Idealo Stocking Challenge

I received gifts for Top Ender and Big Boy for Christmas.

Christmas is a big event in the A Mothers Ramblings household and I start planning for it really early in the year.  I try not to use the "perfect" word, but I like to get extremely suitable gifts for my family and friends and so I think about it for as long as I can before making a choice about what to buy or make and then I hunt down the gift for the best price. This is all down to my own Childhood Christmases, where thanks to my Mum's magical talent for finding the perfect gifts at the best prices we were always given perfect gifts.

The invention of price comparison websites such as idealo has made my task of finding the perfect gifts at the best prices a little easier than my Mum's, so when idealo asked if I would like to take part in their Stocking Challenge and see if I could buy the perfect stockings for both Top Ender and Big Boy for £75, I said yes! According to research by idealo, the average child's Christmas Gift is up 63% (including inflation) from £75 in Christmas 1995 to £168 in Christmas 2010.

Stockings in our house are what Santa brings, and he only brings little bits and pieces and I tried to find lots of little bits and pieces suitable for what we think of as a Stocking, but ended up going a bit off the plan and ended up buying things which mean that Santa is going to be very generous this year! I started using the idealo website to get some general ideas and typed in some general terms such as Camera, Sewing Machine Accessories, Hello Kitty, Dr Who, Phineas and Ferb... you know the sort of thing that you do when you have no idea where to start!

In the end I managed to get Top Ender the following;

• Hello Kitty Bands at £1.40 and free delivery
• Rainbow Fairy Book at £4 and free delivery
• Fujifilm FinePix AV200 Digital Camera at £48.20 and free delivery
• Sewing Machine book at £8.53 and free delivery
• Hello Kitty Mood lamp at £11.99

As you can see I came in under £75 and Top Ender will adore the items here which I am sure will be treasured when she opens them on Christmas Day.

I also managed to find the following for Big Boy;

• Ben 10 Bands at £1.40 and free delivery
• Phineas and Ferb Top Trumps at £3.94 and free delivery
• Handy Manny Junior Skates at £7.50 and free delivery
• Hex Bug Nano Habitat at £27 and free delivery
• Yellow and Blue JVC Headphones at £13.99 and free delivery
• Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver at £6.11 and free delivery
• Mickey Mouse Single Duvet Set at £13.91 and free delivery

Again I came in under £75 and Big Boy is hopefully going to be pleased with what I have picked out for him as it is some of his favourite characters and some things he has been asking for.

The tips that I picked up from this experiment are actually pretty much common sense but worth pointing out none the less.

1. Check if delivery costs are included, the least expensive option might not actually be the least expensive one P&P are taken into consideration.
2. Have an idea of what you want to buy before you start shopping or you will become distracted really quickly.
3. Set a Budget to work to. There were plenty of cameras that I saw that I knew that Top Ender would love, including a pink one but I knew that by getting her the black one I could save over £10 and stay within budget.
4. Keep a list of what you have brought, for who, where from, how much it cost, when it should arrive and note of transaction numbers etc. Just in case something goes wrong.

Are there any other tips that you have learnt with online shopping? Let me know in the comments!