GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – October means it is time for the Holiday spending to begin.
According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending is second to Christmas.
“They expect that $9 billion dollars will spent this Halloween season and that come out to an average of about $87.00 dollars per consumer.”
Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Wisconsin says candy, decorations, and costumes are all part of Halloween spending, but many are opting to rent costumes or are buying costumes at thrift stores, but says that comes with a reminder.
“Make sure that all of the parts of the costume are there because you may have trouble returning it if it is not.”
She says costumes are where many are trying to save a little more money than past years.
“See if you can save a little bit of money by renting costumes, see if you can reuse some of the items around your house and ask your neighbors.”
The Better Business Bureau says you may find an old costume you can re-purpose or Halloween decorations you can put out. Doing this will not only help you save money, but you won’t end up with more than you need.
Bach says it is important to ask about return policies for Halloween items especially in cases of seasonal stores that close right before Halloween.
“They are kind of here today, gone tomorrow, so if you are trying to return some merchandise, you may have trouble finding them later.”
She says in most cases, seasonal stores will have a return date deadline that will be prior to Halloween in order to prevent people from buying items for use on Halloween and then returning it, which she says is fraudulent behavior.
You should also find out how long you must keep your receipt, or what happens if you should lose your receipt.
The Better Business Bureau also offers some tips for online shopping for Halloween items.
When shopping from an online website, the first step is to make sure the URL starts with “https” and includes a lock symbol. The “S” in “https” stands for secure. Look up the website’s privacy policy and contact information. If it is not clearly listed, or they only have an email as the point of contact, take that as a big red flag and shop elsewhere.
Also, be sure to use your credit card instead of your debit card, as credit cards not only provide additional protection, but it’s also easier to dispute a fraudulent charge.
Shopping for Halloween should be fun, not terrifying.
