Beware of the 'Big Billion' sale wars this festive season!

Consider these six things before going crazy on the big sale war between Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal!

As you know the Big Billion Sale has arrived! Now, before you go ahead and spend all that money on things you might really need or not, we want to offer you a few tips that might just help you feel less super idiot about unnecessary expenditures.

Let’s recollect the massive mess up by Flipkart last season (Read: 3 lessons for online shoppers after the Flipkart sale) and so yes, we solemnly swear to be more aware but sometimes it’s not really the sales fault, it could also be your ignorance while shopping!

1. Do not over spend

If you have a budget, stick to it. If you don’t have one, I think it would be a smart idea to get started. During sales like these which happen very often we tend to go over budget and then suffer for the rest of the month to come. You don’t want to end up borrowing money to survive one or two more weeks of October, so keep an eye out and hold on to that sweet budget that will help you shop better and smarter!

2. Beware about swiping that idle card of yours

It is very tempting to use your credit card and go all Tony Stark but hold your horses. While using up 10K of your credit limit might not hurt now but that awesome bonus that awaits you next month might not look like a bonus at all if you spend a large amount of money on this sale!

In fact your credit card due date might fall exactly when you would be receiving your bonus, so watch out!

3. Bookmark your favourite products

Make your life easier and already bookmark or save products in your cart earlier than waiting for the best prices to just pop up on your home page. This would just save a lot of your time and help you stick to the products you really wanted!

4. Check the warranty

Have you ever bought products during sale time from brick-and-mortar shops to realise they can only be bought without warranty? Do not forget to check if the product has a warranty and also read reviews to get more insights because you don’t want to end up with an iPhone without a warranty.

5. Check the original prices

Flipkart messed up a year ago but so did the consumers. How do you think they were fooled so easily? Ignorance! To know if what you are buying is really a good offer or not, beware about the prices of the products you are thinking about buying especially electronics. Pre-check the prices and then compare them when you log on to your sale site to get shopping!

6 Shop on the right day

Although Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal have advertised enough for you to know when is what and keep a schedule of what day is what sale! Because you don’t want to end up buying electronics on a day the best offers haven’t hit yet!

So enjoy the sale, have a good time and also keep these tips in mind!

Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters

The author is a credit expert with 10 years of experience in personal finance and consumer banking industry and another 7 years in credit bureau sector. Rajiv was instrumental in setting up India's first credit bureau, Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He has also worked with Citibank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Experian in various capacities.