If the economy needs me to start spending, we're in trouble.

[disneysteve]

I did something very unusual today. I went to the mall. In the past, I've found the post-Christmas sales to often be a good time to snatch up perfectly good items at sharp discounts that I can then turn around and sell on ebay. I wanted to check out the Hallmark stores, the Christmas shops in the department stores and assorted other marked down items. I wanted to look at some clothes, too.

End result was that the only money I spent in the whole place was for a chicken wrap at Saladworks in the food court.

My wife picked up some jeans and sweaters. My daughter bought a couple of little things (that she didn't need) at Hot Topic, as well as some pants and shirts (that she did need) at Old Navy.

I just wasn't impressed by any of the deals. Most stores were 50% off at best on the holiday items. That isn't a large enough discount to be able to resell at a profit later. Since I'm off from work all week, I may venture back to some stores toward the end of the week to see if they increase the discounts. 75-90% is when I'm usually willing to start shopping.

As for clothing, I didn't come across anything of interest. Old Navy had some long sleeve t-shirts that would have been nice, and only $5 each, but they barely had any. The whole display was nearly empty. I guess they all went before Christmas or when they first opened this morning.

So if the economy needs me, I'm very sorry but I won't be helping much at all.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Those might have been the $5 T-shirts Old Navy has been advertising for at least three weeks now--I guess as sort of a loss leader. They were running primetime network TV ads.

I recently wrote here that I do not generally find the post Christmas sales to be any better than the pre-Christmas sales. Used to be you might find stuff slashed down to 90% off, but now it is mostly half off or 75% at best, yet you can find that before Christmas.

I went out last January before inventory season and found things really marked down. I don't need anything this year, though. Well, on second thought, I did tell my DH I could use two or three $15K hand-loomed wool rugs if the prices would be slashed to give-away levels.

[disneysteve]

I recently wrote here that I do not generally find the post Christmas sales to be any better than the pre-Christmas sales. Used to be you might find stuff slashed down to 90% off, but now it is mostly half off or 75% at best, yet you can find that before Christmas.

The only thing that is usually better after Christmas is actual Christmas items. In the past, I've picked up Hallmark ornaments at 75% off or more and been able to resell them for a decent profit. Same for Lenox, Mikasa and other collectible type of things. This year, today at least, I didn't see anything better than 50% off. Maybe next week whatever remains will get further reduced.

[Ima saver]

I won't help the economy either. I just got back from Wal Mart (had to get eggs and it is the closest store to me) and the only thing I bought on sale was some mints at half price!

[rob62521]

I'm with you, Disneysteve! We also hit a few sales today and I think we spent $20 total. If that much. We bought two packages of Christmas cards at 50% off, some Christmas wrap, and a couple of ornaments. We stopped at the grocery store and bought the usual stuff and came home. We did see lots of folks with big bags so maybe they either found some bargains or just shopped because it was expected.

[Like2Plan]

I'd been hearing on the news that retailers had reduced their inventory this year so they wouldn't have to sell stuff at deeply discounted rates. I just don't care to go shopping in general (and I have kept away from the mall this whole shopping season! ). We stopped at a few stores today.

We ventured out to the Movies-- It was a madhouse! The movie we wanted to see (and several others) were sold out.
We then wandered over to Staples. It was pretty quiet. We bought a replacement cross-cut shredder (the motor burned out on our old shredder )
Then, we hit the Hallmark store located in a nearby shopping center. I was looking for 1 ornament in particular, but it was sold out. I ended up buying some other Disney themed ornaments.
I will check out the Hallmark at the mall tommorrow.

[disneysteve]

I'd been hearing on the news that retailers had reduced their inventory this year so they wouldn't have to sell stuff at deeply discounted rates.

That's probably what I encountered. Everywhere I looked, there was no abundance of merchandise. I saw lots of empty racks and shelves. At the 2 Hallmark stores, I was very surprised how few ornaments they had left over. In past years, they were swamped with them which led to the 75% or greater mark downs. As I said, Old Navy had some good sales but very little inventory. The department store Christmas sections (Macy's and Penney's) had very little merchandise remaining.

[jasonnoguchi]

I don't even bother going shopping anymore. I just get exactly what I did off the internet and have them delivered to my place. No non-essentials.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Nothing either, but I did go grocery shopping and eat my in-laws are staying with us.

[zakity]

I was out shopping also. I bought some tiny little gift bags to put presents in next year. We mainly give cash or gift cards and they will be perfect to put them in as "wrapping".

[maat55]

My daughters do all my shopping, I just earn the money. We just got 8 inches of snow, so getting out was not worth it.

[disneysteve]

There was a story on HLN this morning about the post-Christmas shopping yesterday and they reported what we've been discussing. They said many shoppers they spoke to reported finding empty shelves. They attributed it to the stores ordering less inventory to begin with. I guess that is making the post-holiday shopping season a bust. A lot of the folks who rushed to the stores yesterday with gift cards they got as presents were probably disappointed. At least they can hold on to those cards for a couple of weeks until the stores restock.

[kork13]

I think it's funny, almost like a game of retail chicken -- stores want to be more careful to preserve their profits, but shoppers don't want to spend as heavily as in previous years. Now it's basically a question of who blinks first. Will prices be lowered, or will shoppers give in and buy anyway?

I went out yesterday actually hoping to find a couple clothing items I've been looking for for a while, but to little avail... Found one jacket actually at a reasonable price, but wasn't impressed by the jacket itself. It's definitely a shame there's not better selection available, stores are probably missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars in sales by being so slim on their stock.

[disneysteve]

stores are probably missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars in sales by being so slim on their stock.

That's just it. They aren't losing out. Last year, the sales were actually pretty decent but profits were lousy because they had to reduce the prices so much in order to sell the stuff. They'd rather sell less stuff at 30% off than sell more stuff at 60% off.

[seaar2000]

The economy is going to be in sorry shape if they wait for me to start spending. Was very careful this year how I spent my money and this year I will be hanging on to my money tighter this year. Like I said in another thread that the hospice I work for the census is low. This means I work three days a week lately and not the five days I'm used to. Last week I worked four days! Yes! Thankfully I have a decent EF.