This isn’t a public service announcement, this is a sure-enough fact.

Your kids will not get Christmas presents if you don’t buy them before Thanksgiving, 2020.

Now that we have your attention you should keep reading.

Here’s Why: The things we want to buy aren’t necessarily available and there isn’t a timeline when they’ll be ready. 

There is no consistency in the supply of things we want to buy. This applies to online and in-store buying. It’s hit or miss in 2020.

So prepare yourself and your family - the things we will want to buy in December very well won’t be available if you don’t buy them in advance.

Heads Up

You need to get your Christmas shopping DONE before Thanksgiving. 

Or this will be you...

Want Proof?

• Have you seen the paper towel section at the grocery store?

• Can you buy Lysol wipes yet?

• Remember the meat shortage earlier this year?

• We won’t even go near the run on toilet paper.

• And this is just everyday consumer goods...

This all means there is tremendous inconsistency in supply and being able to buy things. 

What you want might not be available when you get around to buying it. Here’s an article from The Atlantic about shortages in September, those shortages will continue for months and into most of 2021.

Global Homes Group Example - Someone in our office ordered a watchband on Amazon Prime, should take 2 days, right? It’s Amazon Prime, they offer 2-day shipping, except the order was updated after it was placed and it will arrive 6 weeks after the order was placed and credit card charged.

Think about that happening when you add something to your Amazon cart. Just because it’s a Prime item doesn’t 100.000% mean you’ll get it with Prime timing…

What if the Christmas list your kids have put together since Dec 26, 2019 is ordered Dec 5, 2020. Seems like you should have plenty of time, right? Not with how items have been manufactured and shipped since March and April.

The only thing consistent, is inconsistency.

Think about the common household good shortages in 2020, if common things have been hit-or-miss in 2020, what do you think it will be like when there is a surge in demand for LOL Dolls? What about Legos? Coats and shirts and pants and shoes that are all made overseas? 

Here’s an article about the latest X Box and Amazon orders - supply and demand were high, orders were not fulfilled.

This will happen again and more in December. 

More Proof - Local Tuscaloosa Retailer

Someone in our office is good friends with a manager at a local retailer, a store in Tuscaloosa. That manager works for a brand every woman and man knows, you can’t be a resident in Tuscaloosa or Northport, or any city in North America and not know their brand. It’s not a store local to Tuscaloosa, they are national, they’re global, they have a store in Tuscaloosa.

They said they typically receive 10 boxes per day of goods to stock their racks and shelves and for weeks they’ve been getting 2. So if you plan on going to a Black Friday sale (just after Thanksgiving) you still might not get what you want for your kids.

When everything hit the pause button in March and April - all production and shipping shut down. Seems simple to just turn the factories back on, right? Just work overtime to manufacture the goods we all buy every day, and get caught up. Right? 

We wish, it’s just not that simple.

Those clothes made in another country that you buy every year for family at Christmas? They might not make it to stores in America. There is a backlog in production, shipping, and distribution that apparently is taking so long things might not catch up until the end of 2021.

That local retailer isn’t getting what they need for their store right now, they’re not going to magically get everything to fill the level of sales that Christmas generates every year. They might not get what they need until 2021 either.

Read that again, slowly. And think of your kids and this year’s Christmas list.

Hey mom or dad - you might not fill that Christmas list for 2020 if you wait any longer.

You can risk it and hope that the inventory magically grows, we don’t recommend it.

You can risk it and hope that Amazon fills the order, remember the watch band and X box examples.

You can risk it and hope that UPS, FedEx, and USPS can deliver on time. Except all 3 organizations say they won’t make deliveries on time.

Or you can look at 2020, realize it’s CRAZY, inventory levels are way low on tons of items, and even if you get your order in you might not get it delivered. (NBC News article from Oct 20, 2020 article on Shipageddon).

Our Advice

Bite the bullet, get your shopping done before Thanksgiving. Or at least as much of it as possible. Don’t wait on buying presents later because those items might be available.

Do your shopping now, find the best deal you can, and get it ordered and to your house as soon as possible. Clear out some room in a closet, put things under a bed, put items in the attic. 

The longer you wait, the higher the likelihood your gifts won’t arrive in time.

We certainly hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season, we just want to be sure you and your kiddos have a very Merry Christmas! We don't want parents to be frustrated or anxious, we get that every day in home buying and selling, so if we can help a little bit outside of the real estate part of our business, we hope it helps things go a little smoother for you this year.