Eric Thayer / Reuters

Catch a breather while you can -- the after-Christmas sales are coming.

Bargain hunters will find some great discounts in the days after Christmas. It won’t be hard to find sale signs boasting markdowns of 70 percent or more. But don’t expect retailers to slash the price of everything in the store, just the things they need to get out the door.

Dealnews.com, a popular website that tracks retail prices, compared last year’s after-Christmas deals to this year’s Black Friday sales and found that post-Christmas sales in 2010 were “notably less exceptional” in terms of top offerings. In other words, while the prices will be good, they won’t always be great.

“You’ll see some of the best sales of the year on apparel,” says Dan de Grandpre, founder and CEO of Dealnews. “Merchants want to clear out their winter merchandise to make room for the new spring items.”

The focus this year, de Grandpre says, will be on brick-and-mortar stores, not online sales. Many retailers, he says, will use their websites to drive shoppers to their stores.

“Sometimes it will be a coupon that you print and take to the store,” de Grandpre says. “Other times it will be another discount on top of the lowest prices available at the store.”

For example, last year on Dec. 26 Gap gave an extra 50 percent off all sale items in the store until noon. Some of the items were already marked down 50 or 60 percent.

Video games also go on sale right after Christmas, even the most recent titles.

“Some of the video game prices we saw last year right after Christmas were the best prices all year, and we’re expecting that again this year,” de Grandpre says.

Is there anything you should avoid buying? You might want to wait on electronics. Dealnews says the markdowns on electronics tend to be so-so right after Christmas. Closeout prices on TVs, laptops and GPS units usually hit early in the new year.

You can also expect another round of clothing sales in January. That’s when you’ll find the biggest discounts on winter apparel.

ConsumerMan Tip: As always, it’s the final price -- not the “percentage off” -- that matters. Take the time to use a price shopping website to find out if that sale price is really as good as it seems.

Related:

NYT: Shoppers winning 'game of chicken' at stores

Here at Life Inc. headquarters, we are always amazed at our reader's endless fascination with anything related to taxes.

But why should we be amazed? A quick glance at the headlines shows taxes are almost always at or near the center of the political debate. Just look at the latest legislative disaster on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers made a mess of what should have been an easy, year-end gift for middle-income workers by failing to pass an extension of the current payroll tax holiday.

So it should be no surprise that the buzziest story in Today Money this week was our look at an eye-opening Pew Research Center survey on federal taxes.

Turns out that most people -- Republicans and Democrats -- believe they pay "about the right amount" in taxes. What bothers us is the complexity of the system and the nagging feeling that wealthy people are not paying their fair share.

More than 200,000 people read the story and more than 40,000 took our informal survey on "What bothers you most about federal taxes?" The most popular answer by far, with 51 percent of the votes: "The wealthy don't pay their fair share."

Our readers also buzzed about the holiday shopping season this week, and especially about the hottest gifts on Amazon.com, where even from the grave, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs seems to be outflanking all rivals. His authorized biography "Steve Jobs" ($17.49 on Amazon) was ranked the No. 1 gift item of the season, just beating out Amazon's own Kindle Fire, a bit pricier present at $199. For the rest of the top 10 click here.

And before you open those Christmas presents, you might check out the new, harsher return policies at many retailers explained by Herb Weisbaum, our ConsumerMan.

As Bob G-731334 commented: "I just wonder if we, as a nation of conspicuous consumers, buy way too much stuff that is unwanted and unneeded by anyone simply because we get too caught up in the consumerism/commercialism of Christmas."

Hmm, he may be onto something there.

Just two shopping days left before Christmas, and people are looking for bargains this year at pawn shops. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis tells you what you can do when you receive a gift card you do not want to use.

Dave Hogan / Getty Images

English singer-songwriter Adele's "21" has not only proven to be one of Amazon's top sellers, it's among the best selling albums of the year.

By Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St.

Amazon.com is the largest e-commerce retailer in the world. In the third quarter of this year the company’s net sales increased 44 percent to $10.88 billion, compared with $7.56 billion in the third quarter of 2010. This Black Friday, Amazon saw 50 percent more visitors than any other online retailer.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed 10 of Amazon’s bestselling items from the site’s most popular categories to identify the top holiday gifts for 2011.

Due to its size and reach, the site’s best-selling items are an ideal proxy for what is currently popular in the U.S. Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio is at the top of Amazon’s bestseller list, reflecting the nation’s fascination with Apple’s founder. The popularity of winter gloves that can be used to operate touch screens underscores Jobs’ lasting impact.

