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American Morning
Interview with Lauren Freedman
Aired December 05, 2002 - 09:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Not a great day to get out there and Christmas shop, but not a problem because Santa is going cyber. According to one industry estimate, online shoppers rang up almost $200 million, and that was just the day after Thanksgiving. That's 30 percent higher than the same day last year.
Lauren Freedman is with us. She has a new book, it is titled "It's Just Shopping." It is full of tips, tricks, and traps that come with online bargain hunting, and she joins us with a little show-and- tell right now.
Good morning to you on this snowy morning. Thanks for coming in.
LAUREN FREEDMAN, AUTHOR, "IT'S JUST SHOPPING": Good morning. How are you? Perfect day for holiday shopping online, right?
KAGAN: Let's talk about how you can find some bargains out there.
FREEDMAN: I think the way you want to do bargains online is one, know the price you want to pay for the product. I always recommend to people that they go to sites like DealTime, MySimon, BizRate. Look for the product. So, for instance, when we were looking for this Casio camera, we went there, typed in Casio camera. Up comes all the sites you are taking a look at. You quickly see the prices, and the price range for the stores. And in this case, it went from anywhere from $250 to $300.
KAGAN: Let them do the comparison shopping for you.
FREEDMAN: Exactly. Let them do the homework, and skip going from store to store.
KAGAN: But meanwhile, there are some traps out there if you are going online.
FREEDMAN: There are definitely some traps. I think it's important to make sure the site has an 800 number. Check the status of the order, like, is it ready to ship, or is it going to be shipped on December 20, and you need the item on the 25th. What's the return policy?
So you want to know those things in advance. What are the cutoff dates for shipping products, and understanding what their privacy policies are as well.
KAGAN: So they don't share your information. FREEDMAN: Unless you allow them to.
KAGAN: What about chosing a site that is just online, versus an online site that would also have a brick-and-mortar-type of store?
FREEDMAN: What's important, I think, is to understand who you are as a customer. I like to choose retail stores that also allow you to return the product in store, because I don't always save the packing materials at home, and I think many of the customers don't. So, I like to buy online and return in store if I have a problem, particularly if you don't know your kid wants what you are giving him.
KAGAN: Absolutely. A lot of people still don't know what to get. They are putting their list together. You brought some tips of some great things we can see online.
So first, let's talk girlfriends, and let's see what's great for us girls out there.
FREEDMAN: I like this camisole and kickback set because...
KAGAN: Well, hello.
FREEDMAN: ... it is a win-win for the guys and the girls, which is always a beautiful thing. And this is from Bare Necessities Online.
KAGAN: How much is this?
FREEDMAN: I think it was around 150, 160 for the set.
KAGAN: That's a little steep -- well.
FREEDMAN: Well, for someone you love, price is never a factor.
KAGAN: That's true. That's true. What else do we have for her?
FREEDMAN: I think two other items for her, both of these came from BlueFly, and what I liked about these -- it's looks for less, and shearling, we know shearling is great for the holiday season. These will be perfect for today in New York. Wonderful. I think it was $140 for the set. Great price, and shearling and cashmere are always two winning items this season.
KAGAN: Very nice. Let's talk guys. I actually used BlueFly a couple of years ago to buy Bill's Christmas present.
So let's see what else we have.
FREEDMAN: For guys, I think we have a couple of interesting things here, and one of the things that I chose for my brother-in-law was the Motorola walkie-talkie.
KAGAN: Does he watch the show?
FREEDMAN: Actually -- well, he might. You don't know -- he might be at work right now.
KAGAN: Guess what you're getting for Christmas.
FREEDMAN: But -- he already received it. It was a Hanukkah present.
KAGAN: Oh, OK.
FREEDMAN: So we covered him. But what is interesting here is this is great for skiing when your husband, someone is lost, you can call them and say meet us here for lunch...
KAGAN: In the mall.
FREEDMAN: In the mall. I have heard this from people lately that if you are in mall shopping and someone is lost, you want to tell your husband to get over and buy something you like. It is a good strategy.
KAGAN: This camera, I know guys are going to like this one.
FREEDMAN: The camera is awesome, and the reason that I like the camera is this is actually serves as the charger. It's the size of a credit card -- this is a great place to also bargain hunt, because we found this on the deal sites, again, in the 250, 260 range. Also available 280, 290 from some of the merchants you might be able to return to in store.
Point and shoot digital camera.
KAGAN: Show me one more gift that we have.
FREEDMAN: Let's look at a little bit on the corporate side. I think, from wine.com, we have a couple exciting items. This is the Tour de France, three bottles of wine, and I love it because it comes with this jigsaw puzzle, $39.99. And if you don't like that, for the same price point, you could do the Instapull corkscrew remover, and that is great, really, for almost anyone. Great corporate gift, great gift for him or her, depending on if you love wine, cover all sexes.
KAGAN: Absolutely, and before we let you go, let me ask you about a time deadline. Is there a certain point at which you should cut off your online shopping?
FREEDMAN: The great thing is to look for what the sites say. They usually -- good sites will have holiday cutoff dates. I would say by the 18th, 19th, and if you are looking for hot toys, shop early. That is always a good tip.
KAGAN: Right. And also, something I liked from reading your notes, if you can't find what you want in the stores, go to some of the trading sites, like eBay -- you might have to pay a little bit more, but you might have that special toy.
FREEDMAN: Or think you might get lucky with an eBay or uBid, and you may pay a little bit less. So it could be a win-win on both sides of the fence.
KAGAN: Even better. Happy holidays to you.
FREEDMAN: All right. And to you.
KAGAN: Great tips. Thank you so much.
FREEDMAN: All right. Happy online shopping.
KAGAN: Still have a little bit more shopping to do, so...
