- These are the top 10 holiday shopping secrets
stores do not want you to know.
Hello guys, welcome back to the channel.
I'm the YouTube deal guy, Matt Granite.
I am going to anger and infuriate many retailers
with this information I'm about to share,
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not just in terms of the YouTube algorithm,
but with my self esteem.
Now I know your time is precious,
I'm gonna get right into this content.
If you guys are subscribed
with your notifications turned on,
I promise to hook you up with more insider information
and deals as they drop left, right and center
before Christmas and after.
Holiday shopping secret number one,
if you can't find a product that Amazon makes in stock
or at a delivery time you like,
you might want to consider the Home Depot.
What?
Holiday shopping secret number one
not just works with Amazon Alexa enabled products,
but smart plugs
and all of these other smart home devices.
But let's use the echo show five as an example.
At the time I'm uploading this video,
the turnaround time if you want this delivered
is after Christmas.
It has an in-stock delivery date on December 23rd.
And the so-called amazing price on the echo show five
of $44.99 isn't something you have to wait for
just because it's an Amazon product.
Home Depot not only replicates most
of the deals you're going to find at Amazon,
but their delivery times are sometimes way better,
and the prices are identical in most cases.
If you look, December 9th to 14th
is when you can actually get this as a ship to store.
And if you do want scheduled delivery,
you can get it as early as tomorrow
at the time I am uploading this video.
Again, $44.99 at Home Depot,
and $44.99 with an after Christmas delivery date
on Amazon.com.
Holiday shopping secret number two,
retailers.
That was not awkward.
Retails are not only more desperate than ever,
but there are so called incredible sales
are actually repeating every two to three weeks.
Let's use this offering from Lowe's as an example.
This buy one get one tool offering
was the exact same thing
we saw Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
And of course you'll know that this
is the opportunity where I tell you
that I'm a tool.
Oh, nope, not gonna make that pun today.
I'm being original.
But if you do feel like you've missed out on a great deal,
I just want you to know
that's definitely not the case this year
for things like this.
Instant Pot, which is a cyber Monday
and then a black Friday deal,
it just keeps repeating every other day.
I don't think these have ever sold for full price.
And for those of you who are feeling
like you're really missed out
on a black Friday television deal,
the up to 20% off the Samsung Q led TVs
has been running probably for the last two months on Amazon,
even though it was advertised as an extra special flash sale
on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
So if you guys are ever feeling deal disappointed,
the prices go up, they fluctuate,
then they go back down.
I will chart the patterns for you.
And if you are subscribed
with the notifications turned on,
that's one of the things that I handle right here.
Holiday shopping secret number three
pains me a little bit to say,
but if you can guys, please avoid long, extended warranty
and replacement plans.
I'm gonna use Best Buy just as an example
of a store that I think is possibly safe right now,
but given the state of the economy,
a lot of unknowns with what's going on in the world,
and I really hope for brighter days ahead for all of you,
a lot of stores are going out of business.
A lot of companies that make products
and appliances are also going under.
If you have extended plan options beyond a year
or two I think it might be worth looking at the fine print,
seeing what happens if that retailer goes belly up,
and examine where you can get your product serviced
after the fact.
There's a great debate on a regular day over whether
or not you should buy a protection plan,
but for those really long extended warranties,
with everything going on,
I would avoid them if you can.
Again, it pains me to say that.
Before I get to holiday hams and turkey,
and a few not so nice things
that retailers are doing right now,
holiday shopping secret number four
is tied to some really wonderful price match guarantees,
many of which are new,
that you should be taking advantage of.
I've done videos on Costco,
Best Buy's price match guarantee.
But for retailers even like Target,
you might not be aware
of just how aggressive their price match guarantee is
when you're shopping.
They price match Amazon, New Egg, Best Buy.
So you can actually create a war of savings
against retailers in terms
of whose price match guarantee you want to follow.
But I just thought Target was a good example
because not a lot of people realize
that they've really added to their competitor list.
Holiday shopping secret number five
that stores don't want you to know,
many of their sales this time of year
are kind of fake, or fake-ish.
There's Green Monday,
which is like Cyber Monday part two on December 14th.
There's the free shipping day sales.
Then there's the Monday leading up to Christmas
as your last minute opportunity.
And then if you miss that
there's boxing day for certain countries
and certain stores.
Then there's the end of the year blowout events.
Then there's more clearance deals.
Then there's the first
of the year New Year's resolution sales.
And then there's President's Day
if you can wait all the way to February.
And then we start all over again.
Not every sale is something
where you're gonna lose your mind if you miss it, I promise.
Nor are you gonna lose a lot of money.
So don't let stores put pressure on you,
especially if your paycheck doesn't come in
on the day that you need,
or finances are more tight than you'd like.
