5 things NOT to buy on Cyber Monday

marketwatch2

To many consumers, Cyber Monday — which can be enjoyed from the comfort of your couch, or at the very least your desk at work — is far preferable to the crush of consumers dominating stores during Black Friday. Just beware: items masquerading as good deals may be anything but.

While still smaller than total Black Friday sales, research firm IBISWorld predicts that Cyber Monday sales will climb 15% from last year to $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, sales throughout Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) will climb just 1.8% this year from last year to $36.7 billion.

For those looking for deals, this trend may make sense, as Cyber Monday is sometimes the best time to buy certain things. A survey released in November by Savings.com, which examined more than 1.5 million deals from 25,000 retailers between 2009 and 2013, found that Cyber Monday was the best day to shop for clothes if you were looking for deals (the site noted that deals of 30 – 50% off were solid). When it comes to clothing, Cyber Monday has both “the most deals available and averaging the deepest savings across the board,” notes Brandon Hunt, the co-founder of DealScience.com.

Other items that tend to be very good deals on Cyber Monday include shoes and beauty products, says Mark LaCastro, a retail expert with DealNews.com. Hunt notes that you can also sometimes find decent deals on smaller electronics like headphones.

But despite some good promotions, there are plenty of “deals” that consumers should often avoid because they aren’t really bargains at all. Here are five.

Read more here.