to buy other full-priced items.

Understand what the word “sale” means (a discount from the REGULAR price not the LIST or SUGGESTED price).

Many stores (in-store and online) will be featuring time-of-day sales to lure shoppers during non-peak hours.

The best “sales” days are typically December 10 to December 24, not Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Retailers want to sell merchandise before the holiday to avoid even bigger markups thereafter.

Shipping companies such as UPS are encouraging retailers (especially online) to set earlier dates to guarantee a Christmas delivery and avoid last year’s late delivery fiasco.

Look online for customer reviews. Sites like Amazon.com show customer reviewers for virtually every product.

Comparison shop for big-ticket items, including online. Online retailers have much more dynamic pricing. They are less bound by day and time. They can monitor competitors and their own sales rates, and more quickly adjust prices.

Don’t be snobbish about shopping at mass merchants such as Wal-Mart; less ambience often means lower prices.

Trading down is OK, such as buying a digital camera with fewer pixels or an Amazon Kindle Fire vs. an iPad. There are big bargains on technology.

Look for AAA, AARP, student, and other discounts.

For the best selection of items, shoppers should NOT wait until the last few days before Christmas to shop.

Understand what 0% financing really means. (Know when the full price must be paid off without incurring high interest charges which may accrue from the date of purchase).

Be careful in buying gift cards. Understand their terms, especially with regard to unused balances.

Don’t succumb to sales pressure for extended warranties. (For some retailers, the profit on these warranties can be larger than the profit on the sale of the items themselves.)

Know each store’s return/refund/exchange policies.

Be aware of an “open box” policy which results in a restocking fee for returns. Best Buy stopped doing this a while back after many customer complaints and the competition from online firms such as Amazon.com.

If shopping online, look at the total price (including shipping).

More sites are offering free shipping this year with low or no minimum purchase amounts. Amazon Prime includes free two-day shipping.

AFTER Christmas, many retailers will run sales to clear out seasonal merchandise that has not sold.
2014 Holiday Shopping Tips By Joel. R. Evans, Ph.D. RMI Distinguished Professor of Business Zarb School, Hofstra University