Post-Christmas: Shoppers hunt for best deals

The frenzy leading up to after-Christmas sales is nowhere near that of Black Friday, said Lindsay Sakraida, features editor at dealnews.com.

Sakraida said 35 percent of post-Christmas deals on dealnews.com last year were editor's choice picks, compared with 48 percent of editor's choice picks for Black Friday this year.

But the day and week after Christmas is one of the busiest times for gift card redemption, said a spokeswoman for Walmart. Stores are often also inundated with gift returns.

Those intent on finding a deal for themselves after the holiday crunch will find them both online and in stores.

A spokeswoman for Groupon said the deal site is not planning to have a post-Christmas promotion, but it will continue Grouponicus, its holiday gift offers.

Groupon also offers deep discounts on product deals that are not affiliated with Grouponicus. The site is selling the 75th anniversary edition of the "Joy of Cooking" cookbook for $12 plus $5.95 shipping online. That compares with $23.10 plus shipping on Amazon.com.

Groupon's deal for the cookbook expires on Tuesday evening.

Deals will be different in-store and online, so research is key. A spokeswoman for Walmart said its website and stores would offer 50 percent discounts but on different items.

Many Walmart stores will open at 5 a.m. Monday, and the store will have a clearance on select toys, home products, some apparel and seasonal merchandise, the Walmart rep said. Most retailers offer deep discounts on Christmas decorations, even fake Christmas trees, that shoppers can easily stow away in the basement or garage for next year.

Apparel deals will be aplenty for those who are in stores returning gifts. Last year, American Eagle, Aeropostale, New York & Company, Polo Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic factory stores, Express and Old Navy offered in-store deals the day after Christmas. The Gap offered an extra 50 percent off sale items in-store until noon, according dealnews.com.

A spokeswoman for Gap could not share information about its after-Christmas sales but said that leading up to the weekend, stores offered up to 60 percent discounts and 40 percent off sale items.

Nordstrom's traditionally begins its men's half yearly sales on the day after Christmas and in mid-June. Jennifer Black, retail expert and president of independent research firm Jennifer Black and Associates, recommends shoppers save receipts in case items are discounted further. Some retailers offer price adjustments.

Black said apparel retailer Talbot's is likely to offer a 40 percent discount, because it had been struggling with holiday sales.

Last year, department stores offered a plethora of online coupons. Macy's, Nike, Ann Talor Loft, JCPenney, Best Buy, Walmart, Tory Burch Timberland and Kiehl's are examples, said Sakraida. Macy's had a coupon of $10 off a purchase of $25 or more.

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Top 5 fake holiday deals

  Web produced by Sedera Ranaivoarinosy, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- As people continue to make holiday purchases, everyone wants a good deal. But of all the drastic price reductions we are being bombarded with everywhere we go, many are fake.

Retailers are desperate to get us to spend this holiday season, but the savvy shopper needs to beware, so here are the top five fake holiday deals that aren't steals from Dan de Grandpre of http://www.DealNews.com.

#5. The Bogus "Buy One, Get One Free" deal "One of the worst things about 'buy one get one free' is, do you actually need two of any of those things? Lots of times you don't." de Grandpre says. "It's not like basic tees or tops or jeans. Lots of times, you're getting hoodwinked, if you will, into buying something you might not want."

#4. "Disappearing Carrots" This is when a store lures you in with a deal that will push you to buy other items at full price. Best Buy pulled shoppers in with a 42 inch Sharp TV for just $199.

"They use these as carrots to bring people into the store," de Grandpre explains. "They know they're going to lose money on that particular item, they limit the number of that item they have per store as well; Best Buy limited it to 10. They use that to get people into the store and they hope that they buy batteries, or that they buy a Blu-ray player or movies, something else where their profit margin is much more significant."

#3. Make And Model Mismatch This is when stores offer to match a competitor's sales price. The problem is, stores often don't sell the exact same make and models so you don't get the deal.

#2. Sky High Mark-Ups This consists of retailers marking up prices simply so they can mark them down. It makes you believe you're getting a good deal when you're not.

#1. The Never-Ending Sale Almost every retailer is guilty of this last one when they advertize price reductions virtually 365 days a year. It's up to you to sort it out.

"Retailers that are the most guilty of that tend to be clothing retailers because they can have everything they on sale all the time and they can change the discount," de Grandpre says. "Maybe it's 30 percent this week and maybe it's 50 percent next week& Kohl's does that a lot."

To avoid those traps, the best advice is to compare prices before you whip out your credit card.

If you're too busy to do the research, here are a number of websites that do it for you: - Price Grabber: http://www.PriceGrabber.com - Shop Savvy: http://www.ShopSavvy.com - Deal News: http://www.DealNews.com

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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