Winter sales strategy: be prepared, be savvy and know your rights

It is still the season to be jolly and a time of goodwill to all men and women, but within 72 hours much of the good cheer will have been forgotten by many and it will be every man and woman for themselves and winner takes all, as the winter sales take hold.

How should you approach the big day, what do you need to do to get the best bargains and how do you avoid being taken for a mug? We have some of the answers.

1 It should go without saying – but we reckon it needs to be said anyway – that you should only ever buy what you need in the sales. Seriously: don't lose the run of yourself just because that cheetah-print three piece suit is priced 90 per cent off. It doesn't matter how cheap something is, if you don't need it or if you won't wear it, you're wasting your money. So don't succumb to the madness of the crowds, and, before you head in, make a list of all the clothes, shoes, appliances and other bits and pieces you need.

2 Don't just make a list, bring the list with you. And refer to it repeatedly throughout your day in the shops.

3 The prepared shopper is the savvy shopper, and, while you have probably left it a bit late to be properly prepared, a bit of advance planning over the next two days could save you all sorts of heartache later this week. There are three days to go until Christmas and you are likely to find yourself in shops at some point between now and Christmas day. When you are there, pay close attention to the stock on the shelves. If you see things that match your needs – and remember, we're talking needs, not wants – then take a note of it. If you draw up your list with sufficient care and attention, you should be able to go into the shops early on the 26th or 27th, walk directly to the section where your heart's desire is resting, buy it and leave. If you just wander into the shops on spec, there is a pretty good chance you won't leave with anything useful.

4 There are only two good times to go into the sales. If you shop early on the first day, there will be crowds for sure, but all the stock will still be on sale so the choice will be wider. You will, however, require a lot of patience and you will be paying a premium for being first. If you don't have any patience, then you're as well holding off until the sales period is drawing to a close. This is when the reductions are a lot more dramatic, and you can make bigger savings. Holding off only works if the shelves are full of the things you need on the 26th. If so, then there is a good chance some will be left on for you on January 2nd. If there are just a handful, however, you might want to buy early or lose out.

5 If you want to profit most from the sales, you're probably be better off eschewing the cheap-as-chips stuff from the likes of Penneys and focusing your efforts and your wallet on the bigger-ticket items. When it comes to clothes, the things to look out for are shoes, coats and handbags. They cost a lot so the discounts will be worth more and the items will last longer and be less likely to fall victim to the whims of fashion.

6 Even if you do lose the run of yourself in the sales, you won't lose your rights as a shopper. As sure as anything you will come across signs such as "No money refunded", "Only credit notes given" or "Sale goods not exchanged": these are meaningless and possibly illegal. It doesn't matter if you pay full price or get a discount of 90 per cent on a product, you have the right to expect it to be of an acceptable standard, fit for its intended purpose and as advertised. If it's not, you will be entitled to a repair, a replacement or a refund – despite what the signs might say.

7 If you are returning something you have bought in the sales – because it is in some way flawed, not because you have changed your mind – remember that you do not need a store receipt. Legally, all that is required is proof of purchase. That can take many forms, including credit card receipts or bill, or a cheque stub.

8 If you return an item because you think it is faulty, you should also remember that a shop assistant or store manager is not qualified to assess that fault and dismiss it. If any retailer tries to do that, you have the right to insist the product is returned to the manufacturer, where people are better-placed to assess the cause of flaws.

9 While you can make a shop send a product back to the manufacturer, they cannot insist that you deal directly with the manufacturer. As a consumer, your contract is always with the seller of the goods, although you are perfectly within your rights to go directly to the manufacturer with a problem if you so choose.

10 If the price of something on the shelf is less than the price eventually quoted at the till, a consumer does not have an automatic right to buy the product at the lower price.

GIFT VOUCHERS: VERY HANDY, BUT BEWARE THE PITFALLS

They are not a million miles from cold hard cash – the one gift most people are extremely reluctant to give at Christmas – but they do serve as a handy last-minute present and one that will be greeted with a bigger smile than some dodgy talcum powder/aftershave combo found gathering dust in your local pharmacy.

More than 50 per cent of adults plan to give vouchers as presents this year, and a similar number of people say vouchers are what they most want from their nearest and dearest.

The voucher business has grown to be worth more than €300 million in Ireland each year, but vouchers are not entirely problem-free, and people complaining about the expiry dates on many of them has become as much a part of Christmas as It's a Wonderful Life.

Many vouchers have expiry dates of just six months after purchase, which may explain why as many as 20 per cent of vouchers are never redeemed. And consumers do not have the right to get change when they use a gift voucher, unless the voucher’s terms specifically state that change will be given.

As it does every year, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (formerly known as the National Consumer Agency) has warned about are risks associated with gift vouchers:

Check the terms and conditions, including the expiry date, what happens to any unused part and whether it can be used in every outlet if the shop is part of a chain.

Buy vouchers that can be used at more than one outlet or chain to protect against a single shop going bust, which can render unspent vouchers useless.

Use vouchers as quickly as possible. Expiry dates vary wildly. Some shops give you just six months to redeem your voucher, so a gift voucher you received at Christmas and left in the bottom drawer will be no use by the following July.

If a voucher does not have an expiry date on it and the shop won’t let you use it, then you have the option to use the Small Claims process.

If you lose a gift voucher, the shop doesn’t have to replace it. It’s just like losing cash, so always keep the voucher somewhere safe.

If the voucher was made out to you specifically and is not transferable to another person, the shop may be able to issue you a new one and cancel the original voucher.

When you buy a gift voucher, always ask for a receipt. Remember, there are other ways you can show proof of purchase, such as a credit or debit card statement.

Some gift cards have maintenance fees of about €3 a month, which come into effect soon after the card is bought. So if you give someone this type of gift card for €40, and they don’t use it for a year, maintenance charges at €3 a month will mean there is only €4 left on it after a year.

If you have a voucher for a store that closes down before you get to use it, you become an unsecured creditor. If a liquidator is appointed to wind up the company, you must register your claim for the value of your voucher with this official. Your claim will only be considered after all other creditors have been paid, such as banks and the shop’s staff, and realistically it will be very difficult to get your gift voucher honoured.

TWITTER TIPS: HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE SALES

We asked Twitter for some top tips on getting the most out of the sales. Here are a few of the responses.

If you don't need it, it's not a bargain. On sale is stuff we didn't even buy when in a frenzy before Christmas. New outfit not much good in Jan when parties all over. Ann Connolly

Don't buy anything you wouldn't have loved even at full price. Andrea

Pick out the items you want to buy pre-sale and know where they are located in shop. Angela Holohan

Coffee before and pints afterwards. Or just forget the shopping and just go for coffee and pints. Niamh Gunning

With independent shops, go in day before and ask for the sale price. They will more often than not give it to you. Laura