Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
americansportsme said 7:33PM on 2-25-2008
As a ebay power seller for years I made them lots of money. Now I am over it and will never go back. Ebay does not look out for their sellers and to charge them more is absurd. I hope they go under. Good Luck ripping off everyone else. You can have your Paypal too. I will use neither...
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Steve Purdy said 7:56PM on 2-25-2008
My eBay account got hacked (by intrusion, I think into a server that did not have the proper protection) and I had bills over $600 before I realized the account was being used. I hadn't been doing anything on eBay for quite a while. eBay DID close out the bogus orders, but refused to tell me how it happened!
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Jim said 9:37PM on 2-25-2008
Thank you for being one of the first to see that the exbay story is not over!!!!
There are still hundreds of thousands of very angry sellers. Some of them have gone on to open e-stores on other auction sites.
Some are still in the process of finding a new online auction venue.
Some can't afford to stop listing and selling They are helpless, but they are looking around.
Some haven't gotten the word yet.
I firmly believe that the eBay that was, will never be the same. The seller community has lost too many talented, motivated, competent, and honest sellers.
Those sellers, who are usually also buyers, AND their buyers, will find new homes. Ebay is the biggest loser.
"IT" has left the building!
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Michael Pechacek said 11:08PM on 2-25-2008
Ebay is making Millions of Dollars , But hey why not be greedy , and make more ! With no one caring about sellers or any honest reply to any problems , and a leftist Poltical Agenda ( its not OK to sell WWII German Military , But Stalin is a OK Guy ! ) and No protection if YOU get Screwed ( but they protect themselves, even to your Disadvantage ! )And cutting freedom of both information and speach , only to their advantage . Well what do you expect in the internet as controlled by Corporations??
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Rich said 11:56PM on 2-25-2008
I'm sorry but how many sellers on there say they will give negitive feedback if the buyer gives them bad feedback? And most of the time when they threaten that, they are terrible sellers. I've had one seller take 2 weeks to ship and then lie about it. another misrepensented the item which was a mp4 player 4gb and when i got it, was a 1gb claiming to b 4gb. and when i contacted the seller they wanted to do nothing about it but made threats against me if I left bad feed back. Unfortunatly for them I forwarded the email to ebay with my complaint. So in my opinion the sellers deserve the feed back change as most of them were abusing it anyway. hopefully now the buyers can give honest feedback without fear of reprisal
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afontana said 12:35AM on 2-26-2008
Ebay sucks. I ran jeans sales with them, and never had a problem until one buyer filed a complaint of non receipt. All sales were with optional insurance, which buyer did not take advantage of. Well, negative feedback and an attempt to reverse my funds on paypal! I sold 100's of pairs at great pricing with not one complaint. I fought back and kept my money. I've not been back since. They grew to big, sell lots of crap, and deserve a competor eat them for breakfast. GOOD EBY!
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karin r said 1:41AM on 2-26-2008
I have extended the boycott already by leaving the site permenantly for ecrater.com http://theeclecticcollector.ecrater.com/
I was mainly a buyer and occasional seller on ebay (venturecrew145) with 100% positive feedback as both. But what sane person would continue to do business with a company that treats us the way ebay does?
I spent the week of the boycott looking for a new home and defining the reasons it is no longer viable for me to continue a business relationship with ebay.
1- Mr Donahoe stated he wants to rid the site of the embarassing sellers of "flea market" items- otherwise known to buyers as unique vintage items and what a great many of us searched ebay for- in favor of large powersellers who drop ship their items (JUNK) from China.
2- If I wished to continue to sell my items on ebay, I would be required to pay a 66% increase in fees.
3- If I did sell an item I would be required to use paypal, ebay's own bank, to receive the money from the sale and pay them a fee as well.
4- Paypal will also now be holding for 21 days with no intrest, the money paid to the small seller, while ebay still requires that I ship the item as soon as paypal receives the funds, meaning that I have to ship an item using MY money to cover shipping! And if the buyer ends up deciding they want my item for free, and initiates a charge back with paypal, I can bet they get their money back, leaving me out the following- Money lost on listing fee paid to ebay, money lost to ebay on Final valuation fee when the item was "sold" errr "Stolen", Money I had to pay to ship the item, MY item which I will never get back, Fees to paypal for money I NEVER received AND........
5 To add insult to injury, I will only be allowed to leave this wonderful buyer POSITIVE feedback, while I receive Negative feedback for being robbed!
6- BUT.....it does not end there. Additionally, for the pleasure of paying 66% more in fees to list my item, ebay has created a new DEFAULT search matrix, called "Best Match" which will give the powersellers selling the same items as me TOP placement in the search results, meaning my item, because I am a small seller, will never be seen, therefore never purchased :)
WOW! What a deal ebay is! No wonder buyers and sellers alike are leaving in droves!
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cary said 8:24PM on 2-26-2008
Stopped using several months ago,because of someone else using my account.No customer service to handle problems.Paypal a JOKE.Company has to much revenue coming in to CARE.Something else will replace EBAYs Auction Flawed System.
