Santa's Helper Blog

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Holiday shopping guide suggests gift ideas

The Daily Beacon
Justin Joo - Staff Writer
2009-11-30 19:34:44
With the notorious Black Friday having come and passed, the Christmas shopping season can now begin in earnest.
From now until Dec. 25, people across the United States will be frantically scouring Wal-Marts, shopping malls and jewelry stores trying to find the perfect gift for their friends and family.
But what does one do when they have no idea what to buy? With the ever-growing trends and fads, it's hard to keep up with the many things that loved ones would like to find under the Christmas tree.
Hopefully this guide will help give confounded shoppers some hints.

Teenage Girls

For the 15-year-old niece or preteen sister, there are only two words you need to know: Twilight Saga. With the recent movie release of "New Moon" bringing in over $300 million at the box office, there are books, action figures, the DVD release of "Twilight" and teen magazines featuring the eternal question: Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Any Man Younger Than 35

If there is one gift that will always make a man smile, it is electronics. They are simple creatures that love toys. A new iPhone 3GS may set the buyer back $199, but it will put a grin on his face.
Three major video game systems -- the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii -- have all dropped their prices recently. Both the Xbox 360 (Elite Holiday Bundle) and Playstation 3 (120 GB) are selling for $299 at Best Buy.

For the Ladies

Women can sometimes be hard to buy for, and purchasing a gift for them is usually a challenge.
"I really don't want to be (shopping) at all, so I'll probably try and grab the first thing I see," Chase Wunder, freshman in business, said. "I also make sure to give my girlfriend the receipt, so if she wants, she can return and get what she actually wants."

Of course, grabbing her a Snuggie ($19.95, plus shipping and handling) just because everyone else says they're awesome is not always the best approach.

But there is one fail safe solution.
Everyone has heard the phrase, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." As clich'd as that might sound, the male shopper may be surprised how effective a pair of earrings can be at spreading Christmas cheer. Jewelry is the ticket to go from the nice to naughty list.
He can go the expensive route with something like the Tiffany & Co.'s Snowflake pendent for $25,000 (but only if he really loves her) or something cheaper like a sterling silver link bracelet from Jared at $59.99 (if he loves her but doesn't "love-love" her).
Of course, it's always good to go with a gift that has a personal touch: something that has meaning for both the giver and the person receiving the gift.
"I'm getting (my boyfriend) a Wii because of an inside joke we've had," Marvyl Cockrell, freshman in psychology, said. "He's never going to see it coming."
The beauty of these gifts is that they don't have to be too expensive. The goal beyond them is to give something that will make the gift receiver think back fondly on inside jokes or times shared. This can be anything from a Nintendo Wii, a G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Snake Eyes Sword & Mask with Ninja Stars ($24.99 from Hasbro) or just going to the mall and making a Build-A-Bear together. (A memory can be made with this gift, and it is a fact that women love cute things.)

Monday, November 30, 2009

Thinking of buying a games console for Christmas?

Image by Goins via Flickr

Here's a blog post that explains in layman's terms what you should be looking for in a game system. This is a hot item this year, so you really need to be informed. Kids today are very sophisticated when it comes to electronics and computers, so you need to know what they are capable of using now and also plan for their future maturation.

Read the blog here>DADDACOOL

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Sunday, 29 November 2009

Games consoles are often the most requested thing for Christmas for kids from about age 5 upwards. The range of consoles from 3 major manufacturers encompass handheld machines and ones that sit under the telly and can be more than a bit baffling.

So to start with, we’re going to have a look at handheld machines. Nintendo’s effort is called the Dsi and Sony’s is called the PSP.

The Nintendo Dsi is the top selling handheld out there. It retails for £149.99, which if you think is steep, is still cheaper by a fair margin than the PSP. The older version, the DS Lite, is still available at £99 and at the moment is pretty much the same as there are very few games available that make use of the extra features in the Dsi. The range of games available is huge and although new releases aren’t cheap, a lot of the games are specifically aimed at kids so there should be a lot to choose from. The console itself has two screens, one of them a touchscreen which is used via a stylus and even though its made of plastic, it is pretty sturdy- it closes like a book to protect the screens when its shoved in a coat pocket or bag.

