Christmas storms may have brought Britain's transport system to a halt but without much effect on the shopping frenzy underway which today saw the mainstream broadcast news channels busy reporting from Britain's packed shopping malls as an estimated £3 billion will be spent just today, many shoppers were asked for their views on what they were looking for prompting many to comment that they were out and about and getting into the Christmas spirit as they search for sales bargains, as though this is what Christmas is all about i.e. a month long consumer shopping celebration to max out credit cards on. The actual story of Christmas has long since turned into just another series of special effects movies and not good ones at that as today we can see space stations in the sky with beds that can bring people back from deaths door Lazarus style (Elysium), against which the Jesus story just cannot compete.

So in the Christmas spirit here are the REAL sales that start Christmas Eve, as most of the sales to date have been mere publicity stunts aimed at enticing shoppers through the doors as retailers attempt to offload last seasons stock that no one wanted to buy a month ago before they hit the clearance stores and then charity shops. Though remember this is NOT 2008 when many retailers were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy that would claim many such as Woolworth's and Comet, and thus were panicked into offering real deep discounts of as much as 90% to quickly offload stock to boost cash-flows. Instead, now we have a strong UK economic recovery underway that is resulting in an highly engineered sales season which started off with over inflated prices calculated to generated discounts of as much as 75% so that items can still be sold at a hefty profit margin.

So in my opinion most of the sales so far have been bogus as the REAL sales begin ONLINE Christmas Eve and continue into early January. Sales are typically 50% off unless otherwise specified.

SALES Starting Christmas Eve - Tuesday 24th Dec

Argos - Extends and expands Discounts to 75% off online from midnight .
Boots - online only
B&Q
John Lewis 50% off sale - Online only from 5pm
Halfords - Online only.
Homebase - Online only.
Harrods - Online only from 6pm
Harvey Nichols - Online
Debenhams - Online only at Midnight.
House of Fraser - Online only from 12pm
Marks and Spencer Online from 5pm
NEXT - Online only from 3pm
PC World / Curry's - Online only from 7pm
Toys R Us - online only.

SALES Starting Christmas Day - Wednesday 25th Dec

Amazon - from 8am - approx 1/3rd off on approx 1000 items.

SALES Starting Boxing Day - Thursday 26th Dec

Asda - until 26th Jan.
Banana Republic
Body Shop
Boots
Debenhams - Starts 7am.
Dorothy Perkins
French Connection
GAP
Habitat
John Lewis 50% off sale - In store from 8am
Harrods
Homebase
House of Fraser - starts 8am
Liberty
Matalan
Monsoon - At least 30% off
New Look
PC World / Curry's
Next - In store starts 6am.
Toys R Us

SALES ALREADY IN PROGRESS - 23rd Dec 2013

Asos - online sale only - Upto 50% off
Argos upto 50% off on Toys
BHS - Upto 50% off
Boden - Online only - Upto 70% off
Clarks - Upto 50% off
Dorothy Perkins - Upto 50% off
Debenhams - Limited - Upto 50% off
GAP - 60% on selected items.
IKEA - Upto 33% off
Habitat - Limited products upto 50% off
House of Fraser - Toys only - Upto 75% off
Homebase - Upto 50% off
H&M - Upto 70% off
Laura Ashley
Marks and Spencer - Knitwear - 30%
Matalan - Upto 50% off
New Look - Upto 60% off
Next Clearance Sale on selected items Upto 50% off
Oasis
Sainbury's - Upto 60% off Technology
TK Maxx
Top Shop - Upto 50% off
Very.co.uk - Upto 70% off
Wallis - Upto 50% off
WH Smith

SALES Starting Friday 27th Dec

* Check back for the Market Oracle's latest article update.

SALES Tips

Compare prices on your internet smartphone before buying.
The biggest reductions come towards the end of the sales season, i.e. Christmas stock can go from 33% off to 50% off to 70% off to 80% off over the week after Christmas.
Use a cash back credit card such as Capital One Circle to earn cash back.
Make a list of items that you really need to prevent buying of junk.
Look for discount vouchers in newspapers.
Look for discounts vouchers online, many sites and app's have sprung up over the year.
Set yourself a budget and don't go over it.
Don't get into debt, there is no point saving 25% in the sales then paying 25% and beyond interest on purchases during 2014!
And the best discounts can be found on Ebay during January as people offload unwanted gifts and purchases to pay down Christmas debt.

Source and Comments: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article43701.html

Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 25 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of four ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series.that can be downloaded for Free.

Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 600 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.

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