The benefits of doing Christmas shopping early

Why you, too, should just get it over with in November

By Duncan Fingarson, Columnist

The holiday season is upon us once again, sweeping in with overly-cheery music and depositing fake snow on all the storefronts. The season brings with it joy, finals, family gatherings, and gift shopping, which all combine to turn the most wonderful time of the year into a big old ball of stress-inducing events, especially if you happen to be on the introverted side of things. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get a few things out of the way early on? Here are a few of the reasons that shopping early is a good idea.

You won’t be rushed.

Being halfway through December—or worse, a week before Christmas—without having any shopping done sucks. I’ve been there, and it’s not a great place to be. You still have to find things for everyone, but now you’re not able to take the time to find really good things. Shopping early means you can put more thought into your gifts.

There are no crowds.

The majority of people, in my experience, tend to put off their shopping until later. This means that when I’m walking through malls in November, there’s almost nobody around. Just another day for the fine folks in retail. It’s a far cry from the packed stores of December, which means you have get to deal with the smallest possible number of other shoppers.

You can order online with confidence.

December is the busiest month of the year for the postal service, hands down. The sheer volume of packages the workers have to get through sorting can cause significant delays in shipping. If you’re the sort of person that likes to shop online and skip the crowds that way, you still need to leave time for delivery. Many places will list the date you need to order by to guarantee your package gets to you before Christmas. Ordering before that day means you don’t have to worry about being left empty handed.

All the sales start early.

This is something of a con for the season, but it can work to your advantage. Lots of stores send out their Christmas flyers and start their sales in November. Shopping in November means you still get a good deal, and you don’t arrive at the store to find the best stuff sold out.

Peace of mind.

With all the shopping over and done with, you can focus on other things. Finals are coming, and it’s nice to be able to go into them without worrying what to buy your mom this year. Even if you’ve got a short list of people to buy for, knowing you don’t need to worry about it anymore is great.