Sony’s PSP is available in two versions, the new PSPGo (pictured) which retails at £249.99 (currently £199.99 on Amazon) and the older PSP 3000 (snazzy name there Sony!) which is a much more reasonable £140. Things now get confusing as where the Nintendo Dsi and DS Lite share a common game format and can more or less share games, things are different with the PSPgo and the PSP 3000. The PSPgo relies totally on downloads for its games, where the PSP 3000 uses a little minidisk style disc called a UMD. The PSPgo doesn’t have a UMD drive, so all the old second hand games you could pick up from GAME or Blockbusters for a bargain price for the PSP 3000 aren’t worth even looking at on the PSPgo. I’ve owned a PSP for over 5 years now and I have to admit it doesn’t get played as much you would think it would. Technically its miles ahead of Nintendo’s offering, the graphics are better, the screen is lovely, but somehow it just doesn’t quite work. The controller gives anyone of any age hand cramp after about 15 minutes of play and there just aren’t enough games. Given the choice, I’d turn back time and un-buy it but they are definitely popular with youngsters. They also have the typical Sony build quality too.

If you don’t want to buy something that your offspring could lose or smuggle into school and have it confiscated or stolen, you’re best bet is a home console that sits under the telly. There are basically 3 to chose from here, the Nintendo Wii, the Sony Playstation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and is probably more suitable for certain age groups. All the 3 consoles have wireless controllers as standard now days, so you can rest assured you wont be tripping over cables.

The Nintendo Wii is such a small cute console that its hard not to love it from the outset. It’s the only one of the 3 consoles not to be designed specifically for HDTV’s and the games on it certainly don’t look awesome but the one thing it does have is fun games. It also has a unique motion control system. Basically you put a little bar on top of your television and point a controller at the screen and it tracks your movement. That’s not to say you can’t control games in a a conventional manner but it is certainly a different take on it. Although there are some fiendishly difficult games on the Wii, it definitely has the best range of games suited for children on it. It’s also got the rather fab BBC iPlayer too, which is nice. Our two year old likes the odd game of Mario Kart.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 is available in several different versions but the only real difference is whether you get a hard drive with it and how big that hard drive is. A hard drive is used to download demos to, to save game progression on and to download films onto, so to my mind is pretty much essential. I’d recommend the 60gig Xbox 360 Premium which you can pick up for around £160. The Xbox 360 will play DVD’s as well as games, and as mentioned will let you download films (for a price). It allows you to easily play games online against your friends (or strangers- so make sure your kids console is located in a communal place) but there is an annual subscription for this service, RRP £40. The range of games is the best of all 3 consoles and if a game comes out on more than one format, it tends to be better on the Xbox 360. There are a lot of games for kids and older teens but there are also a lot of games that are aimed at adults- the average age of a games player in the UK is over 25 you know- so make sure you look at the age ratings on games you’re buying, if it says 18, there’s the likelihood it will contain graphic realistic violence.

The final machine is the Playstation 3 from Sony. It follows on from the astonishingly successful Playstation 2 but watch out, while the Nintendo Wii can play old Nintendo Gamecube games, the Playstation 3 cannot play Playstation 2 games. This means you either have to keep both machines out or pack away all those PS2 games. At £250 it is pretty expensive too. It doesn’t have a range of games as good as the xbox 360 but it does have another trick up its sleeve in the form of a BluRay disc player built in to it. So if you have a high definition television, you can watch BluRay movies on your PS3. Considering that stand alone BluRay players can easily cost more than the PS3, it is definitely worth considering it, especially if your (older) child likes watching films. The PS3 does allow you to play online against your friends for free but the trade off is a system no where near as slick as the xbox’s xbox live system.

So there you go, 5 consoles to chose from, you must choose wisely. And that’s before your 7 year old asks for an iPod Touch for Christmas too, as the daughter of one of my work colleagues did last week.

(Originally posted on Mummy Reviews)

Friday, November 27, 2009

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: A Yahoo! Survey

Here's another article that points out the benefits to online shopping this Christmas. This survey shows that buying online is now an accepted mode of buying gifts and will be a large portion of the Christmas spending market this year.

