5 Simple Ways to Find the Best Toys and Prices Online

With a new website talking about Toys, Toys and More Toys, it makes perfect sense to kick off the blog with some tips on how to find the best deals online. If you are reading this now, chances are you are keen to do your shopping online as well. It's a great time saver and it's getting easier and easier to find what you need. With the huge amount of new shopping sites popping up all the time, it's never been a better time to let the fingers do the searching and getting out those credit cards!

Lots of Toys...

First thing first: Have a Plan!

Yes I know, but it's solid advice. You need to know what you need to buy and for whom. For parents, that seems like a no brainer but for friends and other family members this may be a bit harder. Once you know the appropriate dates such as birthdays and other holiday milestones where gifts are exchanged, you can then make a note if you need toys for boys or girls, what age group the children fall into and what are their interests are. This information, if you don't already know it can be easily obtained by just asking the parents or the kids themselves! If possible, keep a notebook with your new found knowledge or just create a simple spreadsheet to remind you of upcoming events.Now you can see at a glance when you will need to make your purchases and you can start doing some research (online of course!)on the quality and prices of the items you plan to buy. These days it's a snap to find this out, just use your preferred search engine and you will find plenty of sites more than happy to give you their opinion!

Try the Amazon Marketplace First:

Amazon is now a household name and is probably responsible for making buying products online totally acceptable and a safe way to do business. With the a great selection of third-party sellers the Amazon Marketplace is one of the best places to start. 

They aren't the only places of course e.g. eBay often has new toys for sale as well, there are now a lot of specialist shopping sites especially for toys that you can explore. Try ToyrUs, Hasbro Toys and Hamleys as a start.

Buy Toys at Sale Time or After Christmas:

Most online stores have regular sales just as the bricks and mortar stores do. This is a great opportunity to pick up some of the more 'evergreen' toys at a substantial discount. This trick doesn't always work as well with new release toys and 'hot' titles but you can sometimes still pick up a bargain

Keep an "ideas' folder:

This is easy to do. I am sure you receive your fair share of brochures delivered to your mailbox! Don't just throw them into the recycle bin, use them to research new and popular toys coming onto the market. Often the shop promoting the brochure will have an online presence themselves making it easy to purchase and will offer discount coupons. Use this to your advantage as some online stores will 'price match' if you can prove the price is better elsewhere to get the sale. 

Don't forget some newspapers and magazines do regular stories on new products and are a great way to get new ideas. If you don't want to rip up your fave magazines, take a photo on your smart phone or scan it for later.

Research in Stores First:

This practice is frowned upon by the stores these days but it's a fact that touching and feeling a product first is a great way to decide if you want to buy. You can tell immediately if the toy will be suitable for your intended recipient. Is it well made with no sharp or dangerous pieces. Are you happy with the manufacturing process? Is the price comparable to what you have already seen online? If the store already has a website then you may want to go ahead and purchase from them if the price is right!

Yes, I can hear you say, I already knew all of this. Nothing groundbreaking here. Unfortunately, the most common advice is often the best and generally the most ignored. I just though you may like to hear it again! 

Happy shopping…