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Original poster

so aussie mums - are you ready for the toy sales!!

57 replies

eidsvold · 04/07/2007 05:19

anal I know but I have my BigW list and separated it into birthday and christmas laybys ready for my assault on the store at the crack of dawn ( okay 8am) tomorrow. Thankfully dh has the day off and I can go by myself.

Will have done some of my chrissy shopping then for nieces and friend's children - have them on layby and not have to get them until chrissy eve.

Now all I need is a good night's sleep after watching state of origin of course! Perhaps I can practise some of their duck and weave moves!

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arfishy · 09/07/2007 03:07

How did I miss this thread? I'm all excited about the toy sales. I'm armed and ready for the target one which starts next week.

[sharpens elbows and puts on shades to avoid the glare of bright pink sparkly stuff]

DD's up for a trampoline this year, which would have been slightly tricky to conceal under the bed. Hurrah for layby

NottsMum · 09/07/2007 16:20

Arfishy - just noticed this thread. I bought a 10 ft trampoline with barrier net for $229 in Kmart last Thursday.

I popped in for a towel but DH and I thought this was too much of a bargain to miss. The DDs think it's Christmas come early.... well it is

arfishy · 10/07/2007 00:31

Oooh. That's a good deal.

The kmart toy sale catalogue is online, but the prices aren't on there yet, so I can't plan properly yet.

[drums fingers impatiently]

MelbourneMum · 10/07/2007 00:50

omg eidsvold you did so well. I am going to go late night shopping this week without the ds's to kmart and bigw. but does that mean I''ll have missed the best of it? should I wait and sharpen my elbow like arfishy for the start of the target sale?
I very keen for a trampoline for the boys, a new bike for ds1 and I did love a wiggles trike in bigw for ds2....

Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 04:06

arfishy - I have seen the target one online but no bloody prices.

We still have to get birthday presents for the dds and Target frightened me the one time I went the first day. I am hoping what I want is raincheckable as there is no way I can attend with the three of them so will not get there until about 10ish after I drop dd1 at school. She barely coped last time when I just had her and dd2 in a trolley and whizzed in and out.

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Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 04:07

arfishy - I could not believe how civilised it was at BigW - not sure if it was a nightmare later. But people were generally okay and even lining up for layby was okay. The best thing was - everything was where it should be rather than all over the shop.

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Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 04:09

melbourne I missed getting something as I did not see it in the catalogue - so went and put my name down at customer service desk and they will call if/when they get anymore in. That happened with dd2's slide last year and they got more in so I was able to layby it.

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arfishy · 10/07/2007 04:30

Hmm. Our Target in Bondi Junction was so bad on the day they started to sell Stella McCartney that a photo of the women rampaging through the store was on the front page of the paper. When I arrived after work there were mannequins in pieces on the floor and broken shelves as the women trashed the place to get their hands on the clothes. And no Stella left, not a single piece.

This is the Target I'm preparing my assault on so I think I may have to have full body armour as well as specially sharpened elbows. And get in there on a dawn raid.

Nice to know that Big W is more seemly. Shame I've missed the start now.

Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 07:19

our women use trolleys like battering rams arfishy - it just blew my mind that people were like that.

I did not go anywhere near on the day of Stella being sold - not interested and was unsure what it would be like.

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NottsMum · 10/07/2007 13:29

I'm a newbie in Perth. Just curious, why do the people go mad when the sales are on then?

{Don't give me a battering, I'm only asking....}

Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 22:54

Notts - the all have an annual toy sale where they often get in one off toys that are fab and usually at a good price. The other bonus is it is no deposit layby and you don't have to pick it up until Christmas Eve so you effectively have 6 months to pay it off and it is not cluttering up your house.

They also will offer the 'must have' toy at crazy prices but only get a limited number in ( esp. Target) and so people are desperate to get that.

I also figure if you are on a limited income - the ability to pay it off over six months is fab. i saw one lady with a number of bicycles so her kids are probably getting bikes for Christmas and buying those in one go would have cost a whack.

I have done almost all my christmas shopping for the children I have to buy for so that is a bonus.

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Original poster
eidsvold · 10/07/2007 22:55

oh I got a phone call from BigW apparently we have won one of the secondary prizes in their contest! No idea what it was - I was just entering for the chance to win a trip to Disneyland.

