Stylish with Substance

I know it's annoying to see Christmas come so soon seemingly everywhere, especially this year when Thanksgiving comes early, but since that brings Black Friday sooner too, we need to think about gift shopping. I know many of us like to wait at least a week after the weekend of doom (while hopefully not waiting close to the big Eve), but there are some reasons to shop now, especially in some stores / on some online shops.

Why shop now? First of all, if it's online and a store that's small in any way, and has a possibility of being overloaded with requests, you need to worry about shipping delays. Think eBay as #1 for that.

Secondly, especially if online, sometimes you need to worry about stock running out (and even in brick and mortar stores!). And when items are one of a kind, or unique in any way to that store (like a regular person [read: non-store, for example] reselling a personally-used bag on eBay), there's always a chance of missing out on that item if you wait, but during the holidays, other people are more likely to bid or buy. For auctions, expect more and higher bids, and do not rely on relisting.

So that brings me to the main reasons to shop some places early, and what are the popular shops that concern me? Here's the list:

• eBay.com - I've already mentioned it and why. You could lose an item entirely, especially if it's that rare "It on eBay" find, or there could be shipping delays. Also, the longer you wait, the higher people bid, and the more bidders there are! (When to wait? If an item is local and allows pickup, but only after it's definitely too late for shippers to bid at all, then the item is guaranteed either yours or a non-gift.)


• Organize.com - Why? This shop already takes about two weeks to get items shipped to me, and that was before the holiday shopping really started. Why is it a good place to buy gifts? Well, I love them for their truly helpful and often unique items to store, label, and put your life in order. I think such things can make great gifts when selected right! (Plus, there's a sale going until 26th!)


• Bag Borrow or Steal - Why? Well, you could set someone up with a new account and have a bag ship ahead of time, ship a bag from your account early, or set her new account up on waiting lists. With any of these methods, you might worry about the availability, or getting on a wait list sooner. Remember even if a bag is available now, it may not be in a week or so. Finally, if you want to shop their outlet, these items could sell out at any time, so think of the urgency as similar to auctions.


• Amazon.com - Really? Well, the site's not just a megastore (read: quick, not going to sell out) for wished-after CDs and books, but a marketplace for small businesses to sell nearly any type of item. Such sellers could easily run out of stock or have shipping problems. One could even worry about reliability on occasion, and there might be a chance a gifter needs a backup plan. One reason to wait?? To let people get their wish lists in order, of course.


• Etsy.com - Why? It's a marketplace for independent sellers who independently hand make their items, and well, the biggest reason to shop early is to not stress the crafters who make custom orders, or make items after sales are made. They don't want to worry about getting their items to you, either! They're very nice. ;-) Reasons to shop? Helping out "little" people who make great stuff! There's a great variety or product types among the whole site, too. And did you catch -- they can personalize or totally custom make things?! Yeah, get on that early!

Please keep in mind with all online holiday shopping that there may be something wrong with the product (especially from eBay) or gifts could go missing in the mail, so it's always a good idea to do all online gift shopping early, just in case you need to replace the item(s).

Now, I'm only one shopper with my own set of interests, habits and friends, so I may have missed some important sites to shop now. Please do add yours in the comments!