Christmas Shopping the Easy Way - How to Save Time, Money & Your Sanity This Christmas!

Christmas is here again & soon frantic shopping starts. So often because we're all so busy these days shopping for gifts gets left to the last moment & then it becomes a headache rather than something pleasurable.

This year things are tough for a lot of people & many families will be looking for any way they can to save a bit of money on Christmas Gifts & toys for the kids.

Buying online is growing in popularity each year as the shopping experience becomes more secure, the choices increase & delivery is highly efficient.

The phenomena of online shopping has led to fierce competition amongst retailers & that's where the canny shopper can capitalise this Christmas. It's a double whammy for shoppers because not only do you get the benefit of being able to comparison price shop without even leaving the house, you also get lots of really good ideas for gifts while you're at it.

It also saves you lots of time as you don't need to spend time trying to find parking at the mall, going from shop to shop looking for inspiration & then getting your parcels back to the car & into the house.

Honestly, last year when I did some of my Christmas shopping online for the first time I could have kicked myself for not doing all of it & sooner. After having a really stressful experience at the shops as a result of parking dramas, crowds & snappy over busy staff in the week leading up to Christmas day - the very next day gifts I'd purchased online early that week arrived. A knock at the door & they were inside ready to wrap.

This year I got started early as money isn't what it was last year in our household. I was looking for the best prices & also interesting gifts for the kids & close friends & relatives. I do struggle each year to think of things to buy grownups, even my husband. Most people these days have what they need & simply buy what they want when they want it, so it's hard to think of useful gifts that won't be stuck in the drawer & forgotten.

I went from no inspiration to having too much choice. My brother is a mad golfer & last year I went to the golf shop but had no idea what most of the things were or if he needed or wanted them. This year I found a brilliant golf site & it had a Top 10 Golfing Wish List with a description of the items. Perfect. I then went to Amazon to price check, found what I wanted at a better price & added it to my list, so that all my purchases could be delivered together to take advantage of cheaper shipping prices.

For my nephews, nieces & grandchildren I found a vast range of Christmas toys at great prices this year. Bakugan is the craze right now along with Ben 10 for boys, plus PSP games for the older ones. The little girls all still love Barbie & this year I purchased 2 sets of Barbie Fashion Fever styling heads which can be made over with makeup & hairstyles. Then there were the little Fur Real friends realistic animals that the seem to be popular as well, & the nursery animals are well priced.

Maybe I sound like a scrooge, but we've had to tighten our belts this year & if I can save money then I can & do, but that's not the only reason I've loved shopping this way. I can get online at any hour of the day or night, when it suits me & that works really well for me.

I like to get up early & run, come home & shower before anybody else is out of bed. Early morning is a great time for me to get online while I drink my cup of tea. I've done all my Christmas shopping that way this year & it's been simple. Even though it's often taken awhile, that's usually because I'm enjoying myself & lose track of time.

I don't think I can ever remember actually enjoying myself Christmas shopping. When the kids were little it was something I dreaded.

I can still recall that sinking feeling of looking for a cabbage patch doll (yes, back in the olden days). Those dolls were massive that year & my girls wanted one each, but they were sold out everywhere when I went to buy them. I felt guilty because I'd left it until too close to Christmas Day to go & get them, not realising they were selling out. The girls were really disappointed on Christmas day & weren't consoled by the idea that they'd be getting one sometime in January, somehow it wasn't quite the same when they finally arrived.

So this year if you haven't already, have a think about doing a bit of Christmas Gifts searching & shopping on the internet. You'll find the prices are often as good if not better than the shops, the delivery times are quick & the shipping costs have come right down due to competition. If you like me get stuck for ideas, then take a stroll around Amazon & you'll be amazed (my husband calls it Amazazon) by the amount of choices of gifts & price ranges.

Of course there are plenty of other great Christmas Gifts Guide sites where the short listing of Top 10 Toys & Gifts has been done for you including the price shopping but I've got comfortable with Amazon so that's mostly where I do my buying in the end. The internet has changed our lives enormously in a relatively short space of time & big online stores like Amazon have worked hard to make shopping online a secure & easy experience.

This year take a look at online Christmas Shopping. You have hours of time to gain, money to save & nothing to lose.

