What’s Your Holiday Shopping Preference?
When it comes to holiday shopping, I’m torn. I despise going to the malls during this time of year. (Actually I despise malls regardless of the holiday.) Online shopping is certainly convenient, but there are all the shipping charges to contend with. Are shipping charges worth the convenience or would you rather stand in line and save money. Take the Simply Thrfity Holiday Shopping Preference Poll and let us know what you think!
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POSTED IN: Holiday Thrift
5 opinions for What’s Your Holiday Shopping Preference?
Melissa
Dec 8, 2007 at 11:14 am
I make all of my gifts. I love to do it and every one is tailored to its receiver.
lola
Dec 8, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I’ve been doing the majority of my shopping online since 1998 (1997 if you count books from Amazon). Early adopters ftw! My reasoning was convenience or finding hard-to-find items. Now I shop mostly on sites that have zero shipping charges. Amazon, Sephora, LL Bean and many more all have free shipping with a minimum purchase. Some stores also have a free ship-to-store feature like JC Penney. Just submit your order online, pay online, and pick it up at the store.
If a site does charge, I make sure the base price of an item is cheap enough that the added expense doesn’t cost more than an in-store purchase.
Still, if something is hard-to-find or unique like the stuff at Mixt Goods, I will willingly pay the added cost of shipping for the item.
So, most of my online purchases are shipped free or direct to the store. A few of the cheaper items are still a bargain even with the charges. And the truly unique items are worth the extra shipping.
Jane
Dec 8, 2007 at 7:30 pm
I declared this year the “Thrifted, Regifted, & Crafted” holiday. I just choose not to spend more!
So, I just sent my mom some dishes that I inherited. I know she will enjoy them more than I do and they will be safer at her house (earthquakes and all) too. Then our nephew is getting some comics that belonged to my dh when he was a boy. My brother is getting a GC to Home Depot because he just bought a house and he really needs it. The rest of the men are getting cookies + a donation to some charity in their honor. The women got homemade aprons, tote bags, or placemats.
I did buy some stuff on ETSY which is an online craft marketplace. I found the prices to be very reasonable, making up for shipping. Plus, I know that the $ goes to a real crafty person and not some sweat shop in China.
So, no malls for me. Unless, I want to get some clothes for myself. I may do that after the holidays. Some online stuff from http://www.etsy.com. and a bunch of homebaked or crafted items.
Deborah Ng
Dec 13, 2007 at 5:41 am
I like making gifts best. I’m sorry I didn’t add that option.
But really I’ll do what I can to avoid the mall.
Melonie @ Workerette.com
Dec 13, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I’ve only just begun shopping online (I know, I’m a dinosaur) but I’ve pretty much vowed that throughout the year I’ll find what I want for others (as I’ve done in the past) and if I can pick it up then, I will. If not, I’ll head online when the holiday sales hit and I’ll pay shipping rather than spending time on line and in traffic (burning gas to and from various stores). I recently bought some items from Bath & Body Works on their $3 shipping - gas here just went *down* to $3.40 a gallon and it would have cost me more than a gallon to get to the mall, find a spot, and get home. Let the USPS/UPS/FedEx guys sit in traffic, I say. ;-)
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