SAN ANTONIO — Supply chain issues are changing the holiday shopping season this year. Finally, some items ordered months ago are arriving in stores and are going on sale. You might not want to wait almost three months until Black Friday to start your holiday shopping.
“This is so topsy-turvy right now,” said Trae Bodge, a smart shopping expert.
October might be your next chance to find deep discounts.
“We are still watching these rumors of Amazon hosting an October Prime Day event,” said Julie Ramhold, a consumer analyst with Dealnews.com. “If they do go ahead with it, which at this point we’re really just waiting on confirmation from them, then we kind of expect other retailers to have their own competing events as well.”
If you find a great gift at a bargain, do not wait to buy it.
“Some people are stocking up for the holidays now,” Bodge said. "If these are things that you need on your list, you might as well get them and store them in the basement.”
Here are the items you should definitely wait until Black Friday to buy:
“What I would say is Black Friday is really good for things like gift set bundles,” Bodge said. “So for instance, if there’s a gamer on your list and you’re looking to get them several games, a new console, or a beautiful beauty gift set, those are the things that I’d would wait for. They are just too holiday-centric. I would say other categories like toys and electronics, I would say go for it.”
There is an easy way to find out when any item you want goes on sale if you have a Gmail email account. Set a sale price alert as soon as you know what gifts you need. Here is how: First, log into your Gmail. Then go to Google. Type in the item you want in the search bar and hit enter. Then hit the "shopping" tab under the search bar. Scroll down to find the item you want and click on it. Then turn on “track price” to receive alerts when the item's price drops.
If you are looking to save on Halloween items, wait until October first to buy them. That is when sales for those items start.
“We will see more deals pop up towards the end of the month because you’re going to have stores like Spirit Halloween open up in their temporary locations,” Ramhold said. “Obviously, the more inventory that these places sell, the less they have to pack up and transport.”
Discounts on Halloween items will be between 50-70% by mid-October.