Consumer Reports’ holiday-shopping guide

This page features our holiday-shopping wisdom, which we'll update frequently with new content about consumer electronics, appliances and home-related products, automotive gear, and much more as the season goes on. So to be sure you get the best products at the best prices, bookmark this page and come back often!

Before you start head to the stores or the Web, read our advice on how to avoid holiday-shopping mistakes. In the frenzy of the season, even disciplined shoppers might spend too much or make poor gift choices. Steering clear of these common pitfalls can help you get through the season in good cheer and with your finances intact.

Along with our product testing and Ratings, Consumer Reports offers a wealth of information, tips, and advice on shopping. Among the many topics we've tackled for you are how to find the best places to shop for electronics and how to get the best prices (haggling works!), identifying which kids' toys are worth the money and Black Friday deals, and penny auctions and buyback programs.

Holiday shipping: Make sure your gifts arrive on time
Holiday shipping deadlines are fast approaching, so check out our roundup of the various cut-off days you should be aware of you want your gifts to reach their destinations on time.

Holiday shopping: Buy online and pick up at store on same day
Retailers are finding ways to make your shopping experience more convenient, by integrating their online and brick and mortar operations. Some retailers let you buy a product from their website, and then pick it up in the store that same day    

Should you give gift cards this holiday?
It's tempting to give gift cards, but although they're simple and straightforward to buy, they may not be the ideal gift. According to our recent survey, even though gift cards are one of the most popular gifts given, a quarter of us still have unused cards left over from last year.

Free tech support from electronics stores
Manufacturers are no longer your only option for tech support: You can often get free assistance from the place where you bought your electronics device. Here’s a look at some of the support options for a variety of retailers.

Smart shopping at holiday pop-up stores
This could be a big year for the temporary shops, which typically open around now and close sometime in January. Not only is there lots of vacant retail space in suburbia, but many recession-wracked cities have been encouraging pop-ups to fill otherwise empty storefronts.

Beware of penny auctions as you search for shopping deals
The deals advertised at online penny auctions can look amazing, but you could end up spending a lot of money, and losing the bidding war, in your pursuit of a great bargain on the perfect holiday gift.

8 highly rated retailers
Before you embark on this year's holiday-shopping adventure, you may want to jot down the retailers that got high marks based on the shopping experiences of more than 22,000 of our readers.

Smart holiday-shopping tips you might not have considered
Planning to give hot-ticket electronics gifts this year? You can shop smart by following a couple of steps you may not have thought about yet, such as making your purchases at highly rated retailers and trying your hand at haggling.

10 tips to prevent ID theft while holiday shopping
Most of us have heard about online scams, and malware; and now even your mobile phone can make you vulnerable to hackers who want to steal your identity. These tips from the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America will help keep your personal information out of the hands of thieves.

Buyback programs for consumer electronics
Buyback programs offer convenience, promising to cushion the cost of replacing items fairly with less hassle than, say, selling the old one on eBay or Craigslist. But they don't offer the best value, even if you typically swap out your gadgets often. In a nutshell, the programs are fairly expensive and fairly measly in what they pay to buy your item back.

Haggling works—even online
If you haven't found the right deal on a tablet computer, e-book reader, or video-game accessory, here's a thought: Why not make your own deal? Overall, only one in seven or eight buyers of major electronics items and computers, respectively, who responded to our surveys said they negotiated for the price of their purchase. Of those customers who asked for a better price, though, half or more were successful overall.
 
Don't jump at an extended-warranty pitch
As a rule, we think extended warranties are poor buys. That said, buying a computer warranty that extends technical support as well as coverage for repairs might make sense if you or your gift recipient might still need a lot of hand-holding after the free factory support expires, usually after a year. And a plan that covers theft or accidental damage might be worth considering for a laptop, netbook, or tablet you'll use a lot on the go.

New electronics products flood the market in the final months and weeks of the year—just in time for holiday shopping. With all those shiny new toys—tablets, laptop computers, digital cameras, TVs, smart phones, e-book readers, and more—how do you decide which will make the best gifts for your loved ones? Or, maybe, for yourself? Don't let it overwhelm you, because we're here to help.

Penny-auction websites are buzzing with all kinds of deals on electronics, appliances, gift cards, and many other items. Encouraged by TV and Web ads promising as much as 95 percent off retail, millions of people are signing up for a piece of the auction action, looking to emulate such lucky bidders as those who landed a $1,836.45 high-definition television for $72.93 and a $15 store gift card for 28 cents. Read our report on penny auctions.

Would you buy a $600 computer knowing that it would cost you nearly $1,900 after less than a year's worth of payments? How about a $1,000 clothes washer/dryer combination at an equivalent interest rate of 100 percent, leaving you $2,700 out of pocket after two and a half years? Those are the types of deals you could end up with if you get your electronics, furniture, appliances, or other items from a rent-to-own store such as Rent-A-Center. Read our report on rent-to-own stores.

It feels good to give the perfect gift—and this year, it can feel even better. The gifts and websites listed in "Green Gifts That Do Good," on our GreenerChoices.org site, aim to make the world better by protecting the planet, promoting fair trade, or donating to an environmental cause, or all of the above. All of the gifts cost less $45; several cost less than $25.

Many of the sites we covered will include a note with your gift, describing the nonprofit work that the site helps support. Each website meets Consumer Reports' requirements for privacy, contact information, disclosure, and customer services, and each guarantees delivery by the holidays if you order by a certain date. Some sites even offer free shipping.

Among the products covered in our green-gifts roundup are an iPhone clock and alarm docking station made from sustainably harvested new-growth beech ($40), a dog's ball toss toy made from sustainable bamboo and reused cork costs ($20), and a men's recycled leather billfold ($25).