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The products on the list have all changed from last December’s most popular products. People are no longer buying the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 or George Bush’s "Decision Points" with the same enthusiasm they were one year ago. They have been replaced by the Kindle Fire and Isaacson’s  book. A lot has stayed the same, too. The bestselling video game has changed from last year’s Just Dance 2 for Nintendo Wii to Just Dance 3 for Nintendo Wii.

Amazon.com’s website is divided into 12 major categories: Books, Music & Movies, Digital Downloads, The Kindle, Computers & Office, Consumer Electronics, Home & Garden, Groceries & Health, Toys & Kids, Clothing & Shoes, Sports & Outdoor, Home Improvement & Tools, and Auto & Industrial. The “best sellers” listed are updated each hour, and the most popular items will often stay on the “Top 100” list by sales in their category for weeks. 24/7 Wall St. looked at 10 subcategories to identify the hottest gifts this holiday season.

1. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson

•  Category: Books
•  Price: $17.49
•  Days in the top 100: 98
•  Company: Simon & Schuster

Jobs died on October 5, 2011. Isaacson’s book on the tech pioneer has been on Amazon’s top 100 bestselling books list since September. The book, based on nearly 50 interviews conducted over two years, reflects on the life of one of the greatest innovators of all time.

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2. Kindle Fire

•  Category: Electronics
•  Price: $199.00
•  Days in the top 100: 80
•  Company: Amazon

The Kindle Fire is shaping up to be one of the holiday’s hottest gifts. The tablet has been on the Amazon bestsellers list since its introduction approximately 11 weeks ago. The company recently reported that it is selling one million Kindles per week. According to a statement by Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle, “Kindle Fire sales increased week-over-week for each of the past three weeks.”

3. Just Dance 3

•  Category: Video Games
•  Price: $29.96
•  Days in the top 100: 85
•  Company: UBI Soft

In December of last year, Amazon’s top selling video game was Just Dance 2. This year it is Just Dance 3. The popularity of the Nintendo Wii game, where players sing and dance to hit pop songs, represents a major shift in the industry away from  role playing games and first-person shooters. The game also features a mode specifically for cardio training.

4. Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System

•  Category: Beauty
•  Price: $26.00
•  Days in the top 100: 371
•  Company: Olay

Olay’s Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System includes a face brush and exfoliating renewal cleanser. According to the company, the system “is as effective as a system sold by skin professionals for nearly $200.” Olay must be doing something right. The product has been on Amazon’s bestsellers list for 371 days.

5. "21" by Adele

•  Category: Music
•  Price: $9.99
•  Days in the top 100: 355
•  Company: Columbia

While CD sales have dropped dramatically in recent years, that has not prevented the English singer-songwriter from doing incredibly well in Amazon’s music department. Adele’s second album  has been in the Amazon top 100 for longer than any other album except for her debut album, "19." "21" has also topped Billboard’s year-end list of top-selling albums.

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6. Alex Toys Friends 4 Ever Bracelet Making Kit

•  Category: Toys
•  Price: $20.47
•  Days in the top 100: 759
•  Company: Alex

Replacing last year’s Scrabble Flash Cubes by Hasbro as Amazon’s bestselling toy is the Alex Toys Friends 4 Ever Bracelet Making Kit. The kit makes up to 22 “friendship bracelets” with floss and beads. The product’s 759 days on the bestselling toys list speaks to its popularity.

7. "The Help"

•  Category: Movies
•  Price: $16.99
•  Days in the top 100: 107
•  Company: Walt Disney Studios

Amazon’s list of bestselling movies is topped by the DVD copy of Tate Taylor’s adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel. It bests three different Harry Potter features, which occupy the second, third and fourth slots. The DVD’s success is not entirely surprising, considering how the film dominated the box office this summer. It remains to be seen whether it will remain a holiday favorite, compared to classics like "Star Wars" and "The Wizard of Oz," both of which also appear on Amazon’s bestsellers list.

8. Levi's Men’s 501 Jeans

•  Category: Clothing
•  Price: $39.99
•  Days in the top 100: 1,224
•  Company: Levi’s

Many shoppers go to Amazon.com to order their jeans. Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean has maintained its position on the Clothing top 100 for 1,224 days — the longest of any item on this list. Twenty-six different washes are available, in many more sizes than are available in most stores. Surprisingly, some comments on Amazon.com suggest that customers have turned to Amazon because their size was not available on Levis.com.

