Black Friday bargains begin today

Nearly half of Americans plan to shop sometime this holiday weekend. If you’re taking the plunge, here’s a roundup of some last-minute deals to catch your attention. Note that some offers are available only in the stores; others apply exclusively to online orders. Also, stores tend to run of stock quickly on the most popular items, and rain checks aren't given. The deals last until there's nothing left. For more details on hot electronics bargains, check out the breaking news from our experts. 

Neiman Marcus – Spend $100 between 9 a.m. and noon Friday, and you’ll get a $50 gift card. The deal applies to in-store purchases only.

Eddie Bauer – Take an extra 30 percent off of everything inside the store until noon on Friday, and 25 percent off the rest of the day.

The Apple Store – On Friday, Apple is hosting a “special one-day shopping event” for in-store and online customers. Apple teased the promotion on its Web site, but remains tight-lipped about specifics. However, there’s been no shortage of rumors and “leaked" flyers noting prospective deals. The Boy Genius Report mentions quite a few of them. According to MacWorld, past Black Friday promotions have seen modest 5 to 7 percent  price drops on desktop Macs, MacBooks, iPods, software, and accessories.

Gap – Through Sunday, take 50 percent off online purchases of men’s and women’s sweaters, as well as children’s fleece styles.

Kohl’s – Through Saturday, take an extra 15 percent off of everything you buy online by entering promo code: “TURKEY15.”

Lord & Taylor – On Friday, the first 500 customers at all Lord & Taylor stores will receive a $20 “doorbuster” card that can be applied toward any purchase. Most stores open at 5 a.m., and the card is good for purchases through 1 p.m.

American Girl – From Friday through Sunday in stores, you can buy get various DVDs starring Kit, Chrissa, and the other American Girl characters for $5. Offer includes: An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (G0095); Kit DVD + Book (F9816); Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (F5553); Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (F3525); and Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (F1594). Excludes Doll Hair Studio DVD (F3661).

HH Gregg – The chain is making some of its Black Friday in-store deals available online today, including bonus savings of 20 to 30 percent on TVs, appliances, camcorders, mattresses, and audio gear. The best deals, however, are being offered at on Friday, like the Nintendo Wii for $170 (after $30 mail-in rebate), and a Toshiba Blu-Ray player for $80.

NordicTrack – Through Friday, online shoppers can pick up an elliptical or treadmill exerciser for the lowest prices they’ve ever sold for, the company says, and get free shipping, too (a $150 savings). Click here for details.

Toys R Us – Looking to get some exercise after your turkey dinner? Toys R Us is offering deep savings on more than 120 doorbusters, according to the chain, from midnight through 1 p.m. Friday. Deals include an 8 GB Apple iPod Touch for the typical price of $200, but with a bonus $50 gift card.

JR  – On Friday, the electronics retailer/e-tailer is offering impressive discounts on digital cameras, like the Kodak EasyShare M1093-IS for $89 (well below the price we noted when we reported on the camera), Canon EOS Rebel T1i EF-S 15MP IS Digital SLR Camera Kit (with 18-55mm lens) for $690, and Sony Blu-Ray Sony BDP-S360 Blu-Ray Disc Player for $119.

Talbots – The women’s clothier is offering 20 percent off (and a flat $5 shipping fee for online orders) through Sunday. To get the discount online, use coupon code 909241403 or give it to the customer service rep for phone orders (1-800-825-2687). Click here for the coupon you’ll need to present for in-store buys.

Amerian Eagle Outfitters – Today only, you’ll get 25 percent off all online orders and free shipping. Use discount code 76845734 at checkout. 

King Arthur Flour Co.– Through midnight on Friday, this comprehensive source for baking supplies and ingredients is offering a 10 percent discount on orders of $50 or more to 20 percent off orders of $150 or more.

 

Cash for unwanted electronics

Looking to get rid of an old computer, digital camera, or MP3 player? Sears just launched a new trade-in and recycling program that allows customers to exchange unwanted electronics for gift cards redeemable online or in stores.

Here’s how the program works:

Log onto sears.gazelle.com, where you’ll be prompted to enter brand and model information, indicate whether the device works or is damaged, and answer questions about condition and the presence of various accessories. In the case of personal products like MP3 players, you’ll also need to reveal whether the gadget has been monogrammed (which decreases the value).

Once you’ve provided the information, click ‘calculate,’ and up pops the trade-in value. A Nintendo Wii gaming console, for example, in perfect condition with all of its accessories, is worth $102. In poor shape, it’s worth just $20.

