After Christmas sales starting... before Christmas

Christmas (sales) have come early!

Although retailers call them "after Christmas sales," many stores are striking bargains ahead of the big holiday in an effort to combat a disappointing season.

“After Christmas sales actually start before Christmas itself,” said Dealnews. “In fact, last year we saw sales labeled as ‘After Christmas’ that went live as early as Dec. 24. This year we expect sales to start within the same timeframe; and since Christmas Eve falls on a Tuesday, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a few branded sales begin as early as Monday, Dec. 23.”

The site also predicts the sales will feature super-sized discounts, thanks to a disappointing Black Friday.

"Considering the volume of consumer reports detailing how retailers did not sell as much as they would have liked during Black Friday, and how holiday spending overall is expected to be down, we anticipate stores will promote After Christmas sales with especially enticing price cuts," it said.

Indeed, Amazon.com's year-end sales are already live.

And retailers are making this kind of early sale a habit: for Black Friday this year, discounts began as much as a week early, with some stores opening on Thanksgiving and staying open all night.