Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the holiday season fast approaching, CNET estimates shoppers to spend $930 each on tech gifts this season. But do we have to worry about tariffs leading to shortages?
Russell Holly of CNET says millennials are looking to spend closer to around $140 more than that. "At the top of the list for a lot of people this year are smartphones, either to gift one to a younger person as their first phone, or an upgrade for themselves or for a loved one," says Holly. He says laptops are close behind for the same reason.
Could President Trump's tariffs mean a shortage this year? "We're not currently hearing any manufacturers talk about shortages, but we are definitely seeing price increases," says Holly. "If you're looking for a dedicated camera, a lot of the camera companies have increased their prices by almost $300 this year," explains Holly. When it comes to video games, Holly says Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have all increased their prices in one way or another this year. "Nintendo has not yet raised the price on the brand new Switch 2 console, but they have not ruled it out before the end of the year," adds Holly.
Holly notes if you're looking to get the lowest price and actually confirm that that is the lowest price amongst these shopping events like Prime Day or Black Friday, there are tools at your disposal that you can verify the history of the price of something, especially on Amazon. "One tool which is freely available to anyone, it has very silly names, so it's easy to remember, it is www.camelcamelcamel.com. You just grab an Amazon link, and you put it in there, and it will show you the history of the price of that product," suggests Holly. He says if you are a Walmart Plus subscriber, you have access to those things as much as 24 hours ahead of time, which could mean that if you're not a Walmart subscriber, and that television you want is there, it may be sold out by the time it's available to you.