It is about that time when retailers want us all to start thinking about Christmas shopping and the "Hot Toys of 2010" lists are being published left and right. Some of the hot items this year are Pillow Pets, LaLaLoopsy Dolls, Sing-a-Ma-Jigs, Squinkies, Loopz, and Dance Star Mickey.
Now, hopefully you have headed my advice and picked up the bulk of your Christmas toys for your kids on clearance earlier in the year, but sometimes kids just decide that they HAVE to have the latest greatest toy and what is a parent to do? If your child has a HOT toy on their list, are you stuck paying the big bucks or is there any hope of finding these things cheap?
Well, the truth is you probably don't have much of a chance of finding these toys at a deep discount. But, there are a few ways you can try to save a few bucks. First of all, start shopping for these items NOW. Don't wait until December 23rd and expect to find them in the stores at all, let alone at a discount. By starting your search now, you will be able to take your time pricing these items at a variety of online and brick & mortar stores so that when the price drops anywhere, you'll know it's time to snag it!
Online shopping will be a great place to start. You can set up an alert at CamelCamelCamel.com that will email or text you when Amazon.com has an item in stock at a price that you predetermine. You can also see a history of prices so you will know what a "low" price for the item is. Buying online is also great because even if you don't end up finding an item on sale, you can get cash back for your purchase by going through sites like Shop at Home or Ebates. Watch for promotions on those sites and you can get up to 10% or more back on your purchase, which can make a nice difference for an expensive item.
When it comes to shopping for these hot items at local stores, keep a close eye on the sale ads each week to watch for a deal. If one store has a hot item on sale and sells out, don't forget that Target and Walmart will both price-match a published price (with some restrictions). And as crazy as it is, you may want to put Black Friday down on your calendar and plan to be on the hunt for sales that day!
Keep an eye on sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Mamapedia. If you can snag a Groupon for a local toy store (they recently offered a 50% off Groupon for US Toy) or an online retailer, you may end up saving up to 50%!
My last bit of advice on how to save money on hot toys is to just wait until after Christmas to buy them. There is a reason these items are hard to find and rarely discounted...manufactorers and retailers want to create a hype. But without fail, a month after Christmas the shelves will be fully stocked with all of these items and eventually they will all go on sale. Case in point...last Christmas Zhu Zhu pets were hard to find and selling for $10 each or more. I picked up two for my kids' Easter baskets on sale for just $5.99 in March. If you can focus on the other things on your kids' wish list and convince them that they don't have to have these items NOW, you will come out ahead in the end!