I used to think that buying Christmas presents early could only be a good thing. It took away the stress of last minute panic buying and the bills were all settled well before the event. Now I’m not so sure. Me and my husband were talking about Christmas at the weekend. We both love Christmas although we each have a different perspective on buying gifts. He buys lots of gifts for each member of his family , whereas I will only buy each person one gift each. It’s the way we are and we respect that. So he buys gifts for his family that come from us both and vice versa. We were chatting about our impressive organisational skills as we starting shopping for our son in August and I had my presents either bought or ordered by the end of October. Now, I bet your thinking ‘smart arse’ and yes I must admit a little bit of me thinks this too. Well I am not going to suffer the crowds or post office queues in the week before Christmas. However, there is a downside to starting early. Prices. Two things happen. Firstly, the closer it gets to the big event, the more likely the stores will have a sale or reduce the one item you have bought there. This has happened quite a lot to us in the past and it’s annoying! Secondly if you are well planned but not quick enough in your purchase you can end up paying more in November than you would have in october. For me that’s not a problem as I stop looking once all my gifts are bought. But for my husband it is. Every year he takes his mother on a day trip to London to grab some presents you just can’t get in Newcastle. Such as Harrods and Hamleys and other stores you have in the Capital. But he generally knows what he’s going for having done a little research before hand. This year he’s been a little peeved at the shops because his research in October gave one price, yet when arriving in London in early November prices had risen. And not just by £1 here or there but by large amounts mostly £10 – £15. Its disgraceful that big stores seem to think they can fleece the public in the lead up to the festive period. Obviously as soon November appears on all our calendars, the price increases appear too. I mean we are in the worst economic position for decades with each family finding money tight. I don’t expect shops to reduce their prices because of this but to blatantly increase prices on the run up to Xmas seems rather mean. So I guess the moral is buy early or buy late. But dont buy in November!
Monday, November 22nd, 2010, 22:46 | 
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November 30, 2010 at 18:06
They are probably increasing their prices in November so they can bring them back down to their original price in December and make it look as though you are getting a saving. Retailers are never out of pocket, they just have clever ways of making you think you are getting a bargain.