To me it is a "no brainer"--if I can get what I want and have it delivered where I want without having to drive across town and stand in lines, without being accosted by numerous strangers, without having to deal with tired, underpaid sales people who are just a little irritable, then I want to do it!

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When and what consumers will be buying this holiday season
christmastree

It wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that the recession has changed the way consumers think about spending, but the question on your minds right now is likely, “How will it affect my holiday sales in 2009?”
To help answer that question, Yahoo! worked with Decipher, Inc. to create the “12 Weeks of Christmas” Consumer Survey. The survey, conducted in October, polled 2587 online Americans . They told us when they’re planning to shop, what they plan to purchase across retail categories, where they plan to purchase, and what offers/promotions people are likely to take advantage of this holiday season. We’re broken it down a bit, to bring you the highlights:
Fears affect shopping
The majority of people polled (76%) said they were worried about the rising cost of basics such as gas, food and services. More than half (55%) said they felt the government isn’t doing enough to fix the economy and 52% of people polled said they that they were worried that the US won’t be able to get out of the recession. Almost half of people polled (48%) said they’re worried that something will happen to their income and they won’t be able to support their families. So clearly the economy is weighs on consumers’ minds.
Now let’s take a look at how these concerns may impact holiday shopping. More than half of all people surveyed (53%) said they’re planning to cut back on holiday shopping because of the current economic situation. And 21% of people polled said they planned on making gifts, rather than buying.
According to the survey, the outlook for 2010 is more positive than negative, with 40% of people interviewed saying they were somewhat hopeful that the economy will improve in 2010. 18% said they were very hopeful for improvement and 9% said they were extremely hopeful. All told, the “hopefuls” totaled 68%, which far outweighs the “not hopefuls.”
Keeping pace with last year’s spending
The poll also found that holiday shopping is well underway for Yahoo visitors, with 35% saying they’ve already begun shopping, 27% saying they planned to start right after Thanksgiving and 15% saying they planned to actually start on Thanksgiving weekend. A brave 9% will start just days before Christmas, most likely those without children.
As for who’s getting what, the survey indicated that the majority of people polled (58%) planned to give gifts to spouses or significant others, followed up by parents (54%), children (54%), friends (44%), siblings (43%) and of course, themselves (28%). Interestingly, nearly a quarter (23%) of people polled said they’d spend on gifts for pets, which should make for some very happy cats and dogs this holiday season.
Despite sentiment about the economy, many consumers polled plan to keep pace with their budgets from last year. 64% of people polled said they plan to spend about the same on their spouses/significant other as they did in 2008. 68% of people polled said they planned to spend the same on parents and 63% said they planned to maintain the same spending amount on their children. Of all the potential recipients, planned spending was down the most for friends (31%) and the consumers themselves (33%).
Internet buying is big
Internet shopping is expected to be big in 2009. 58% of people polled said they planned to shop/research purchases both online and in stores for the 2009 holidays and 58% said they plan to actually purchase gifts both online and in stores. 31% of people polled said they shop and research online only and 9% indicated they planned to actually purchase gifts online only. Additionally, the time that consumers will spend shopping online is on the rise: 50% of people polled said they intend to use the Internet more this year to research holiday gifts than they did last year and 48% said that the economy is a direct reason that they intend to more shopping online in 2009.
The study also indicated that coupons and promotions are a huge factor in holiday shopping, with 84% of people polled indicating that they’re likely to take advantage of price discounts or sales this holiday season. 73% said that they plan to take advantage of free shipping and 61% said that they would likely use coupons from magazines and newspapers. Over half of people polled (55%) said that they planned to take advantage of online coupons or discounts for their holiday shopping.
Lastly, the study also indicates that Yahoo! shoppers appear to be the heaviest shoppers and buyers across multiple retail channels.
So what does all this mean? Well it means that the Internet is becoming critical to the shopping process. Nearly 90% will be using the online space for shopping/researching and more than 70% will use it to purchase gifts. Without a doubt, online shopping is on the minds of consumers, so advertisers should be prepared to take advantage of it, come the holidays.
We may not be out the tunnel just yet, but as the 12 Weeks of Christmas survey indicates—there is absolutely a light at the end of it.

