purchase in itself, what was unusual is that she paid the $235.00 in cash....at this time of the year. In the month or so in the run up to Christmas almost all purchases are done on the credit card. Oh sure, some customers say it's a debit card, but toward the end most don't even pretend. It's Christmas and you know you're going to be sucked into the vortex of inevitable debt. Personally, I rely upon my tax refund to bail me out of the Holiday
magic. By having more money than I'll owe taken out of my paycheck I accomplish 3 things - I support my government by allowing them to borrow my cash for a brief time, I have a direct deposit Christmas fund, and I have a really, really, really good incentive to file my taxes on January 31st. But I digress....How people pay for Holiday purchases generally progresses in three distinct phases.
- Phase 1. Credit Cards - From just a little before Thanksgiving up until the Big Day - credit rules.
- Phase 2. The Barter System - (my least favorite) Starting immediately after Christmas
and dwindling out day by day until late January, people turn to the barter system. These shoppers arrive in the store with ACO bags, and boxes full of loving selected presents that have been rejected and that they want to trade for something better. Often they also want to trade up since the big after Christmas sales are already running. During this shopping phase the store will be very busy, but the sales won't be so impressive. We also have a lot of garbage - for some reason, people think we want the gift boxes, and wrapping paper back. - Phase 3. The Cash Days- starting about 15 days after Christmas and increasing over the following 30, more and more people start paying in cash. It seems they've received their credit card statements and have now decided its budget time.
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