Irene Walters is an amateur long distance runner & keen shopper. Irene is currently on a mission to be more economical & has started by doing her Christmas shopping online this year. Irene suggests the following sites for great inspirational Christmas Shopping ideas this year. Please visit Christmas Gifts [http://www.christmasgiftspresents.com/].

Or visit Christmas Toys [http://www.christmasgiftspresents.com/useful_christmas__resources.php] for children's toys ideas.

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Make Extra Money on eBay by Preparing for Christmas Sales

So are you ready yet? You should be - in fact, if you haven't already been ordering in extra stock and starting to make those extra sales on eBay then you've already missed out on a pretty active October.

But there is no need to worry. There is still plenty of time to go until the big day, and that means you can make plenty of extra money this Christmas by preparing in just the right way.

In order to stay competitive, this is the time of year when it can really pay to make sure you are offering the best possible service. So with that in mind, take a look at the following hints and tips for making extra money eBay this Christmas.

And with any luck, you will be counting the cash come Christmas Eve!

1. Are your prices competitive?

You don't need to be cheaper than your competitors, but if you charge more than they do for exactly the same item you will be bound to have fewer sales. You should always check your competition and the market conditions when you first start selling an item, but it pays to check it periodically as well.

Take the time to go through all your active listings to see whether you can improve on the prices - and then see what happens.

2. Make your buyers aware of the last Christmas posting dates

You don't need to do this, but if you do, buyers normally appreciate it. If you have a shop you may like to list the dates in there, or provide a link to Royal Mail's website.

You can also ask people to check last posting dates on your listings, but if you have already sold items from an active listing you won't be able to amend it. Having the information in your shop is often enough to help people out though.

3. Offer customers a seasonal freebie

We did this last year, and it worked a treat. We actually decided not to broadcast the fact in the end - we simply popped a little extra gift into each package we sent out. This resulted in great feedback and a lot of people came back to shop with us again.

We didn't want to boast that we were giving away a free gift - we just wanted to say a little extra thank you to those people who bought from us in the run-up to Christmas.

The ideal gift is something small which doesn't cost you much to buy or post. We sell toys so we included a small party bag toy with each order. The reaction we got was enough to decide to do the same again this year.

4. Create some seasonal packing slips

We usually have snowflakes or snowmen and Santas along the bottom of our packing slips. It's only a small touch and there really isn't any extra work in it once the template has been set up. But it does get remembered and we've had comments on it too.

We figure that it isn't just the Christmas custom we want; we're hoping that people will remember us when they need toys in the year ahead as well. That's why we try everything we can to make sure we can serve people in the best possible way.

5. Let people know about any January sales you may be planning

We do this on the back of our packing slips, so that people will remember us even when the festive season is over.

You can generate interest in one of two ways. Firstly, you can think about knocking a specific percentage off some (or all) of your items. The other idea is to run a penny auction to attract people's attention.

We have done this in past years to get rid of some old stock, particularly if we receive an item that is saleable but packaging that is slightly below par. And of course the low start tends to garner the kind of interest that leads to lots of visitors - any one of whom could take a look at what else you are selling at a regular price.

6. Liven up your listings

If you are putting on any new listings - particularly if they are for seasonal items - try creating a seasonal listings template to go with them. These add an extra touch of festivity to your listings that is very quick and easy to do once you have got the template ready to use.

You can also develop this further by adding a note underneath every item description, which tells people they can view more seasonal items in your eBay shop.

7. Consider opening up a shop

If you have got a lot more stock to list at this time of year why not open an eBay shop?

You can always close it again after the seasonal period, but if there was ever a time to dip your toe into the water and give it a go, it's now. It's much easier to direct buyers to your shop than it is to ask them to look up the rest of your listings.

There's no doubt that Christmas offers a multitude of opportunities for sellers to make a decent income from eBay. But you will get the best results when you take the time to plan your approach first.

And you will find that the longer you stick with eBay and the more Christmases you sell for, the better you will know how the market works. Of course, you should never assume that what sold well last year will be equally as good a seller this year.

For more great Christmas money making ideas, home based business reviews and blueprints go to www.whatbizopp.com

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