The economic meltdown has opened up the best buying opportunities for years in
property, the markets and even the high street.
Consumers are taking advantage of discounts of 70% or more discounts from
high-street retailers, where sales are down 1.5% compared with last year,
according to the British Retail Consortium.
A spokesman for myvouchercodes.co.uk, a discount website, said: “Consumers are
looking for savings much, much earlier this year and retailers have cottoned
on to this and reacted accordingly.”
Meanwhile, property investors are getting discounts of up to 40% at commercial
and residential auctions.
Chris Coleman, an auctioneer at Savills Private Finance, said: “The
professionals are now starting to come out of the woodwork and showing more
interest.”
Spread betting, where investors bet on fluctuations in stocks, indexes or
currencies, has also seen a huge boom. Since September 15, TD Waterhouse, a
broker website, says it has seen a 400% increase in spread-betting customers.
Paul Dimambro, head of spread betting at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The
volatility in the market has made it attractive for spread betters. We are
seeing some who are trading up to 100 times day.”
Here we look at ways to pick up a bargain:
HIGH STREET
Shops are offering discounts of up to 70% or more as they try to lure
customers hit by the credit crunch. House of Fraser, HMV and Debenhams all
have 70% sales while H&M, Waterstone’s and Thorntons are offering products
at half price.
If you are on the high street, you could take advantage of a new
bargain-hunting service called Sccope. This searches the cost of a
particular item in high-street stores and then tells you where you can find
the best price.
You text 62555 with your specific product request to receive the latest prices
back to your handset. For example, if you are looking for a Tefal kettle,
you text “Tefal kettles” to 62555 and you get a reply with three options: 1.
Tefal XH 500104, 2. Tefal Express Diamond Element Stainless and 3. Tefal
Quick Cup.
If the Tefal Quick Cup is the one you want to buy, you reply and text 3. It
then replies telling you the best price is at John Lewis at £47.95, but
Tesco Direct is the most expensive at £55.00. Texts are charged at your
normal rate.
Savvy bargain hunters are getting even bigger discounts online. House of
Fraser, for example, has an up to 70% discount in its high-street outlets,
but online shoppers can benefit from an additional £10 off if they spend
more than £50. All you do is type in the code AUTUMNTREAT08, when you get to
the online “check out” page.
Online discount websites, which list discount codes for online shoppers, say
they have experienced a 300% increase in people searching for the terms
“save money” and “discount codes” online. Since late January Myvouchercodes
has received more than 3m visitors a month.
Myvouchercodes says a third of retailers which offer discounts through the
site have already sent their Christmas related voucher codes — more than a
month earlier than last year.
Virgin Experience, for example, has already issued its 50% discount code for a
hot-air balloon flight. The code expires in January. Last year this discount
was sent through at the end of November.
Traditional online retailers such as Amazon are also offering additional
incentives to shop online. Last week it cut the minimum amount shoppers need
to spend before getting free delivery from £15 to £5.
A good website that brings together all the top discounts either online or on
the high street is offeroftheday.co.uk. This lists one-off or short-term deals.
For example, although the official John Lewis sale has not yet started, the
site highlights a Hotel Dining Chair which has been reduced from £175 to £75
— 57% off.
You can also bag big savings if you shop at trade-secret-club.co.uk. This
lists discounts of 50% on cancelled and returned orders from the likes of
M&S and Laura Ashley. You have to pay a one-off membership fee of £10 to
browse items online, although there is a preview section offering
non-members some idea of what is available.
AUCTIONS
Sales at property auctions have increased as investors look to bag bargains.
The commercial property auction held by Allsop last week saw a 60% increase
in the value of lots sold compared with its previous auction held in July.
Commercial properties are being listed with guide prices 10% lower than David
Margolis, at auctioneer Cushman & Wakefield, would have expected last year.
A vacant industrial unit near Colwyn Bay in North Wales, for example, is
listed at £850,000 to £875,000. The same building would have gone for more
than £1m in 2007, said Margolis.
The Cushman & Wakefield auction on Thursday also lists a mixed-use, office,
garage and salesroom property in Darlington at £140,000 to £150,000,
offering a staggering rental yield of 20%. The current tenants are small
businesses.
There are also bargains to be had from residential property auctions. The next
Savills auction, on October 27, lists a two-bedroom flat in Streatham, south
London, with a guide price of £135,000. Estate agents in the area are
advertising similar flats at £180,000 to £200,000.
Allsop is holding a residential property sale on October 30. It has 670 lots
compared with 438 in September — a 53% rise. In Hull and Blackpool it lists
two properties with a guide price of £25,000 to £30,000.
SPREAD BETTERS
Spread betting is a tax-free, cost effective alternative to traditional share
trading. It allows you to speculate on the movement of stocks and shares
without using a stockbroker, so there is no commission or fees.
Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, said: “While the volatility
has caused incredible problems for physical share traders, spread betters
are incredibly opportunistic, and the market turmoil has fed into this
attribute.”
Under normal market conditions, spread betters tend to trade on movements in
indexes. However, Raymond said people are tapping into areas with more
dramatic shifts.
He said: “In the last few weeks, and indeed ever since Lehman Brothers went
under, we have seen a gradual diversification from index to equity trades —
and banking stocks in particular.” He said there has been a lot of spread
betting on Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays stocks in particular.
Because of changes to short-selling rules last month, investors can no longer
short — bet on prices falling — on financial stocks such as banks and
insurance firms. They can, however, go long, or bet on the stock prices
increasing.
Dimambro said “active traders” willing to bet on increases on a very
short-term basis, have been making profits. “The volatility in financial
stocks has meant that only the most active, short-term spread betters are
making money.”
On Thursday, one of his clients decided to go long of Lloyds TSB by £20 a
point or pence. The price at the time was 150p. A few hours later, the
shares had improved and he decided to take a profit. He closed his position
at 158.6p making £172.
The Day Trader
Betting on the rebound
TONY LOTON, 39, a trader from Cheshire, has bet on fluctuations in the FTSE
and the Dow Jones following dramatic changes last week.
On Thursday he bet on the FTSE recovering after the 7% drop on Wednesday.
‘It was a classic case of positioning for a rebound,’ said Loton, pictured
here with wife Debbie, and children Matt, 10, and Becky, 12.
‘Having witnessed a huge global sell-off on Wednesday, I expected at least
a short-term technical rebound on Thursday.’
By betting on the increase, he was able to clear £100 by mid-day. Over the
course of past two weeks, however, he made more than £800 through betting on
indexes.
Loton is an active trader, and author of the books Don’t Lose Money (in the
Stock Markets) and Financial Trading Patterns.
‘It’s a risky business, but if you act fast there are quick profits to be
had,’ he said.
The Christmas shopper
I check the codes each week
SARAH DAVIS, 44, from North Bradley near Trowbridge in Wiltshire, who runs
her own events organising firm, said she looks for online discount codes
every week and has saved several hundred pounds on her Christmas shopping
already.
She recently got 10% off an Argos shop using an online discount code.
‘In the current climate I’m always on the hunt for bargains and discounts,’
she said.
‘It’s especially useful during this time of year when we start to think
about present shopping.’
She said she and her husband, Neil, 43, who works for an exhibition firm,
also use discounts available on eBay. She said she has used the codes over
the past 12 months.
Davis, pictured with Neil and children Stephanie, seven, and Alec, two,
said: ‘Every time I want to buy something I make sure I check for online
discounts and where the best sale prices are.
‘It’s much easier to shop from home, especially if you have young children.
Most retailers offer free delivery as well.’
Property Investor
Auctions are the best bet
PROPERTY investor John Parkin, 44, from Newcastle, has acquired 15
buy-to-let properties over the past decade.
He says this is a good time to buy at auction. ‘You can snap up a Newcastle
city-centre flat for £120,000 to £130,000 at auction, but last year the same
flat may have cost over £200,000,’ he said.
He recently bought a one-bedroom flat for £112,000 at auction in Newcastle.
It would have cost him about £125,000 on the open market, he said.
‘Property prices are falling if you look at estate-agent windows, but
prices at auction reflect where the market is really at.’
He said his investments were all long term and expects prices to pick up
again soon. ‘In the long run, over a period of five to 10 years, you are
likely to come out better off if you buy now at auction.’
Top online discounts
Play.com 20% off by quoting discount code PLCINX08
Asos.com 15% off on all menswear and men’s grooming products with STYLISHAUTUMN
Thorntons 15% off with NCW8
Sharp £250 off 37in TV with 32H2
Domino’s Pizza 20% off all orders over £20 with GLBRADB
Woolworths 10% off all toys with earlybird10
Ocado £15 off when spending £60 on groceries quoting VOU2584842
Top saving websites
Kitchenclearout.co.uk
Sells end-of-line stock at a huge discount to high-street prices. If planning
to refit a kitchen or replace ageing appliances this website should be the
first port of call. It claims to have £500,000 of stock to be sold every
month. Delivery costs about £25.
Hotdeals.co.uk
This site relies on users to list top discounts, sales and money-off voucher
codes. Since the credit crunch those sharing tips have inundated the site,
with hits up 30% since last year. Users vote deals “hot” or “cold”. A hot
offer hits the site’s front page.
Myvouchercodes.co.uk
One of a new breed of website that has proliferated in the credit crunch.
Retailers send out online discount-voucher codes to beat high street offers,
rather than staging general sales. Discounts are often short-lived so it’s
worth checking regularly.
Quidco.com
Here cashback is earned on online purchases of goods sold by more than 1,200
leading retailers. Before buying anything online, simply check whether the
same product is available through Quidco and earn cashback into the bargain.
