Where to Find Early Deals on Holiday Gifts

While the holiday shopping season has not really begun yet, it is just around the corner. Stores will begin touting all of their holiday items just as soon as the calendar flips to November 1. While stores like to get a head start on promoting products, many items will not go on sale until we get closer to the end of the month and Black Friday.

If you do not want to wait that long and wish to get a head start on your holiday shopping, here are a few online shopping destinations I recommend checking out. They almost always have great deals available:

Groupon

While Groupon is perhaps most famously known for selling local deals for restaurants, spas and the like, my favorite part of the site is actually Groupon Goods. Under the "goods" heading, you can find everything from clothing to beauty products, and nearly everything is marked down at least a bit below retail.

The "goods" section of the Groupon website has historically ramped up their individual product deals as the holidays draw closer, and they frequently offer some of the lowest pricing for various products. Be sure to keep an eye out for the occasional coupons that could save you an additional 10 to 15 percent off Groupon Goods, as well as for discounts on gift cards and gift certificates. Gift certificate discounts tend to sell out quickly, but in previous years Groupon has offered gift certificates for stores like The Body Shop and Gap. Even if you do not plan on gifting a gift certificate, these deals can help you purchase additional gifts for less.

LivingSocial

Groupon and LivingSocial are very similar websites and they both tend to offer similar deals. That said, if you are going to watch one site for deals then you might as well watch the other one, too.

The shopping deals at LivingSocial can be found under the "Shop" heading. The deals are not organized as well as they are on Groupon, but the offers are just as good -- you will just have to do a little bit more browsing. LivingSocial does tend to ramp up their deals as the holidays get closer as well, so be on the lookout for special holiday-only deals and coupons.

Plum District

Plum District (plumdistrict.com) is one of the first websites I check each morning year-round because some of the deals they offer are better than can be found at any other site. The offers on this site are primarily for women and children, and their deals for kids can be particularly good.

While Plum District frequently offer deals like $20 for $40 to spend at sites like Rufflebutts, a kid's clothing store, or Melissa and Doug, a kid's toy company, the site also offers individual products at prices quite a bit below retail.

Gilt City

Gilt City (Giltcity.com) tends to update national deals every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon and I actually have an alarm set to check the site on those days each week. While Gilt City does not offer too many individual products (you will find those at sister sample sale site Gilt (gilt.com), they do offer discounts for many different retailers. For instance, they recently offered a deal where for $75 one could receive $150 worth of credit to spend at French Connection. The stores partnering with Gilt City vary greatly and by utilizing these types of deals your holiday shopping budget will go that much further.

Sample Sale Sites

Sample sale sites like Rue La La (ruelala.com), Ideel (ideel.com), Zulily (zulily.com), One Kings Lane (onekingslane.com) and MyHabit (myhabit.com) can be good places to save on designer items year-round, but as the holidays draw nearer I recommend turning to them as resources to find discounted holiday gifts. Rue La La, Ideel and MyHabit can be fabulous outlets for picking up gifts for women, while One Kings Lane focuses primarily on items for the home and Zulily sells many items but specializes in clothing and toys for babies and children.

Shipping from sample sale sites can be a little different than with traditional websites and take longer than other sites, however, so be sure to review shipping terms and policies before placing any orders, especially as the holidays draw nearer.

Amazon Gold Box Deal

Every day Amazon offers a new Gold Box Deal of the Day. The Gold Box Deal is valid for one day only and it is normally an incredible deal on an item that you will not find elsewhere. While Amazon does not announce each day's deal ahead of time, logging onto the site each day could prove to be worthwhile for bargain hunters. Some deals do sell out, so logging onto Amazon early is the way to go for dedicated bargain-hunters.

Lisa Koivu is the founder of ShopGirlDaily.com, a budget fashion and shopping blog for women who want to have the best for less.