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NottsMum · 15/07/2007 16:01

Ta Eidsvold. Now I know....

Have you found out what your prize is yet?

Original poster
eidsvold · 15/07/2007 22:36

it is a book of door hangers featuring Disney Pixar characters with a write on wipe of pen that you can use to write their name on.

BUT i am still in the big one

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Original poster
eidsvold · 16/07/2007 03:16

went to target today and they have nearly everything our ready for Thurs. I was looking for birthday ideas for dd1 who is 5 in two weeks. I just decided to layby something I found for her and a few other things to finish off their christmas bits.

I would have saved $8 on her big present and the other little ones I got for her and dd2 they were halfprice but even at full price I figure it was worth it rather than fighting tonnes of people with three dds in tow!!! ( especially dd1 shopping+crowds = meltdown)

But I am pleased I got her birthday present - she is into blocks so I got the megablocks 200 block bag - should keep her busy for a while

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mymama · 16/07/2007 05:29

eidsvold - I was in Target yesterday and saw all the toys out. Made me shudder just thinking about the first day. Anyhow, was speaking to the bloke at layby and he said to come on Friday night as noone knows it is open Friday night and is really quiet.

I have a bit of dilemma about Christmas/Birthdays and what toys to get. We are travelling from 4th October to 5th January. Ds2's birthday is two weeks before we leave, dd's birthday is 6 days after we arrive in UK and ds1's birthday is 3 days after we get back to Australia and of course Christmas in between.

How many flat/small/soft presents can one person buy?

Original poster
eidsvold · 16/07/2007 05:44

mymamma -which target was that? I have learnt in the past - usually the one thing I want - not always the big popular thing - has gone within an hour or so!!

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mymama · 17/07/2007 00:51

Morayfield.

suzywong · 17/07/2007 00:54

Nottsmum got a great deal there, boys Dssss loved it

We made good use of the toy catalogues by cuttingout the pictures (not girls' stuff because as you know that is "bum") and making collages. Kept them quiet for 45minutes

arfishy · 17/07/2007 02:20

I'm all primed and ready for the Target kick-off on Thursday.

So how does layby work then? Do I just take my shopping list up to the service counter or do I have to drag all the toys there? Do you have to pay every week or don't they care as long as it's paid for by Christmas Eve?

Last year I didn't cotton on to the whole layby thing and had DD's presents stored in our cellar of doom with the marauding deadly things. This year Target can store my stuff safely. AND dh won't see it all until it's too late for the lecture on spending/quantities of presents.

Original poster
eidsvold · 17/07/2007 06:19

you shove the opposition out of the way - snaffle all your toys and take them in your trolley to the layby queue/s. Here you can also preorder big stuff like tramps, cubby houses etc I saw the other day.

I also know last year you could bag as you went - huge white plastic bags like garbage sacks available and then you could fill out paper work, attach it to your bag and they sent you the docket later.

I think there is a certain amount to be paid by OCtober - think it is 25% or something like. usually fortnightly payments. I worked out on my Big W laybys - most of them can be 2 - 5 dollars a fortnight and they will be paid off by Christmas Eve.

I think it may be fornightly payments. If you read the long screed of info at the bottom of your docket it should tell you.

I have decided to meet a friend for coffee that morning so I am not even tempted to go.

I have a poorly dd2 though so probably will not be able to get out anyway.

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arfishy · 17/07/2007 07:24

Thanks! I will report back. It's so satisfying to have Christmas wrapped up in July

Original poster
eidsvold · 17/07/2007 11:19

i just have the adults and their chrissy pjs to do now.

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Original poster
eidsvold · 18/07/2007 04:40

arfishy - are you sharpening those elbows

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arfishy · 18/07/2007 04:57

Elbows fully sharpened, new contact lenses in place and I am doing some last minute scanning through the catalogue and planning my route. I'm contemplating the defensive nature of spiky heeled boots against the loss of balance and ability to run.

Annoyingly I have to actually turn up at the office tomorrow and spend the day there working which means I'll have to go after work and get trampled with the rest of the office lot.

DD's birthday is 8 days before Christmas so I'm hoping to do THE LOT.

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