FREEDMAN: Don't we all?
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 5, 2002 - 09:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Not a great day to get out there and Christmas shop, but not a problem because Santa is going cyber. According to one industry estimate, online shoppers rang up almost $200 million, and that was just the day after Thanksgiving. That's 30 percent higher than the same day last year.
Lauren Freedman is with us. She has a new book, it is titled "It's Just Shopping." It is full of tips, tricks, and traps that come with online bargain hunting, and she joins us with a little show-and- tell right now.
Good morning to you on this snowy morning. Thanks for coming in.
LAUREN FREEDMAN, AUTHOR, "IT'S JUST SHOPPING": Good morning. How are you? Perfect day for holiday shopping online, right?
KAGAN: Let's talk about how you can find some bargains out there.
FREEDMAN: I think the way you want to do bargains online is one, know the price you want to pay for the product. I always recommend to people that they go to sites like DealTime, MySimon, BizRate. Look for the product. So, for instance, when we were looking for this Casio camera, we went there, typed in Casio camera. Up comes all the sites you are taking a look at. You quickly see the prices, and the price range for the stores. And in this case, it went from anywhere from $250 to $300.
KAGAN: Let them do the comparison shopping for you.
FREEDMAN: Exactly. Let them do the homework, and skip going from store to store.
KAGAN: But meanwhile, there are some traps out there if you are going online.
FREEDMAN: There are definitely some traps. I think it's important to make sure the site has an 800 number. Check the status of the order, like, is it ready to ship, or is it going to be shipped on December 20, and you need the item on the 25th. What's the return policy?
So you want to know those things in advance. What are the cutoff dates for shipping products, and understanding what their privacy policies are as well.
KAGAN: So they don't share your information. FREEDMAN: Unless you allow them to.
KAGAN: What about chosing a site that is just online, versus an online site that would also have a brick-and-mortar-type of store?
FREEDMAN: What's important, I think, is to understand who you are as a customer. I like to choose retail stores that also allow you to return the product in store, because I don't always save the packing materials at home, and I think many of the customers don't. So, I like to buy online and return in store if I have a problem, particularly if you don't know your kid wants what you are giving him.
KAGAN: Absolutely. A lot of people still don't know what to get. They are putting their list together. You brought some tips of some great things we can see online.
So first, let's talk girlfriends, and let's see what's great for us girls out there.
FREEDMAN: I like this camisole and kickback set because...
KAGAN: Well, hello.
FREEDMAN: ... it is a win-win for the guys and the girls, which is always a beautiful thing. And this is from Bare Necessities Online.
KAGAN: How much is this?
FREEDMAN: I think it was around 150, 160 for the set.
KAGAN: That's a little steep -- well.
FREEDMAN: Well, for someone you love, price is never a factor.
KAGAN: That's true. That's true. What else do we have for her?
FREEDMAN: I think two other items for her, both of these came from BlueFly, and what I liked about these -- it's looks for less, and shearling, we know shearling is great for the holiday season. These will be perfect for today in New York. Wonderful. I think it was $140 for the set. Great price, and shearling and cashmere are always two winning items this season.
KAGAN: Very nice. Let's talk guys. I actually used BlueFly a couple of years ago to buy Bill's Christmas present.
So let's see what else we have.
FREEDMAN: For guys, I think we have a couple of interesting things here, and one of the things that I chose for my brother-in-law was the Motorola walkie-talkie.
KAGAN: Does he watch the show?
FREEDMAN: Actually -- well, he might. You don't know -- he might be at work right now.
KAGAN: Guess what you're getting for Christmas.
FREEDMAN: But -- he already received it. It was a Hanukkah present.
KAGAN: Oh, OK.
FREEDMAN: So we covered him. But what is interesting here is this is great for skiing when your husband, someone is lost, you can call them and say meet us here for lunch...
KAGAN: In the mall.
FREEDMAN: In the mall. I have heard this from people lately that if you are in mall shopping and someone is lost, you want to tell your husband to get over and buy something you like. It is a good strategy.
KAGAN: This camera, I know guys are going to like this one.
FREEDMAN: The camera is awesome, and the reason that I like the camera is this is actually serves as the charger. It's the size of a credit card -- this is a great place to also bargain hunt, because we found this on the deal sites, again, in the 250, 260 range. Also available 280, 290 from some of the merchants you might be able to return to in store.
Point and shoot digital camera.
KAGAN: Show me one more gift that we have.
FREEDMAN: Let's look at a little bit on the corporate side. I think, from wine.com, we have a couple exciting items. This is the Tour de France, three bottles of wine, and I love it because it comes with this jigsaw puzzle, $39.99. And if you don't like that, for the same price point, you could do the Instapull corkscrew remover, and that is great, really, for almost anyone. Great corporate gift, great gift for him or her, depending on if you love wine, cover all sexes.
KAGAN: Absolutely, and before we let you go, let me ask you about a time deadline. Is there a certain point at which you should cut off your online shopping?
FREEDMAN: The great thing is to look for what the sites say. They usually -- good sites will have holiday cutoff dates. I would say by the 18th, 19th, and if you are looking for hot toys, shop early. That is always a good tip.
KAGAN: Right. And also, something I liked from reading your notes, if you can't find what you want in the stores, go to some of the trading sites, like eBay -- you might have to pay a little bit more, but you might have that special toy.
FREEDMAN: Or think you might get lucky with an eBay or uBid, and you may pay a little bit less. So it could be a win-win on both sides of the fence.
KAGAN: Even better. Happy holidays to you.
FREEDMAN: All right. And to you.
KAGAN: Great tips. Thank you so much.
FREEDMAN: All right. Happy online shopping.
KAGAN: Still have a little bit more shopping to do, so...
FREEDMAN: Don't we all?
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
