Athena Blog

Josh & Father

Today I came across a video on YouTube showing the chaos that broke out yesterday as shoppers tried to fight their way to the front of the line as doors swung open at midnight at one of the major big box retailers. One video led to another in which I witnessed people ripping merchandise from the hands of other shoppers. While this is certainly one way to get a deal, it isn’t really my style. Solution: Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is for people like me and many others who want to get a deal without the hassles of waiting in line and pushing through the crowds. Cyber Monday is the largest online shopping day of the year with estimates showing that we will spend $1.2 Billion online on Monday. While I encourage you to buy all you can from local retailers such as EnterSource, I know that in some cases there are deals that are simply too good to pass up, and the internet is a great way to get these deals without getting a black eye in the process.

Any time I see the word “deal” and “Internet” used in the same sentence, I can’t help but think of my dad. When I was a kid he would rarely make a purchase without negotiating. At first I was embarrassed by his tactics and I am sure my Mom is still embarrassed on occasion, but now I admire him for his ability to get the best price on any purchase. When I was younger it was probably more about him trying to make sure he could provide for five kids to the best of his ability. Now, I think it is more about the thrill of the hunt. With the advancement of the Internet and online shopping, he has become an expert at finding deals online.  While we all give him a hard time on occasion and ask “why did you buy that?”, the whole family often benefits from his ability to find cheap stuff on the Internet. In hopes of allowing your family and friends to benefit from some of these deals, I have asked my dad to share some of his favorite sites for finding a deal. While he tells that many of the best deals may have been seen during the last few days, here are his tips on finding deals this Monday and throughout the year.

From Dad (a.k.a. Michael)

For all of you who didn’t spend everything you had on Turkey Day deals and Black Friday deals, or for those of you who simply have money to burn, let’s look ahead to Cyber Monday deals.

My favorite place to look for deals is slickdeals.net. They not only have the most current deals, but they will let you know what is coming up. All the deals are rated by members with a thumbs up or thumbs down. As a result, the best deals wind up on the front page list of deals. They also have popular deals on the front page, which are located on the right center, and trending deals (by activity/members looking or commenting) on the lower right of the page. If you want to find the latest deals that are listed, navigate to the top center of the page and click on “Forums”, then “Hot Deals” and then “Thread Started”.

The best Cyber Monday deals, looking ahead, will probably come from the largest retailers - Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.. Most of these have a sneak peek for some of the Cyber Monday deals up already. Amazon Lightening Deals (where I shop the most) will also let you know what is coming up all day. You can look ahead and know if there is anything you want and what time it will show up. If you want to know about a particular retailer, checking your email inbox from your favorite shopping site is a good way to gauge their participation in Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday used to be the big online shopping day, but my prediction is since all the retailers have given such great deals the last couple of days, there will only be a few deals on Monday, compared with years past.