Christmas Bargains Online

Since it's nearly Christmas and I've become some kind of hermit, I've taken up online shopping. Nothing like benefiting slightly from currency conversions and saving petrol while at the same time avoiding the crowds!

Some of the best deals I've found lately are on Ebay. I have recently discovered a quick and convenient way to go straight to the cheapest items by checking out Ebay Deals where you'll find the auctions ending soon, some of which haven't been bid on yet (I had to struggle with myself not to start bidding on a Nintendo Wii console with Wii Fit and great games packages just now!).

Overstock: I haven't bought anything there because the shipping charges from the U.S. to Ireland were too high but try it out if you are in the U.S. They have a wide selection of refurbished items (these are just like new and have been quality checked so you might end up with even better quality than a brand new shop-bought item). Sign up to their newsletter and they will send you regular emails with even greater discounts.

Having 2 young children a lot of my Christmas budget will be spent on toys (Ok, chocolate too!) so my usual shops are Argos, Smyths and Toycity(which seems to be still under construction; pretty disappointing at this time of year). I used Argos' and Smyths' websites to compare prices and used last week's promotions to fill the bottom of my wardrobe with well hidden Christmas presents (just don't go and tell my girls as they still believe in Santa!).

If you don't like the idea of shopping online or are afraid not to have your purchases delivered on time for Christmas, you can always use your local shops' websites to compare prices and then head to the stores offering the best deals. On top of the delivery cost that you won't have to pay, you'll also save yourself a lot of time and the stress of physically visiting each store.

Another idea that I haven't tried myself but could be worth its penny is to ask a store to match a cheaper price from another store (you could take along a printout of your desired item from the cheapest website with you). If you compare stores within the same country, a retailer might lower an item's price for you so you won't take your business elsewhere (probably a good thing to try especially if you plan to buy several gifts in that store).