Picking the best of January's furniture sales

Carol O’Callaghan gets inside the January furniture shopping spree. 

With the new year sales in full swing some of us are experiencing a relapse of the pre-Christmas shopping bug — urging us out into the storms to pick up a few bargains.

But let’s try to retain that lovely chilled out feeling we developed over the Christmas holiday and try to make our excursion as efficient and stress-free as possible — so we don’t carry home a cold with our shopping trip.

Plan and research what you want and where you’re going to get it, so you don’t waste time jostling with the crowds. Start by getting online to see what shops are offering and where, so you know what you’re looking for, and don’t make purchases just for the sake of buying.

Then, decide which shops you want to visit, planning the route so you’re not zig-zagging back and forth across town. Do the same if you’re driving, so you’re not wasting petrol and paying for parking in several different places.

Once you’re ready to go, wise-up and be mindful of retail tricks designed to get you to spend. We can self-sabotage our sales budget when happy hormones kick in.

Dopamine fills our brains when something unexpectedly great happens and it’s addictive so when you get a buzz on seeing a great price tag, it might just fuel more and more spending.

‘Goldilocks pricing’ puts three items on display together, often things like television sets. Apparently, if we see two items together we’ll go for the cheaper one, but if we see three, we’ll go for the mid-priced item and might end up spending more than we needed or had intended.

Head straight to the back of shops as you’re more likely to find full-price spring lines near the front which retailers want you to see first. Give yourself time to sift through merchandise; shops tend to be higgledy-piggledy during sales time.

Since the recession hit we’ve been living in a discounted world but for some reason, haggling doesn’t seem to be part of the Irish psyche. If you’re spending on a significant item it’s always worth trying a little negotiation. Bargain or end-of-line outlets often won’t have set prices which gives scope to get a good price.

Start by offering half which gives you room for manoeuvre. Certainly any shame that might have been felt in the past about buying discounted items is gone. Recent research in the US shows that the biggest proportion of people who buy only discounted clothing earn upwards of $150,000 (€138,500) per annum in salary.

A spontaneous request for a discount can sometimes pay off. Sales assistants in some shops — though not all — have discretionary powers and can give a small discount on request so don’t be shy to ask. The worse they can say is no but they’re more likely to say yes if you’re paying in cash.

After that there’s the internet. It’s easy, cosy and stress-free so you can buy what you want without venturing out of your slippers and having to join early morning or all night queues outside popular shops.

But there are some disadvantages to internet shopping as you can’t see and feel what you’re buying. Upholstery colours may not be exactly how they look in an online photo, and when the piece arrives it could be a disappointment, not having been test driven for comfort in a shop.

This is less important with small items you can repackage easily and return to the retailer without bother, but it’s a consideration with high priced items like furniture. Sometimes a little delayed gratification can result in an online bargain. If you start shopping but have a change of heart and log out of the site leaving several items in your ‘cart’, some retailers are likely to send you an email in a day or so offering a discount.

It’s a different and slower approach to getting a bargain, but it does mean you can stay indoors drinking tea and avoid the jostling rain-sodden crowds and petrol and parking costs, which means more to spend on yourself.