An alternative Christmas shopping guide

As Christmas approaches, whatever religion you are, you may be buying gifts for family and friends. More and more people are using the internet to do all their Christmas shopping. I, for one, never expect to pass the threshold into an actual shop to buy my presents.

However are we limited to the likes of eBay and Play online? Well both yes and no. There are lots of sites out there willing to sell us stuff and those two are pretty good at it with cheap prices and reliability. But what I’m going to cover here is some alternatives to the main shops. Call it an early Christmas present if you like.

Give yourself something

Sites such as Quidco and ipoints give a percentage of your purchase back to you if you click through links on their site. Quidco does it on the form of cash - say 3% back on a transaction and then every so often it will give you a payment via Paypal. They charge £5 a year though. ipoints give you points instead of cash and you can earn points other ways than just buying stuff. Surveys, insurance quotes etc all give you points and then points of course mean prizes. There’s also Pigsback and Rpoints which are similar. Remember you can usually only use one of these at a time though so pick which is best for you.

Codes are the key

Hunt around not just for the cheapest price which I’m sure you do anyway, but for discount codes and vouchers. Some sites I use are Hot UK Deals, Free Stuff Junction and DVD Reviewer’s Bargain Buckets forum. All can have links to vouchers and give you a heads-up on deals. There’s also a dedicated site to voucher codes which is worth checking before you purchase anything.

Go green

I’ve written about Green Metropolis before and they are really good for books. Or try The Natural Collection. From vegan condoms (!) to hemp tights, it’s full of gift ideas. Likewise is SoOrganic which has a Christmas shop open now.

And the WWF is both green and for charity - how socially conscious can you get?

Charity shops

Speaking of charity, if you are going to go into a shop, a charity shop is a good place to start. Oxfam do a range of new things so you don’t have to get your sister a 1983 Top of the Pops yearbook. However, online a great place is Macmillan Cancer Support. Yes, there’s some random stuff - a golf glove or dog tea cosy anyone? - but there’s some nice gift ideas, Macmillan branded stuff and the chance to give a donation as a gift.

Barter

eBay may be the leader in auction sites but there are other similar places out there. Iswap, eBid, Myswap, Swapperscorner and Swapz are all vying for eBay’s crown and you could pick up some bargains. You can even try the police.

And finally

Yes, Play may not be always the cheapest anymore (try this to compare prices on DVDs and this for CDs) but like Amazon, Play now has a market place so there may be hope after all. Unlike Amazon all Playtrade sellers offer free delivery too.

And check out Money Saving Expert’s guide to Christmas too.