Clark's Big Book of Bargains (25 page)

I prefer that you give cash, because there’s nothing more personal about a gift certificate than cash. You won’t find an expiration date on a $20 bill, or incur a fee for using one. Don’t trade money for something that’s inferior.

Occasionally, you’ll get a gift from the store if you buy a gift certificate. If it’s something you want, and you can get more out of your dollar by buying the gift certificate, that may be a worthwhile trade. Otherwise, no way.

$100 or Less

One way to deal with the heavy emphasis on spending money during Christmas is to adopt a different philosophy. Michele Singletary, a syndicated personal financial writer, writes eloquently about the true meaning of Christmas, and she advocates spending no more than $100 for your entire Christmas budget. Her approach is to make things for people, bake things for people, and spend time with people. I love that idea, not necessarily because I’m thrifty, but because we really have lost the meaning of the holiday in all the merchandising. She believes the holiday should be a celebration with family and friends, not about who can put the most on their Visa card.

Singletary writes about ten columns a year, starting around Halloween, about people’s reactions to her approach. She has friends and relatives who get upset with her. But why not try it? Think how much stuff you get that you don’t like and never use. And it’s harder than ever for people to return gifts to the store. So a lot of money spent on Christmas presents is just wasted.

Returns

Whenever you buy a gift for someone, there’s always the possibility it won’t fit or they won’t like it, and they’ll want to return it. Unfortunately, returns, refunds, and exchanges have become the Achilles’ heel of gift shopping and personal shopping.

Retailers have become more reluctant to take returns, in part because of the growing danger that they will take back merchandise that was stolen. Because of bar codes and high employee turnover, it’s become a lot easier for rings of criminals to steal from the stores. They don’t need a gun, and they can walk off with tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise or cash in just a few days.

The crooks will get one or more of their members hired as a cashier. Then they’ll print up their own bar codes, place their sticker over the original sticker, and a member of the ring will take an expensive item up to a register manned by one of his colleagues. So a $300 item rings up as $3, and the crook walks right out the door. Later, he takes off the temporary sticker, takes the item back for a refund, and says he has no receipt.

Retailers have responded to this type of theft by limiting the number of returns everyone is allowed in a year, or every few months. That’s a big problem if you’ve received a number of gifts for Christmas or a wedding that you need to return. Stores won’t let you exchange or refund the item, not even for store credit, unless you have the original receipt, or what’s known as a “gift receipt.” A lot of retailers now give you an actual receipt and a second receipt, which lists the item but no price. When you give a gift, you’re supposed to include the gift receipt so that the recipient can return it if they need to. This cumbersome system has spread throughout retailing, because every time one retailer becomes more refund-friendly than another, the criminal rings migrate to that retailer.

If you look, you’ll see that retailers with centralized checkouts now have their cameras monitoring each cashier, not shoplifting that may occur in the interior of the store. And if you’re wondering why some stores now have people checking your receipt when you leave, it’s to try to catch these bar-code crime rings.

The warehouse clubs do this, but they’re a lot harder for the theft rings to hit because you have to be a member to shop there. So they can track purchases and returns based on your member number. I think stores should give people the option of being able to register as a member and pay a small charge for it.

As a consumer, you have to make sure you find out the return policy of each store you shop at, especially if you’re shopping for a gift. Keep your own receipts, and check for time limits on returns. Some stores may require you to return an item within fourteen days or sixty days, and some will give you less than you paid if the item has been discounted since you bought it. If a gift receipt is needed, make sure you include it with the gift.

Returning electronics items is more difficult also, whether the item is a gift or something you bought for yourself. It’s become a nightmare actually, as retailers are now charging “restocking fees.” Even if you return an item unopened, you could be charged a restocking fee of 15 to 25 percent of the purchase price. Retailers who sell computers and electronics say prices drop so quickly that people often return things just to take advantage of a new, lower price. Costco has a policy I like a lot, although they don’t publicize it. If an item you buy there drops in price within 30 days of when you bought it, you can bring your receipt back and they’ll refund the difference. Some other stores will do that as well. So if you buy an item on Saturday and the Sunday sales circular has the same thing at 20 percent less, they’ll give you the difference rather than making you return it and buy it again.

• Tips on Christmas Shopping •

• Make a list of the people you want to buy for, figure a budget for all, then write down how much of the total you’ll spend on each person. Include something for yourself.
  

• Carry the list with you when you shop, and make adjustments to it along the way.
  

• The day after Thanksgiving is a great time to land some deals, if you can handle the crowds.
  

• Be careful the week before Christmas. Seasonal items are cheap, but electronics and jewelry are expensive.
  

• Buy classic, inexpensive toys for children, instead of the expensive, heavily advertised stuff. Kids prefer these toys, and they’re much easier on your budget.
  

• For the typical holiday jewelry purchase, $50 to $200, find something you like and don’t worry about quality. Compare prices among stores, but ignore “70 percent off” sales. Retailers mark up, then mark down, so the percentages mean nothing.
  

• Shop for jewelry at discounters such as Tuesday Morning, Value City, Wal-Mart, or the warehouse clubs: Sam’s Club, BJ’s, and Costco.
  

• Find out stores’ return policies, and don’t give gifts that can’t be returned. Include a gift receipt with your gift if the store requires that for a return.