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Essential Christmas gift toolkit

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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Christmas is only two weeks away and if you haven’t started shopping for family and friends, time is quickly disappearing. Big online retailers like Amazon and eBay are closing in on the last days for guaranteed Christmas delivery so if you don’t want to experience last minute shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, you better get online and start ordering.

There plenty of retailers and websites that can give you up-to-date deals on gifts. Many retailers also have mobile apps so you can browse on your smartphone or tablet and make purchases.

How many gifts are you away from completing your holiday shopping?

Online retailers

Amazon.com

Amazon may be the most familiar for most online shoppers. The online retailer has a staggering amount of products for sale on its site. If you can’t find it on Amazon, then it’s probably something you’re going to have to import.

eBay.com

While eBay still features user-created auctions, the service has expanded for other retailers to offer their products at discount prices. You can search for hard to find items and search for discounts from popular retailers.

Woot.com

The premise of Woot.com is simple: offer a single item and sell it until the stock is gone. Once that item is depleted, add another item and continue this daily. Woot.com has different sections for products like tech!, home!, and kids! Just keep in mind many of the items Woot.com sells are refurbished and may be older products.

Deal Sites

Many of these sites update multiple times a day highlighting deals from many online retailers. Some discounts are for a limited time and you’re going to have to keep checking for deals throughout the day.

Passwird.com

This deal site is the one that I visit multiple times a day. It displays deals from a lot of different retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Tiger Direct, and Newegg covering a wide variety of products. One of the great parts of the site is that it shows when deals are expired.

Slickdeals.net

The other deals site that I visit, even outside of the holidays, Slickdeals.net also has a constantly updating list of daily deals. The layout of the site is a bit overwhelming with the different lists, but with lists for popular, trending, and local products; you can find something for everyone.

Apps for Android and iOS

Along with websites, many retailers also offer their apps on mobile devices. You can access your account and make purchases and track shipping for purchases with ease.

Amazon Mobile (Android/iOS)

The mobile extension to Amazon. Search through deals, access your account, and make purchases from any Android or iOS device.

Google Shopper (Android)

A good comparison app powered through Google Search, Google Shopper allows you to compare prices on many different products.

Google Catalogs (Android/iOS)

Like the name, Google Catalogs is a digital version of catalogs that many companies send out. You can browse for items and find nearby stores that carry them, or visit the company website to make your purchases.

eBay (iOS)

The mobile version of the website, the eBay app lets you perform the same tasks you would on the website on your mobile device.

Flit Shopping (iOS)

Tailored toward female shoppers, Flit Shopping may be best used to find gifts for all your fashion crazed friends. The product comparison feature is great when trying to decide which item to buy and you can also ask friends’ opinions on items.

dealBoard (iOS)

An aggregate of daily deals, dealBoard might be one of the best apps to use to find those last minute gifts to give after Christmas.

Groupon (Android/iOS)

Groupon is one of the biggest daily deals sites online and their mobile app offers the same experience on mobile devices. You can claim deals for a huge discount and pass those deals to friends and family.

Two weeks until Christmas

These are just a sample of the many sites and apps that you can use to find Christmas gifts and ideas for friends and family. Retailer websites also have sales on their main pages, but their guaranteed shipping window might be even smaller than bigger online stores. If you haven’t started shopping yet, you’d better start now.

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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