This iRoomba i3 Black Friday,
Cyber Monday deal is going strong
as a limited time deal for three weeks straight.
It's going to come back.
This is just an example of one of those things where
if you do not have the ability to buy it right now
it will return, you're gonna be fine.
Before I get to how to take a stand against Amazon
and not lose your money tied to this Prime perk,
I wanna discuss Kohl's Cash
and expiring dollars for all of these retailers.
I want to make sure that you guys are aware of this.
All of your extra earned bonus offerings,
let me close this picture in picture window
with my giant head so you can just see
what I'm referring to.
From Kohl's to extra bonus dollars
being offered at Old Navy,
a lot of stores create these crazy bonus opportunities
to get you more excited,
and to get you to take advantage of sales,
but these Kohl's Cash Dollars,
and many of these other bonus offerings expire,
specifically CVS is on this list.
Sometimes buying something that's not on sale,
but using bonus points
or Kohl's cash will actually get you a better deal
than when that item is offered on sale.
So check the expiration date,
stores are not great about reaching out to you
to let you know that your dollars are about to expire.
They'd rather it be in their pocket than yours.
And speaking of that,
if a holiday delivery is late,
and it's tied to some type of membership program
that you pay into,
do not tolerate that.
I'm not talking about the hardworking men
and women delivering packages this time
of year from the post office, UPS and FedEx.
But for example, if you are a Prime Member
and that does guarantee you free two-day delivery,
or delivery times on many products,
whether it's a membership club
or Amazon Prime where they tell you
"Oh, well, it's running late,"
you have no responsibility to tolerate late deliveries,
specifically if it's something on the distribution end.
And I'm not talking about weather delays and hurricanes,
but if a delivery is late
and you've been guaranteed
a shipping turnaround time,
use customer service,
contact that retailer,
and tell them under no circumstances
are you paying for your prime membership,
or whatever a membership is that you have for that month.
They will refund you nine out of 10 times
in all of my tests for errors,
or shipping delays that are on the merchant's part.
So please keep that in mind.
You shouldn't be paying for a service
you're not receiving.
Holiday shopping secret number eight,
'tis the season for returns.
And if you wait until after Christmas,
a lot of people have just simply opened a box to a product
and decided nope, they don't want it,
and they're going to return it.
They haven't used it.
They haven't touched it.
It's not a refurbished item.
It's literally a box that was opened,
and someone decided they didn't want what they were gifted.
They bring it back to Best Buy or Amazon,
which spells savings of up to 70%,
depending on what section
and what product you look for.
If there is a product
or an item that you want to treat yourself to,
the Best Buy outlet deal section is incredible.
And there's some lesser known sections
of Amazon where not only do they have renewed products,
but they're all pre inspected.
They've got extended warranties on them
of 90 days versus 30 days.
And it's tied to all of the major brands.
So, again, sometimes shopping for yourself
after Christmas will get you the perfect gift on a dime.
And holiday shopping secret number nine,
before we target hams and turkeys at the grocery store,
don't forget the Dollar Tree this time of year.
A lot of people know the Dollar Tree is great
for $1 gift cards and so many other offerings,
but when it comes to beauty products
they're a major seller this time of year,
not just in terms of stocking stuffers,
but people trying to look great for their holiday parties
or virtual holiday parties.
The Dollar Tree carries name brand beauty products
that are far less expensive here
versus CVS and Walgreens and Rite Aid,
and many of those online flash beauty sales,
I know this from my wife.
Look for Dollar Tree items,
they do carry name brand products.
And for holiday shopping secret number 10,
don't get too excited about all
of those online offerings you see
tied to holiday steaks and hams and turkeys.
While these services provide some great luxury,
and the ability where you don't need to get
up from your couch,
dollar for dollar,
any of these free bacon, free whatever
don't get overly worked up.
The holiday ham, Turkey, roast beef dinners,
if you actually look dollar for dollar
at what's being offered,
you are not saving any money whatsoever
tied to these promotions.
Your best turkey, holiday ham
and Christmas dinner offerings
are actually available at your local grocery store.
No matter what grocery store you go to,
they've got prenegotiated relationships
that are long standing
with butchers and distributors tied into this holiday.
And a lot of these online companies
or startups or super cool things
you saw advertised on Instagram,
don't have the strength
of those relationships compared to your grocery store.
And that's tied really primarily to the velocity
of products that are sold in a grocery store.
They will always have the better deals
for your holiday dinners.
Not necessarily the more convenient option,
but if you guys watch the two weeks before Christmas
are not the best time to go.
The seven day and five day mark
leading up to December 24th will get you the best deals.
All right, don't forget to check for your grocery store
circulars as well, those are legit this time of year.
Thank you guys for watching.
I hope you found this valuable.
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Thanks for being here.
I love you.
Happy holidays.
Merry Christmas.
Bye, bye.