Holiday Shopping Tips 2025
Last updated November 2025
Here are tips to help you find the best deals and avoid holiday-debt hangover.
Click below to listen to our Consumerpedia podcast episode.
Shop Early
Most holiday decorations and toys are manufactured in China, as is a large portion of the clothing and electronics sold in the U.S. The ongoing trade war could lead to price hikes or product shortages this season.
Nearly three-quarters of holiday shoppers (74 percent) expect tariffs to impact their gift shopping, according to NerdWallet’s 2025 Holiday Spending Report. To avoid potential shortages, 28 percent said they’ll shop earlier than usual.
Edgar Dworsky, founder and publisher of ConsumerWorld.org, recommends getting an early start—especially for any “must-have” items on your list.
Major stores—including Amazon, Best Buy, Macy’s, Target, and Walmart—are already rolling out “early Black Friday sales,” Dworsky said on Checkbook’s Consumerpedia podcast. This makes it difficult to decide whether to buy now or wait for the actual Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, when the items you want may not be available.
“Most big retailers have a price guarantee or liberal return policy for holiday purchases,” Dworsky said. “So, if you wind up buying early in November and the price goes down later, you may very well be able to get the difference back just by going to the courtesy desk.”
Comparison Shop
“Don’t use a ‘sale’ as an excuse to buy something,” said Jamie Lettis, an associate editor at Checkbook. “Do your homework to see if that ‘sale price’ is legit.” A six-month investigation by Checkbook’s researchers found that ‘sale’ prices are usually fake discounts.
Online tools make it easy to do a price check. Camelcamelcamel tracks prices offered over time by Amazon. While Amazon doesn’t always have the lowest price, it’s a good reference point to help you distinguish genuine bargains from “super sale” marketing hype.
You can also compare current prices offered by major retailers by using comparison sites such as PayPal’s Honey, Bizrate, PriceGrabber, and Shopzilla.
Lettis uses her smartphone to “do research on the fly” when she’s in the store. This helps her determine if the price she’s excited about really is the best price she can get. If she finds a better price online or from another retailer, Lettis will head to customer service and ask for a price match.
Lettis also checks for promo codes and visits her favorite cashback shopping portals, such as Rakuten and RetailMeNot, to see if she can get a better price and/or money back if she buys that item online.
“It’s the final number that counts,” Lettis said. “Maybe an item is the same price in-store, but that retailer is offering 10 percent cash back through Rakuten that day, and I can get $20 back. That’s worth it to me. I’ll buy online and wait for that item to arrive on my doorstep.”
Let AI Do Some of the Work
Shopping expert Lisa Lee Freeman, former editor-in-chief of Consumer Reports’ ShopSmart magazine, uses artificial intelligence to compare prices, locate products, and suggest similar yet more affordable alternatives.
Her “AI shopping buddies” also help her summarize customer reviews and provide answers to specific questions.
“You can ask it to summarize reviews for, say, a pair of running sneakers, and find out what the reviewers are saying about whether it runs narrow or wide, or how much cushioning it has,” Freeman explained on the “Holiday Shopping Tips” Consumerpedia podcast episode.
You need to be careful using AI, Freeman cautioned, because it can provide erroneous information (so-called “hallucinating”) or send you to a scammer’s website that was scraped from its web search. You need to verify results and check links to ensure the URLs are correct. Better yet, go to the retailer’s website yourself.
Think Outside the Box
Freeman is a big believer in buying “refurbished” products because it’s good for her wallet and the environment. She buys refurbished items for herself and plans to give them as gifts. Many manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Kitchen Aid, Lenovo, Samsung, and Sony) and retailers (such as Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Target, and Walmart) now offer these pre-owned products at steep discounts.
Stick with “certified refurbished,” which means the products were inspected, repaired, if needed, and restored to factory specifications by the manufacturer. In some cases, these items have never been used or even taken out of the box; they’re returned products that can’t be sold as new. Be sure to check the warranty and return policy before buying.