—Noah Belson, Content Quality Editor

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Benson Kua.

You can read the original article here.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Will there be enough stock to last until Christmas?

It seems that everywhere you look, you will find someone or something telling you that stores have a short supply of items this year due to the recession. It's in every newspaper you read, on every computer screen where you read news, or on the television nightly news. What you hear is that if you haven't already bought your Christmas items, you may be out of luck.

So, with Thanksgiving here and only 29 days left until Christmas, you may succumb to suggestion from the press and run right out to buy, buy, buy! What you really should be doing is taking a long look at your Christmas list and giving careful consideration to the likes and dislikes of those on it. If indeed store's stocks are limited and we are in a recession so money is tight, then you need to tailor the gift to the recipient, now more than ever before.

If you are buying for a student, a scholar, someone who commutes, someone who reads a lot, or just a book lover this year, then consider buying The Kindle Reader from Amazon.

One of the hottest items this season is the electronic reader. This is a device that holds entire books, newspapers, magazines and such and can fit into small spaces for easy toting. The news has been telling us about a shortage of these readers since before Thanksgiving. Maybe you need to look into the original reader from the source, Amazon. This is a company that prepares for the holiday season as they ship all over the world.

For more information about this item, please visit The Kindle reader, or stop by Christmas Shopper's Delight now to order yours before these are all gone, too!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Black Friday Deals: Do You Know Where the Sales Are?

In two days it will be BLACK FRIDAY and everywhere you go or look will be having huge sales in preparation for Christmas. The crowds will the large and possible anxious because the news has been telling everyone that there may not be enough stock to go around this year due to the recession.

Because so many people look to this day for price-slashed deals to do Christmas shopping, it is necessary that you be prepared and know exactly what you need to do. This article shows you some tactics to use in your preparations.

Go to the original article to read the other stories as well. You can get more useful information to make this Christmas season a great one!

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Mellody Hobson Brings You the Best Deals, Online and Off This Holiday Season

By KATE McCARTHY

Nov. 24, 2009—

Millions of shoppers will hit the stores this weekend in search of the best Black Friday deals. This holiday season the average household is expected to spend $683 on gifts, according to the National Retail Federation.
But where should you head to find the best buys?
"Good Morning America" financial contributor Mellody Hobson tells you where you can find the best holiday sales on black Friday and beyond.
Do You Have a Black Friday Strategy? Share Your Story With ABC News.
Hobson suggested Best Buy's "Doorbusters," which offer deals on everything from laptops to digital cameras. For instance, there is a 10 megapixel digital camera for $49.99, down from $99.99
Or try Walmart, which is offering a $78 blu-ray player.
But if you prefer clothes to gadgets Hobson suggested looking at Target. It is selling men's jeans, khakis or dress pants for $8.
But Hobson cautioned that because retailers have cut their inventories this year there may not be as many discounts as last year and some items may be hard to find.
For example, Hobson pointed to one of this year's most popular gifts, a Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster. It is a battery-operated toy hamster which was selling for $8. But because of its popularity most stores are sold out and now these Hamsters are being sold upwards of $60 on E-Bay or Amazon.
Hobson said that although some retailers will have those popular items in stock, she warned that they might only be available in the store, not online, and quantities could be limited to one per person.

How to Keep Track of the Sales

Retailers have been advertising their black Friday sales in newspapers and online, but keeping track of all of them can quickly become overwhelming.
Hobson suggested a few helpful Web sites which compile the information for you.
CyberMonday, Black Friday Ads and BlackFriday.info all post ads, special offers and other helpful shopping information for a variety of major retailers. For example, Hobson said shoppers can search more than 550 retailers on CyberMonday by item to find the best deals.

How to Brave the Black Friday Crowds

If you decide to fight the crowds Hobson has a few suggestions on the best way to shop.
First, be sure to read the fine print in the circulars. Some items may come with a caveat such as "while supplies last" or "one per person."
Hobson said it can also help to team-up and arrive early. Stores such as Best Buy hand out tickets for their most popular items in an attempt to control the post-Thanksgiving chaos.

