Shoppers looking to nab some deeply discounted Christmas presents have a big opportunity starting this Friday.
That's because the biggest sales days in the United States occur during the US Thanksgiving holiday period.
The two biggest sales days occur on the Friday after the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday, known as "Black" Friday, and on the following Monday, known as "Cyber" Monday.
Both terms were created by marketers and retailers to drive sales.
Because of time differences, Black Friday is actually this Saturday in Australia; though some retailers jump the gun and offer deals on Thanksgiving day (Thursday), which is Friday in Australia.
There are a number of "cashback" services operating from Australia that have deals with overseas retailers, including those in the US, who are hoping to cash-in from the Thanksgiving sales.
Cashback sites such as Cashrewards, CashbackClub and Qwibble Australia pay the purchaser a cash rebate when they click through them to purchase goods.
Andrew Clarke, the founder of Cashrewards, the largest of the Australian cashback services, says last year US shoppers spent more than $US2 billion ($2.75 billion) on Cyber Monday alone, and this year it's expected to rise again.
Cashrewards has agreements with big name international and local retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Forever 21 and Nike.
It will be the second-last Thanksgiving sales before the 10 per cent GST will be payable on all overseas online purchases from July 1, 2017.
At the moment, the GST is paid only on purchases of more than $1000.
While the discounts are attractive the Australian dollar is worth about 12 per cent less against the US dollar than a year ago – from about US85¢ to about US72¢ now.
Online shoppers should be mindful of shipping costs. There is no point buying something from overseas if the shipping costs amount to as much or more than the savings.
Remember that many local e-commerce sites could be running special deals at this time of year as well, though the big online sales day Click Frenzy has been and gone.
And do keep track of spending and do not spend more than you can afford.
Twitter: @jcollett_money