Other products eligible for trade-in include cell phones, PDAs, video games, movies on DVD, camcorders, GPS systems, Blu-Ray players, satellite radios, camera lenses, calculators, and home-audio gear.

In partnership with Gazelle, a dedicated gadget buy-buyback company, Sears offers free live chat support and pledges to wipe all items clean of personal data as part of its inspection process.

If you’re satisfied with the offer, the company will provide free shipping and packaging to return the equipment. You’ll get your Sears gift card in a week or so. Sears will also accept for recycling electronics items that no longer work. Recycled items, however, have no trade-in value.

As a special holiday promotion, Sears says participants will receive a 5 percent bonus over the actual trade-in value through Dec. 31.

Ready or not, here come the holidays

Although the Halloween decorations may still be tacked to the door and most of us haven’t thought about our Thanksgiving menus, it’s not too early to begin talking about holiday shopping and everything that goes with it – the traffic, the crowds, the long lines, and the deals.

 As you may have read here on the Money blog last week, the results of our first holiday poll, designed to gauge what Americans will be buying this season, how much they’ll be spending, and whether the ongoing economic crisis is dampening their festive spirit, indicate that 2009 is likely to be a carbon copy of last year.

Once again, consumers said they plan to cut back this season. Sixty-five percent of those polled, in fact, said they intend to do less traveling, entertaining, and spending on gifts. That’s on top of the three-quarters of consumers who told us last year they planned on tightening their belts.

It’s easy to understand why so many consumers continue to watch their wallets. Statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the unemployment is at its highest since April 1983. In October, unemployment rose from 9.8 percent to 10.2 percent, as the ranks of the nation’s out-of-work force swelled by 558,000, to 15.7 million. In retailing alone, more than 40,000 jobs were lost last month.

Despite the grim statistics, Americans remain largely optimistic. Eighty-seven percent of survey respondents said they expect to be at least as happy this holiday season as they were last year; 33 percent are predicting they’ll be even happier. So hope does spring eternal.

While we can’t do much in the cheer department, we can offer advice on how to take advantage of the latest retailing trends in order to stretch your shopping dollars. And that’s what we’ll be doing over the next couple of months. The results of our second poll, due out soon, promises to offer insights into the nation’s shopping habits – the extent to which the Internet is figuring more prominently in our purchasing plans, where consumers think they’ll find the biggest bargains, and the must-have presents on their Black Friday shopping list. We’ll also be identifying the most annoying aspects about holiday shopping, also based on a nationwide survey.

As you put together your shopping list, here are a few tidbits to keep in mind, based on a closer look at the results of our first poll:

 • Gift cards. They’re one of the most popular gifts to give and receive, yet one of four recipients still haven’t used at least one of the cards they were given last year, mainly because they couldn’t find anything they wanted to buy.  Moreover, 65 percent of those who used their gift cards – especially women -- purchased an item that priced in excess of the card’s face value. That explains why retailers push card sales so aggressively.

 • Who doesn’t like clothes? Clothing is the biggest holiday gift category and, like gift cards, people love to give and receive apparel. But survey respondents told us that clothing also tends to disappoint the most. If you want to be a hero for the holidays avoid giving socks, shirts, sweaters, and ties, the least desireable of garments and accessories. Also making the most-reviled list this year for the first time: slippers.

 • New favorites. Most people tend to give and get the same presents year in and year out. But our poll revealed several new items that made the list of gifts respondents said they’d be thrilled to receive: boots, purses, pajamas, and guns. The latter’s not a typo, and we’ll avoid making any value judgment. We’re just reporting the facts.

• Fewer people are planning to give money. Despite the fact that money ranks behind only electronics and gift cards as the present they’d most like to receive, Americans won’t be opening their wallets as wide this season. Only 44 percent are considering giving a cash or check this year vs. 61 percent in 2008.

 • Women more likely to scale back on gifts to others. Here’s a statistic we didn’t see coming. When asked whose gifts do you plan cutting back on to save money, women were more likely than men to target family (including their children), friends, co-workers, and service providers (hair stylist, deliver person, etc) instead of themselves. Men, on the other hand, more willing than women to cross teachers and the family pet off their lists.

Gold's at nearly $1,100 an ounce. Here's how to sell your stuff.

With gold prices historically high--today's morning price was nearly $1,100--it's tempting to heed those radio and TV ads to trade your unwanted gold jewelry for cash. Earlier this year, Consumer Reports sent its mystery shoppers to price gold jewelry at pawn shops and jewelry stores in three states, and through three mail-in gold-buying companies: Cash4Gold, GoldPaq, and GoldKit. Click here for the prices we got, and advice on getting the most for your jewelry.