Black Friday or Boxing Day?

Attention Shoppers: When can you find the best deals – Black Friday or Boxing Day?  You may be surprised to find out!

The consulting firm Accenture says 37% of Canadians perceive Black Friday to be the day with the BEST deals, compared to the 25% who say Boxing Day has the best buys.

Debit and credit card transaction company Moneris says the average Black Friday/Cyber Monday transaction in Ontario last year was $98.50. Saskatchewan led the way with an average transaction of $140.81.

Some tips from Consolidated Credit Counselling Services of Canada:

–  Make a list and check it twice – Come up with a holiday shopping budget – set a maximum amount for spending.  Decide who gets what – save the big gifts for immediate family and consider homemade gifts or other smaller gestures for others. A list is your best defense against impulse shopping.

–  Browse and compare – Shop around before you buy.  It’s easy to compare prices by using shopping apps like RetailMeNot.  You can also let sites that aggregate results like RedFlagDeals do the work for you.

–  Don’t store your banking information – Saving your credit card information on shopping websites allows for a quick, easy “one-click” transaction.  But maybe it’s too quick, and too easy.  Forcing yourself to punch in your digits gives you precious reflection time to decide whether or not you actually want the item.

– Deal or no deal? – There have been reports of retailers steadily increasing their prices in the fall and then dropping them during the holiday season to create the illusion of a discount.  Avoid being tricked by doing your homework and knowing about average pricing.

(Photo cred: Flickr)