NEW ORLEANS – With the hectic holidays fast approaching, personal finance website WalletHub compiled multiple holiday studies and reports highlighting which seasonal deals are naughty or nice:
• 2016’s Best Stores for Black Friday
Macy’s, Stage and JCPenney are 2016’s Best Stores for Black Friday, offering an average discount of at least 62.8 percent.
• 2016’s Best Things to Buy on Black Friday
More than 17percent of items will actually be more expensive on Black Friday than they currently are on Amazon.com. Video games (software only) will offer the most value on Black Friday 2016 relative to their current prices, while jewelry is expected to be the worst deal.
• 2016 Black Friday Freshness Report: Retailers Recycle About one in 10 Deals from 2015
About 11 percent of Black Friday deals are actually recycled from last year, per 2016’s Black Friday Freshness Report.
Target, Netflix and Walmart top the list of 2016’s Best Gift Cards.
• 2016's Best Credit Cards For Holiday Shopping
Consumers can save $500+ with one of 2016’s Best Credit Cards For Holiday Shopping.
• Price Protection Report: Credit Cards Shielding You From Price Drops
Credit cards also have a number of little-known benefits that can really come in handy over the holidays, including price-drop protection, extended warranties and coverage for damaged or stolen items.
About 99 percent of store credit cards do not charge an annual fee, and the average card offering rewards in the form of discounts gives you more than 19 percent off your first purchase, according to the 2016 Store Card Landscape.
• 2016 Deferred Interest Study: The Retailers with the Sneakiest Financing Offers
All of the major retailers offering 0 percent financing use a dangerous feature called deferred interest, which has the potential to make holiday purchases up to 27.5 times more expensive than expected.
