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With larger items, $800 and above,
expect to "maybe get a couple of hundred dollars off the price,"
she says. Manufacturers are also throwing in extras: For example,
a year's supply of detergent to go with that new washer.
Consider those seasonal summer
items, such as a lawn mower or gas grill, too, she says. "When demand is
low, price is low," says Ritchey. "If you buy now, when no one else
is looking, you can save a chunk of money."
What you can expect to save:
$50 to $100, depending on what you spend, Ritchey says. "You're
probably going to get some pretty decent selections, too,"
she says.
And if there's a car in your
future, you might want to cruise the lots between Christmas and
New Year's Day. "Believe it or not, there will be some excellent
buys on cars," says Glink. Conventional wisdom says that deals
get better at the end of the month when dealerships are trying to
make their quotas. But this time of year you have "the push
for month's end times 12," she says. In the industry, "it
hasn't been a very good year and dealers are looking at the end
of the year to boost sales."
When it comes to good buys
on food, think holiday leftovers. "Typically, what you're going
to see are those items which were featured for holiday meals and
there was an overabundance," says William J. Day, associate
professor at the Center of Food and Beverage Management at Johnson
& Wales University. The best buys: turkeys and winter fruits,
such as apples, and winter vegetables, such as potatoes and squash.
You probably won't see actual
sales on wine and champagne after the holidays, but you will see
good prices, says Kevin Zraly, author of the "Windows on the
World Complete Wine Course" and vice president of Smith &
Wollensky Restaurant Group.
"There
are so many good values out there right now," he says. "This is the
best time ever to buy wine. Quality wine at a quality price." Several
nice values:
- Phelps cabernet sauvignon, either
2001 or 2002, about $25 to $40.
- Clos du Val cabernet sauvignon
2002, also about $25 to $30.
- And for the champagne lovers: Nicolas Feuillatte
(brut, nonvintage) about $29.
Shopping
online
If you're shopping over the Internet, you'll probably see the best
price breaks on electronics, upscale winter clothing and jewelry,
says Hillary Mendelsohn, author of "Thepurplebook: The Definitive
Guide to Exceptional Online Shopping."
If you're bargain shopping,
look for online stores that don't have brick-and-mortar locations,
says Mendelsohn. "They only have one outlet for moving that
merchandise.
"January is the best
time for buying electronic goods," she says. "You get
discounts of anywhere from 10 to 40 percent." To snag the deepest
price cuts, do some research, know when the new models are coming
out and target older versions.
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