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 1)
coney said 3:59PM on 3-21-2009
Fats Limbaugh complained about this because he was selling on line and did not want stiff competition
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douttfire said 4:23PM on 3-21-2009
Oh, yeah, the Girl Scout cookie Nazi's will be on you like a fat lady on a Thin Mint if you try to eBay or online sell your wares! When we were in Germany (10 years ago with the military), Girl Scouts did cookies differently than they do in the states. They send a cargo plane full of cookies and your goal is to sell or eat them all. My daughter pre-sold the usual 50 or so boxes; we were saddled with about 150 boxes. This doesn't seem like much, afterall, everybody loves Girl Scout cookies, right? Well, there were about 500+ girls in our housing area and they were all selling cookies. German citizens were not interested in paying $3.50 a box for cookies that would sell for about 60 cents in the German stores. So...were were stuck with a bunch of cookies- about 40 or so boxes. We did the "booth sales" thing and had about 20 boxes left (the stuff nobody wanted). I went ahead and paid for them myself and decided to unload the rest on eBay. Man! I got more hate mail and threats than Bernie Madoff. I was warned that my daughter's troop would be shut down and all sorts of other punishment. I was quoted edicts and regulations and orders from Girl Scouts U.S.A. I'm surprised the Dept. of Homeland Security wasn't brought into the picture. Yeah, so forget the idea of selling G.S. cookies online; you'd be better received if you set up a porn site or sold illegal drugs!
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shovan said 7:45PM on 3-21-2009
Hmm, its ok for girls to go door to door but its not ok for girls to sell cookies online because "it exposes them to online predators". Does anyone else see any type of logic in this statement? I sure dont
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diane said 2:58AM on 3-22-2009
Wow, so no online orders for girl scout cookies ....
I thought the scouts were to teach girls how to be business women,
they need to get hi tech. The door to door thing is more easily a way for a girl to get grabed by some pedifile. That's how a child was targeted and was died years ago it was in the media.
With the online thing a parent would have each person's name and address. Ofcourse if I had a daughter I would go with her to deliver the cookies. Even boys I don't let my kids canvas the neigborhood selling stuff for fundraisers it's too dangerous.
How many parents still send children door to door to sell things...
It isn't safe.... We always order from the catalogs when our kids do fundraisers and don't allow door to door selling. Never know who might spot your kid and then target them when your not around.
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Buttons said 8:11AM on 3-22-2009
It is sad that the world is becoming so unsafe for kids. When I was a kid it was safe for us kids to play on the streets/parks and move around the neighbourhood without adult escort, etc.
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Anne said 11:28AM on 3-22-2009
I don't know why everyone is getting uptight about this, they specifically tell you that you can't see on line, so if kids/mainly parents are doing it, they should be excluded from winning any of the prizes!
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tana green said 1:27PM on 3-22-2009
Are the girl scouts like the boy scouts and into discrimination against gays? I'd want to know before I even thought about buying their cookies anywhere.
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mixiboi said 3:11PM on 3-22-2009
No, not openly, anyway....
tana green said 11:40AM on 3-23-2009
Has anyone tested the waters, so to speak?
JoenDebi said 8:57AM on 3-23-2009
Anyone check out all of the eBay listings for Girl Scout cookies?
I do agree though, that online sales is in no way more dangerous to preditors than going door to door. The leaders are to teach the girls to be independant business women and times they are a changin folks! We no longer have door to door salespeople, electrolux even has a website..lol
I don't think that the entire Girl Scout organization should have a website to buy cookies from, but each individual troop should be able to promote their cookies in any way they can to pick up more sales.
If that means a commercial on u-tube with a link to an eBay auction or store then so be it. As long as they came up with the idea on their own and the grown ups are thinking they are going to profit from any of it.
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JoenDebi said 9:05AM on 3-23-2009
Have to reiterate a little on the above comment...
CHANGES::
2nd Paragraph: Not 'dangerous to preditors', but 'susceptible to preditors'...
Last sentence : "As long as they came up with the idea on their own and the grown ups are not thinking they are going to profit from any of it.
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tana green said 11:45AM on 3-23-2009
The cookies are awfully expensive and not really good for you. Why can't they find something healthy to sell? The days of bake sales are so over. Get the girl scouts ready for life in the world of today. No more 19th century models for their future.
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