Cyber Monday is the New Black Friday for Online Retailers

If you decide to avoid the crowds and stay home to shop online you should know that Cyber Monday is to online retailers what Black Friday is to traditional stores, according to Hobson.
The Monday after Thanksgiving is considered the kick-off day to the online holiday shopping season. But Hobson cautioned that if you shop online for popular items that have limited quantities you may receive an e-mail after you place your order that your item is on backorder or that it's out of stock.
CLICK HERE to return to the "Good Morning America" Web site.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

10 reasons you should do your Christmas shopping online

Image by joanieofarc via Flickr

For your pleasure, here is an article about reasons to shop online--as if you really needed to see reasons in black and white! There is a good point here, I think at #6. With all the ruckus about H1N1 and Flu season, who wouldn't want to avoid all that unknown exposure?

Anyway, read the article and then get crackin' online. Time's a-wasting!
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By COUPON SHERPA
http://www.couponsherpa.com/

The crowds, the fluorescent lights, the sales clerks who ignore you and the lines, lines, lines. Some people love Christmas shopping. I assume they also like sleeping on a bed of nails.

Here are 10 reasons you should consider shopping online.

1. Unique gifts: You can find the coolest and most unusual stuff online. From remote-controlled Ferraris at hipstergifts.com to Gummi Army Guys at stupid.com, it's all out there. You just have to look. And as with all shopping, looking is half the fun.

2. Find exactly what you want: Need a Hello Kitty purse for your niece or a Transformer action figure for your nephew? It's all there and Google makes it easy to find. The "toy of the year" may be sold-out early on toy sites, but check eBay and you'll probably find it. Of course the eBay price will be higher than retail on that hot item, but your daughter won't be disappointed come Christmas morning - if that's your goal.

3. Crowds: IMHO, not having to fight overzealous crowds is the very best part of shopping online. Plus, you can cook dinner while sitting at your computer, so no pizzza dinner after an exhausting day of dealing with overzealous shoppers.

4. Sleep in: It's beyond my understanding why anyone would camp out in front of Best Buy on Black Friday, only to find the five rock-bottom-priced laptops advertised in the Thanksgiving newspaper were picked off by employees before the doors opened. Online shopping allows you to sleep in and leisurely stroll to your computer at a reasonable hour. Heck, you can even shop at midnight, after the kids are in bed and you have some private time.

5. Keep it secret: Have your gift-wrapped purchases delivered close to Christmas and you don't have to worry about hiding them from inquisitive little fingers (or the bigger fingers of nosey spouses).

6. No germs: How many people ignore a cold and still go shopping, where they spread all those yucky germs? There's no chance of catching swine flu (sorry, H1N1) from your computer, although you can catch a virus.

7. No snarky clerks: Sure many of the clerks have a reason to be irritated. Shoppers can be nasty, aggressive and cheap. Worst of all, many clerks know they'll be canned immediately after post-Christmas sales. Blessedly, there are no clerks online and, thus, no one to hassle you.

8. Dress code: You can shop online in your pajamas or sweat pants. Need I say more? And that coffee your drinking is homemade - not an expensive mocha drink from Starbucks that you waited half an hour in line to buy and the "barista" got it wrong.

9. Better deals: Super hot deals offered by brick-and-mortar stores are picked off by the first 10 people in line. You can easily compare prices and find great deals online without the chance of being trampled.

10. Shipping: Have your gifts shipped directly to your home or to the recipient; whichever works best for you. If you like, online stores will even gift-wrap presents and slip in a personalized card. You'll reduce your holiday stress and avoid the lines at the post office. Many online stores offer free shipping.

(Coupon Sherpa is the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalyan haggling, he-man of bargains. Visit http://www.couponsherpa.com/ for more shopping advice, insider tips, and coupons.)

Monday, November 23, 2009

Black Friday is Coming!!!

I received this in my email today from Amazon.com. I know that many people will be up before dawn on Friday this week to begin their Christmas shopping. There is always another way to do your shopping and that is to do it online. You can avoid the traffic, parking, crowds, finding your item out of stock, etc.
Yes, you do have to pay postage, but how much is all the aggravation really worth to you? What is your time worth?

Believe me, there will be more and more of these types of ads online, so you need to do yourself a favor and start shopping online!