It's not even Halloween yet and the stores near me already have Christmas trees, lights and holiday music out. It feels earlier every year. I get that shops want to sell, but it kind of kills the mood for the actual holidays coming up. Does anyone else feel this way, or do you actually like getting a head start on Christmas shopping? What do you think — is it just marketing, or are people really buying gifts in October now?
It's mostly marketing, but it works for a reason: retailers know a chunk of shoppers like to spread gift spending over a few months instead of taking one big hit in December. If the early displays bug you, one upside is that October and early November prices are often no worse than Black Friday for many items, so you can buy calmly and skip the crowds. Halloween first, though — the trees can wait.
Part of it is that holiday shopping keeps getting stretched on purpose: stores want to smooth out demand so they're not swamped in December and can manage inventory better. With prices this high, a lot of people really do buy a gift or two a month to spread the cost. The music in October is still too much, though.
Yes, exactly — I noticed the Christmas displays before Halloween too, and it does take some of the magic out of it. That said, I can see the upside of spreading gift shopping out a bit instead of one huge December splurge. Just please hold the holiday music until after Thanksgiving!
Now that Halloween is over, the early Christmas push is only going to get louder until Black Friday. One practical tip: put the gifts you actually plan to buy on a short list with today's prices. If the same item is cheaper on Black Friday, many big retailers will price-match or let you return and rebuy, so buying early doesn't have to mean overpaying.
The early push is mostly about spreading out the spending: stores know a lot of people budget across November, so they start the deals early. The upside is you can buy the basics now when there's no rush and skip the panic shopping in late December. Just compare prices with Black Friday week before buying anything big.