How To Spot A Useless Toy Before You Buy It For Christmas

Don’t you love Christmas? It’s that time of year when even the most useless of toys can make a killing because desperate, frantic shoppers will literally buy anything just to have presents to shove under their trees at deadline. But it’s very hard not to get caught up in the moment. People are grabbing toys off the shelf, elbowing each other in fight-mode, and sometimes you just get sucked in.

Here’s how to stop buying over-priced junk you probably won't use.

1. Start at home and do a little research: Don’t just look for what’s hot this Christmas season, look for hot products in the specific areas you know your family will enjoy. For example, does your daughter love her Nintendo DS? Does your grandson love Nerf guns or Legos? Then… see what’s new and hot for those categories.
2. Read reviews: Kid reviews go a long way when it comes to toys. But any review is better than going it cold. And Amazon is a great resource. In case you don’t know, regular people rate the products on that site using a 1-5 star rating system. And they can be brutally honest, so start there.
3. Think about what your kids didn’t play with last year: And be honest with yourself. If they hate puzzles, they hate puzzles, and you won’t be able to change their minds by buying them more puzzles – no matter how good the deal is.
4. Create a list and try not to deviate from it. But use what I call an A-B-C list. Let’s say, video games are on sale – have a first choice, second choice and third choice ready (because you never know what’s going to be on the shelf until you get there).
5. Consider skipping the madhouse altogether by doing your shopping online. Studies show, consumers feel like they make wiser (and choosier) purchases online. But if it’s hard to pass up those door-busting deals, read on…
6. If you deviate from your list because you find what you believe to be a can’t-miss deal, try to think critically before you make that spontaneous purchase. Put the item in your cart, but ask yourself a few questions before you get to the counter like – is this item similar to items I’ve thrown out in the past? Is it gimmicky? Who will this item be for? (If you can’t answer that last question, put it down and step away, it’s not worth it).
7. As soon as you can, find the receipt and put it in a well-marked envelope. No Christmas is ever perfect, which means you'll probably have to return something at some point. Why not make it easy on yourself by finding the receipt before you need it.
   

If you take this simple list with you when you shop, you'll probably have a much easier time making tough decisions when crunch-time starts in December. So while other people are fighting over that last Tickle Me Elmo, you’ll be calmly selecting toys you KNOW will make your kids happy – while keeping you sane.