Think Ahead About Returns
Most major retailers provide more lenient policies for holiday returns, and Dworsky expects the trend to continue this year. The return period for most holiday items lasts until the end of January. Computers, cell phones, and other expensive electronics typically have a much shorter return window, and some retailers charge restocking fees on these items.
To combat return fraud, some stores may have more stringent return policies than before.
Providing the recipient with a gift receipt, which indicates when and where the item was purchased, can make the return process easier for them. Without a receipt, the store may only refund the lowest price the item sold for in the last 90 or 180 days.
Remember, in most cases, it is legal for stores to refuse refunds or exchanges if the signs state, “All Sales Final.”
’Tis the Season for Debt
More than one in four shoppers (28 percent) said they plan to take on debt, using either a credit card or a buy now, pay later loan, to pay for their holiday shopping, according to a recent report from Bankrate.com.
This debt can be a burden for a long time after the decorations come down. A survey by NerdWallet found that 31 percent of 2024 holiday shoppers who used credit cards still haven’t paid off the balances.
Credit cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. The average credit card interest rate in August was 21.39 percent for existing accounts, according to WalletHub.
The interest rates on retail credit cards are even higher. A survey by LendingTree found the average APR on a new store credit card is currently 30.58 percent; however, at some stores, the interest rate can exceed 35 percent.
Major retailers want you to use their credit cards, and they offer special signup bonuses if you apply while shopping in their stores or online. The typical offer is an instant discount of 15 to 20 percent on your purchase, which can be a significant savings. Many store cards also come with perks, such as early access to sales, special promotions, and bonus rewards points or higher cash back.
“Unless you pay off the card in full each month, the discounts or rewards you earn will be quickly outweighed by any interest you accrue,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at Lending Tree. “Don’t let yourself be pressured by the person behind the counter to make a quick, uninformed decision about getting that card. It’s all part of the game. Don’t play along.”
If you’re interested in applying for a store’s credit card, review the terms and conditions before you go shopping.
Many stores offer cardholders no interest for a specific period (i.e., six, 12, or 24 months). This “special financing” comes with a big catch—deferred interest.
“If you don’t pay the full amount by the time the clock runs out, they charge you retroactively for all of the interest that would have accumulated,” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate cautioned on the Consumerpedia podcast. “There are a lot of gotchas with store cards. You really need to be careful at the checkout counter.”
Buy now, pay later (BNPL), promoted as interest-free credit, is growing in popularity. But “it’s still debt,” Rossman cautioned. “You may feel like it’s $20 here, $50 there, or $100 there, but buy now, pay later can add up.”
The BNPL industry has expanded from its “four payments in six weeks” model. BNPL loans for big-ticket items can last six months or longer and come with credit-card-like interest rates of 15 to 20 percent or higher.
Don’t Overdo It
The average shopper plans to spend $890 this year on holiday gifts, food, decorations, and other seasonal items, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual consumer survey. That’s 1.3 percent less than last year.
“Time and again, Americans prioritize spending on loved ones for holidays despite economic uncertainty,” said Katherine Cullen, NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of shopping. Having a list—with dollar amounts next to each person—can help keep you focused and within your budget.
“If you’re satisfying an immediate need and only focused on what you’re buying in the moment, it may seem like those credit card payments and buy now, pay later loans are manageable—but that can add up,” said Bruce McClary, senior vice president for communications at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).
Need some help with mounting debt? Consult with a non-profit credit counselor who can guide you in the right direction. Visit the NFCC website, or call 800-388-2227. The first session is typically free.
More from Checkbook
- Sale Prices Are Usually Fake Discounts
- 30 Tricks Sellers Use to Manipulate You
- Shopping for the Best Deal? These Retailers Price Match or Make Price Adjustments
- Buy Now, Pay Later Often a Debt Trap
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Contributing editor Herb Weisbaum (“The ConsumerMan”) is an Emmy award-winning broadcaster and one of America's top consumer experts. He has been protecting consumers for more than 40 years, having covered the consumer beat for CBS News, The Today Show, and NBCNews.com. You can also find him on Facebook, Blue Sky, X, Instagram, and at ConsumerMan.com.