Toy Prices-Finding the Best Prices on the Net
by Teresa Higginbotham

Many of the bigger sites have a big summer clearance sale in June to get ready for the new holiday shopping season. 

Let me tell you the tale of the Giddyup Gal, pardner. My little girl wanted one before last Christmas. I searched all over and couldn't find one.  When I finally did find one they were $30 and I was at the end of my  Christmas budget. She didn't seem to miss it not being under the tree. Then  we hit her birthday in February. I thoughts of the Giddyup Gal were long gone  but after her birthday guests left she blurted out...."I still didn't get a  Giddyup Gal. The only toy I wanted!" Go figure. 

Anyway I was surfing around the internet and found a department store selling toys and saw a little link on the bottom that said "While They Last". A true bargain hunter  I clicked before the page finished downloading graphics. The toys were 10  dollars and what should I see staring back at me but...The Giddyup Gal.  After this experience I thought about the $30 dollars I could have charge  last Christmas and the $10 I paid now. If you know where to find them, there  are toy bargains all over the internet. Here are some sites I found full of  bargain pages, closeouts, internet specials, and overstocked items. Many of  the bigger sites have a big summer clearance sale in June to get ready for  the new holiday shopping season. Shopping during these sales can save you cash but save some of your budget for that toy your child falls in love with during the heavy commercial pitch time during the Fall. If you see a big name toy store not listed here, it's probably because they didn't list any kind of special deals.

KB Kids http://www.kbkids.com. This site has two places to look. The 
Surprise of the Day and a Clearance Section. One time we found a Barney 
Actimates there for $19.99 after pricing it at $150.00 last Christmas. 
This site has a big summer sale in June so watch for it.

Etoys- http://www.etoys.com 20% off first purchase. They also have a big 
summer sale with items 50% off. Go to the search box and type in "Special" . 
I found 144 toys on sale. 

Walmart- http://www.walmart.com. Go to Toys. Look at the bottom of their 
toy list and find the link "While Supplies Last". This is where I found the 
elusive Giddyup Gal. They have toys listed for under $10 and over $10.

Smarter Kids - http://www.smarterkids.com- Scroll down to Special Offers. 
You will find Manufactureres closeouts and discontinued items. Most items 
seem to be about 40% off. They do a break down of learning styles and skills 
addressed. 

Toys R Us- http://www.toysrus.com- Go to the link that says "Great Deals". 
Most of what they had was action figures ($2.97)but there were also some toys 
for girls.

Disney.Com-http://store.disney.go.com- Go to the search box and type in 
"Sale". I found 327 sale items. Disney prices are still a little high, but 
if you're little one is set on a Disney brand here's where to find it. An 
example was 101 Dalmation Overalls marked down from $40 to $30.99.

Ace Toys- http://www.acetoys.com- Scroll down to the bottom and find "Super 
Specials". They had some great prices like Pokemon Theme Decks marked down 
from $19.95 to $11.95. 

Ever's Toy Store- http://www.marketplaza.com/ever/evers.shtml Click on the 
link Special Items then go to the link-Closeout-Markdown. Most of these 
items were around $5.00. They had a Madeline Happy Holidays Felt Board 
marked down from $10.20 to $5.00.

Target- http://www.target.com- Scroll down to Web Clearance. Go to Toys. I 
found 6 pages of toys on sale. There were lots of Star Wars toys with 
markdowns like $6.79 to $5.00. 

Constructive Playthings- http://www.constplay.com/family-In the column on the 
left scroll down to find "Click Here for Sale Items". They had listings for 
First Learning, Practical Presents, Learning is Fun, etc.

Zany Brainy- http://www.zanybrainy.com-They were also having a big summer 
sale. You can also go to the search box and type in "Special". I found 10 
pages of toy bargains. An example was a Pokemon item marked down from $29.99 
to $19.99.

Toysmart- http://www.toysmart.com- They were also have a big summer clearance with up to 70% off. I went to the search box and typed in "Special" and found 200 matches. 

WB Store- http://www.wbstore.com- In many of their categories in the left 
column they have a sale link. I went to toys and found 4 pages of sale 
items. Many of the items were beanies. 

O.k., that's where you can find the toys they choose, but what if you're on 
the hunt for a toy your child has been pining for? I chose three toys. For 
young children the Good Night Moon Game. For 6-9 year olds the Koosh Bubba 
Billions and for 9 and up a telescope. Here were the results.

  
One last word about buying toys on the internet. Check the shipping. If you 
get a great deal but end up paying more with shipping, it's not so great. 
You also have to consider the convenience of having it delivered to your home 
compared to fighting off the mall crowds on December 24. Something to think 
about.

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