Sick of shopping? You shouldn't be. January is the time of true bargains.
Figures from Paymark show that certain sectors of retail really go crazy on Boxing Day. Spending on January 31 last year in domestic appliance stores was down 87.9 per cent on Boxing Day sales. Clothing and jewellery sales on January 31 last year were 60.8 per cent less than on Boxing Day.
The retailers know they make good money in the week after Christmas, so the bargains aren't always as great as shoppers anticipate. The herd mentality makes them buy anyway. It's only as January marches on that retailers start to knock even more off prices.
For example, at Kathmandu, "selected items" had an additional 20 per cent knocked off them on Boxing Day. Now in the second half of January there is 70 per cent off a wide range of stock. Just two weeks ago I bought a reusable coffee cup from Kathmandu for $9.99 - down from a price I'd never pay: $19.99. I should have followed my own advice. It's now $4.99.
Another classic example of why January is better than December for sales comes from fashion retailer Country Road. On January 8 (and still running now) Country Road knocked 25 per cent off the sale prices it had offered after Christmas. A $100 dress that was $81.75 on Boxing Day is now $61.31.
