With the US celebrating Thanksgiving this week, it also means the Black Friday sales are getting underway.
Once a purely American phenomenon, recent years have seen more and more Irish shops and online retailers use the last week of November to tempt Christmas shoppers.
While there are sometimes bargains to be had, it also means consumers may be taken in by deals that aren't particularly good deals at all.
On this morning's Newstalk Breakfast, technology correspondent Jess Kelly offered her tips for shopping safely and smartly online this week.
She said: "There are a number of different outlets you can research your purchases on - things like Which magazine, which has a brilliant website where you can put in different items and research them thoroughly.
"You can also shop around and make sure the deal you're seeing is actually a deal.
"I've done a bit of research over the last number of weeks, and I've found that some retailers have set the price at a certain higher price for the two or three weeks prior to this week... and then they're reducing them again."
She said not everything is a false deal, but it's important to not be 'overwhelmed' by a seemingly good deal or discount label.
She said: "The first thing is to ideally make sure you know what you're looking for - don't go in and just say 'I'll have a browse'. Particularly when it comes to tech, a lot of these products can be quite expensive. Have a list.
"Search and cross-reference multiple websites... don't go for the first website you see. I saw one shop had €20 of a certain pair of headphones... I looked in another one and they had €60 off the exact same pair."
Shopping safely
It's also important that people shop safely, and to not give credit card details to a site you don't trust.
Recent figures show Irish people have lost over €1 million so far this year through online shopping frauds.
Jess explained: "Never put your details into a website that doesn't have the padlock at the top, where it says 'www'.
"Also make sure you only make sure you shop with retailers that you known or have a good reputation. If you're not sure about a website, put into TrustPilot and they will tell you straight away whether it's dodgy or legit."
She said items bought from retailers in Ireland or the UK are much more likely to arrive in time for Christmas.
However, she said importing products from the US, Australia or anywhere outside the EU also runs the risk of extra custom fees.
She said the advice as always is to shop local where possible.
