Internet Shop Girl

I’ve spent about an hour every day this week trying to pick up a few last-minute Christmas gifts.  While I love online shopping knowing a particular store’s shipping guidelines can be a bit aggravating to say the least. 

Just today, I visited five different stores.   One store will ensure Christmas delivery via standard shipping.  Another requires two-day air and another offers free "site-to-store" standard shipping rates but won’t guarantee on-time in-home delivery.

If you can relate (and if you are in a bit of a  gambling mood),  continue reading this article from Consumer Affairs.com that indicates that you’ll have a 39% chance of getting your Holiday gifts on-time if you order them by December 19th.

Shoppers who would rather buy online than fight crowds at the mall need to keep a close eye on the calendar — they have about a week left to shop online before retailers start scaling back shipping guarantees.

That’s according to the 2006 eHoliday Mood Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shopzilla and Shop.org. The study 76 online retailers and found that the number of retailers who guarantee that standard shipping orders placed by December 18 or 19 will be delivered by Christmas Day (39%) nearly doubled from last year (19%), despite there being one less business day to ship merchandise this year due to Christmas falling on a Monday rather than a Sunday.

Continue Reading…

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Alright, I’ll admit…even though I am absolutely anti-Black Friday the store ads are starting to get tempting.  I am constantly reminding myself…"be patient…Monday is coming soon".

Have you heard of Cyber Monday yet?  It is the online equivalent of Black Friday minus the cold parking lots, long lines and crowds. 

Many online retailers suggest that there is a spike in online purchases the Monday following Black Friday.  This is often attributed to people shopping online at work after the Holiday weekend…(shhh…don’t tell the boss!)  Thus, the marketing term, "Cyber Monday" was born.

While Cyber Monday may not be the busiest online shopping day of the year, online retailers are certainly trying to take advantage of the term’s growing popularity.   Online-only retailers like E-Toys.com, Amazon.com and Overstock.com are offering special discounts and free shipping on Cyber Monday. 

Other stores such as Target, Sears and Wal-Mart will have similar sales and specials.  Many of these offers are available at CyberMonday.com.

If you are extra patient (or just procrastinate like me) you will also be able to catch some great online deals the week of December 5th.  For many online retailers this is the last week that for buyers to have items shipped before the holidays so they announce numerous "last chance" offers.  

What do you think?  Does the early bird get the worm?  Or are you willing to wait a while for some last minute steals and deals?