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Christmas Shopping – How early is too early?

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How early is too early
Do you find that stores and malls are ready for Christmas well before YOU are ready?  How soon is too early to start Christmas shopping?  Here are some reason why starting early might be a good idea:

Wait too long and it might be gone!
If you have a specific gift in mind you might want to shop early if there’s a chance it might sell out during the busy shopping season.

Better deals?
Some might argue that there are better deals to be had far away from Christmas so some people start early hoping to catch “fall savings” deals before the Christmas season is truly upon us.

Beat the mad rush!
Hate crowds? If so, getting your Christmas shopping done early is a good idea because as we all know, the closer we get to December 25th, the busier stores and malls become.

Budgeting
It may be better to start your Christmas shopping early, spread over a number of months, to help with budgeting.  If your Christmas spending is all spent in one month (December) it can be hard to play ‘catch-up’ on credit card balances in the new year. Starting months in advance means you can budget a smaller amount over a longer period of time which may lessen the stress of the January credit card bill.

Buying Online?
If you’re doing any shopping online, especially from overseas, it’s always a good idea to order early to ensure your parcel reaches you well before Christmas.

Christmas is a BUSY time of year for many retailers (us included) so having stores ready for the Christmas rush early is one way to limit the busyness of this time of year.

When do you normally start your Christmas shopping?  How early is too early?  Share your ideas below or on our Facebook page.  We look forward to hearing your ideas about early holiday shopping.

2 Comments on Christmas Shopping – How early is too early?

  1. Sarah B
    November 7, 2012 at 11:40 am (7 years ago)

    I don’t know if there’s such a thing as too early to shop for Christmas, but there is definitely a time it’s too early to be pushing Christmas music and décor in the stores while I’m shopping. I don’t particularly care when stores start selling Christmas items, and in fact expect it to be year round within 5 years. I noticed it’s already up about 6 months of the year now anyway (still saw Christmas markdowns in March and new stock hit the stores again in September.) But Christmas advertisements, mall decorations and music in the stores, and salespeople telling me how many more shopping days/pays there are until Christmas just isn’t acceptable until after Halloween and Remembrance Day. November 12th is the earliest I’m comfortable getting into the Christmas spirit. Any earlier feels disrespectful.

  2. Edgar L. Sullivan
    February 11, 2013 at 2:16 pm (6 years ago)

    Receiver Purchases Gift On Their Own Have you ever bought an early Christmas gift just to find out that the person you bought it for purchased it a month later? You can’t get upset because who could blame them for purchasing something during a non-gift season. You always run this risk when you do early holiday shopping.