Post-Holiday Sales And Bargains

No Pouting, With Regina's Tips

(CBS)  It's been another record breaking holiday season for e-tailers offering online shoppers deep discounts, special promotions and a host of free shipping options. Even though retail sales are sluggish, Internet shopping is expected to climb to $40 billion, up from last year's $30 billion.

And with post-holiday clearance sales in full swing, the deals are only getting better. Regina Lewis, AOL's online adviser and author of the best-selling book "Wired in a Week," has the info on how you can score some unbelievable bargains from the comfort of your own home by logging on and loading up.

What drives these huge post-holiday clearance sales each year? No big secret here -- it is excess inventory. Right now, retailers are asking themselves the question: "How low can I go?" They're more than willing to cut profit margins to get rid of excess inventory quickly. They have to clear the way for new merchandise arriving for the spring selling season.

This is good news for consumers. The selection may be limited, but the bargains more than compensate. Example: the cashmere turtleneck is only available in mauve and purple; then again, it's only $39.

Discounts:
Fifty percent off is almost a given the day after Christmas. So it becomes "What extra are you going to give me?" In some cases, it takes 60 percent or 70 percent off to really motivate bargain hunters. And many retailers were offering free shipping to help encourage early shopping due to the shorter season and plenty of these offers are still available.
Here are a few examples:

• Eddie Bauer - Free delivery on purchases over $100 until Dec. 27.
  
  
• Amazon - Free Super Saver Shipping on select orders over $25 until Dec. 31
  
  
• Barnes & Noble -Order two or more items and get free std. shipping until Dec. 31
  
  
• Best Buy - Free ground shipping on all orders until Dec. 31.
  
  
• Fossil - Free 2nd Day Air shopping on all orders until Dec. 31.
  
  
• Ritz Camera - Free shipping on orders over $100 and no sals tax until Dec. 31
  
  
• Sephora.com - Free standard shipping on all orders over $75 until Dec. 31
  
  
• Blue Nile offers free shipping all year round. Just be sure to read the fine print - some free shipping orders apply only to certain products, or are based on a minimum order amount. Examples: Free shipping with purchase of $100 or more.

TIP: do all your shopping on one site. Also, check out free shipping on a category or product the site is pushing. For example, Amazon is really pushing apparel, so check out their clothing and you'll probably get free shipping, or get a discount off a sweater when you get a certain book.

Also, much like the real world, the Internet has outlet malls and clearance centers. Sites like overstock.com and smartbargains.com are great places to find clearance items. Also, many of the major online retailers have clearance, sale or outlet areas on their sites, 365 days a year. You just have to look for them. Some of them are:

• Eddie Bauer Outlet
  
• Target.com Clearance Center
  
• Amazon.com: TOYSRUS.com Outlet
  
• Barnes & Noble Half-Price Books &Other Bargains
  
• NORDSTROM.com Sale - New Markdowns Every Wednesday!

Tips For Bargain Hunting/Returning After Christmas:

Online Coupon Sites - Visit coupon sites like couponmountain.com. You know when you're making a purchase online and you get to the checkout and it asks you if you have a coupon? Well, on couponmountain you'll find coupon codes for hundreds of e-tailers and they can save you big bucks; so buy something on clearance and then throw in a coupon code, you can't beat that!

Think ahead - Now is a great time to start your holiday shopping for next year. Stock up on scarves, gloves and sweaters for gifts or even for yourself. And guess what, you can still wear this stuff now, we still have three months of winter left. And those gift sets available and packaged just for the holidays - tools, flashlights, lotions, health and beauty, stationery, etc. - they can make great gifts all year round, so stock up, put them in the closet, and use them as birthday gifts or for other occasions. Not to mention gift-wrap, bows, ribbons, cards, paper products, etc. Red wrap, bows, paper products and such, can be used for Valentine's Day and the Fourth of July. Blue can be used all year long. Green is perfect for St. Patrick's Day. Glittering white is good for weddings.

Surf early and often - During sale season, visit your favorite sites daily and you will likely see prices continue to drop.

Dare to Compare - There are some great price comparison sites like pricegrabber.com, mysimon.com, dealtime.com and now google is getting into the action with the launch of froogle.com.

Don't Hesitate - If you see something you really, really want, buy it during the first markdown. Even though your dream coat might be $50 cheaper next week, who's to say it will still be there?

Consider e-Bay – If you received a gift that you don't like or it doesn't fit or if you got two of the same thing, instead of fighting crowds to return them, put your gifts up for sale on e-Bay. A lot of people are cashing in. Consider it the modern way to "re-gift." All those people who stocked up on this year's hot toys, jacked up the prices and tried to sell them on eBay, some of them are also left with excess inventory as well. So if there's a certain toy you didn’t want to fork over to dollar for, but a child in your life would still love to get, this might be your window.

Cash in on Gift Certificates - Post-holiday sales are also good. Gift certificates have become very popular gifts and the recipient of a $50 gift certificate on Christmas Day is going to get a lot more mileage out of it the day after. It could be worth more than twice as much when you talk about buying stuff at 60-80 percent off.