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Bob said 5:47AM on 2-26-2008
I have been an avid ebayer for quite sometime, buying only. I could never figure out why, after I had completed my part of the transaction, I hadn't received any type of feedback until I had left feedback for the seller. Ebay should make it mandatory that the seller leave feedback before the transaction is completed. I personally have never had a reason to leave negative feedback.
As far as seller fees,a lot of sellers are cleaning out their attics and really aren't making much on the sale by the time you take out the seller fees and paypal fees. As with everything else,greed takes over and the little guy is squashed!!!!!
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Alice said 7:41AM on 2-26-2008
I used ebay for the most part quite nicely. Small seller. Then I put back up a computer my daughter had bought three months before on ebay, but with upgrades on drives as she wanted to trade up. Well just before the deadline for complaints on an item was up, I received a complaint from the buyer. I responded as they claimed there were viruses and the frame was cracked. It wasn't either. I asked for pictures to compare with the ones I had taken to verify damage and received none, said their computer was down. When I finally received them I found that they had damaged the computer keyboard-they admitted they had moved since getting the item. I said I would only reimburse for virus protection, though I had the computer professional cleaned before shipping. They had damaged the item themselves as they made no claim when the item shipped. Waiting weeks to even complain. I didn't hear from them. On the last day of the dispute deadline they posted negative on my account despite having contact by private e-mail and phone; I couldn't post back as I didn't read it till the next day. Despite contacting ebay with proof of discussions and verified timeline, they did nothing. Not even allow me to answer the negative.
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Mel said 7:30AM on 2-26-2008
Ebay is just wrong to over charge like they do! Big deal that they came down on the listing prices. They went up on the final fee and this is a lot more than someone like me can handle. It is bad business to be greedy Ebay and you know it! They actually think that they are better than God, Who gets 10% of our pay each week! How dare you Ebay! Your final listing fees are stupid and just wrong. You should realize that the more people you have listing that the more you will make. Stop being greedy and get a real life!
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Judy said 9:09AM on 2-26-2008
Now, if we would only band together and boycott the gas stations for 2 or 3 days, we might convince the oil companies to begin reducing their rediculously record profits. This is something ebay boycotters should band together to do NOW.
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Patti said 9:09AM on 2-26-2008
Ebay is losing more sellers and buyers each day as the word gets out about the boycott. I have seen posters, blogs, news reports,etc. about the boycott. I don't think the powers that be on Ebay ever thought the protest would go this far. But I am sure sites like onlineauction.com, ecrater, epier, nonloch and others are very happy to have the Ebay refuges.
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Dick Tuck said 5:18PM on 3-01-2008
One seller in an area I follow buys under one name and sells "from his own personal collection" under another. The pictures are often of something other than the the item shipped. If the buyer leaves other than ++++ feedback that seller posts a bogus negative against the buyer, despite payment being received on time, ect. FINALLY buyers are being given some protection from these types. This seller, BTW now conducts "private actions" so folks who sold him items a week ago can't warn bidders that the gear wasn"t "best I have ever seen" or "unopened box". SO, sellers, complain all you want,this EPAY action was long overdue. When the BUYERS leave for Craigslist or whatever, who do you sell to?
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TIM said 9:50AM on 2-26-2008
During the month of Dec. i listed over 200 items on ebay, the last 60 day i have listed none. If your not aware you can go to godaddy and set up a small eccommerce web site for $10.00 a month which is cheaper than a ebay store and also not have to pay all the listing fees. Also ebay is the larger seller of illegal items in the world and the government is giving them a free ride for a few campaign dollars.
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Carl Tapp said 10:40AM on 2-26-2008
IF YOU STOP SELLING ON eBay - WHERE CAN YOU GO TO
SELL THINGS ?
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dsouth said 11:29AM on 2-26-2008
Instead of boycotts ebay sellers should just start paying their ebay balance DAILY via a credit card other than paypal.
Keep in mint that discover Card and Amex have some of the highest fees involved and will cut into ebay's bottom line.
Stop feeding the bull
http://ebaykickbacks.com
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Jan Honn said 2:58PM on 2-29-2008
eBay isnt't making enough? They have to make more profit? Rediculous.
The whole purpose of feedback is so we as sellers know who to trust. Do away with negative feedback? Also rediculous!!!!!
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James said 9:17PM on 2-27-2008
I've slowed down my listings a fair amount but I can't afford to stop 100% since my family relies on me to pay the bills. I have a 10 month old child. I do agree the new fee's are ridiclous. I'm going to open my own website.
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John said 12:13PM on 2-28-2008
Why don't ebay adopt a "blind" feedback system?
ie. once sale is complete both parties can leave feedback and comments, but they can' be seen until both have left feedback, said that they won't leave feedback, or , say, 45 days has elapsed after which feedback can't be left.
Ebay should also make it's dispute resolution better so that you can get negative feedback removed if you can disprove comments left by the other party.
With the current system, the feedback will become worthless, as most 100% sellers will have 70-80% scores and it will be impossible to know if a negative feedback is genuine or malicious. how exactly will that help buyers?
Also, yes, the fees, paypal rules and best match are now just plain daft.
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