9. Heart Mother & Daughter Beads Charm

•  Category: Jewelry
•  Price: $9.99
•  Days in the top 100: 235
•  Company: Pugster

Amazon.com has a large selection of jewelry, most of which is affordably priced. Currently, the most popular item is the Heart Mother & Daughter Beads Charm. The charm is a two-piece heart. One side reads “Mother,” and the one which reads “Daughter.” It only costs $10. A number of other deals on Pugster products are listed on Amazon.

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10. Agloves Original Touch Screen Gloves

•  Category: Sports & Outdoors
•  Price: $19.99
•  Days in the top 100: 54
•  Company: Agloves

One of the worst times to have a touch screen phone has always been the winter. The gloves make it impossible to use the phone. Agloves has capitalized on this problem with the company’s “touch screen gloves,” also listed as iPhone gloves and texting gloves. According to the company, the gloves are compatible with “touch screen phones, cameras, multimedia devices, game systems, and eReaders.”

Gift cards are the most-wanted holiday gift again this year – ahead of jewelry, clothing and even electronic gadgets. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2011 holiday survey, eight out of ten holiday shoppers plan to buy gift cards. They will spend an average of $155 on them. 

Let me share a little secret. You don’t have to pay full price for gift cards. You can get them from resellers and save anywhere from 8 percent to 35 percent.  These cards are for well-known retailers, from Abercrombie & Fitch to Zappos.com. 

“You give someone a $50 gift card and they think you’ve spent $50, when in reality you only spent maybe $40 to buy it,” says Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of Card Hub.com. 

To do that, you need to have the card sent to you and then you give it to the person on your list. Most gift card resellers do not charge for shipping. 

What if the card is scratched and doesn’t look new?
“Go to the store where the card is sold and ask them to give you a new card with the same value,” Papadimitriou advises. “That way you get brand new plastic to give to your friend or family member who will have absolutely no clue.” 

What if the card is loaded with an odd amount?
That’s often the case at these resale sites. I just went online and found a Coldwater Creek card for $139.41 on sale for $118.50. That’s 15 percent off. But you’d never give someone a gift card loaded with a crazy amount like that. It’s a dead give-away that you bought the card from a reseller. 

Again, there’s a way around that. You can go to the store and ask them to split the card.  For example, you could get two $50 cards and have the rest ($18.50) put on a third card you can use.  Or you could pay an extra $1.50 and make the last card worth $20. 

Buy discounted gift cards for your holiday shopping
Many savvy shoppers now buy discounted gift cards to use, rather than to give away. It’s like cashing-in on an instant sale. 

“I buy the gift cards for myself,” says Kristin Morse, vice president of marketing at Plastic Jungle.com, one of the big gift card resellers. “So I save money before I even go into the store.” 

Morse says she likes to stack her savings, using the discounted gift card to buy things that are on sale. If there’s a coupon, that’s even better. 

"It adds up to where you can really stretch your dollars,” she says. 

Morse tells me about 80 percent of their customers buy gift cards to use for themselves. She says that extra little bit of savings lets them get what they really want.

If you decide to use the resale market, be sure to deal with an established website, such as Plastic Jungle, Gift Card Granny, Card Hub, Cardpool, GiftCards.com or Gift Card Castle. Always pay with a credit card, not a debit card. That gives you extra fraud protection should there be a problem. 

The ultimate in convenience
The 2011 Gift Card Survey by Bankrate.com found a significant rise in the availability of e-gift cards that are emailed to the recipient.

Starbucks, Best Buy, Gap, Pizza Hut, Staples, Overstock.com and American Express all added a virtual version of their gift cards in the last 12 months. Amazon lets you send gift cards via Facebook. 

“It appeals to the last minute shopper, maybe someone who got a gift they didn’t expect and they want to respond to it,” says Bankrate’s Janna Herron. 

Some electronic gift cards are printable (like e-tickets); others are simply a promotional code the recipient uses when shopping. 

“E-gift cards still make up a small percentage of overall gift card sales, but that segment is growing,” Herron says. 

Because an e-gift card could be confused with spam, it’s a good idea to contact recipients to let them know what you did. You might even want to follow-up to make sure they got it.

Know the rules
Gift cards are much more consumer-friendly because of federal rules that took effect last year. According to the Federal Trade Commission:  

• Money on a gift card cannot expire for at least five years from the date the card was issued or money was loaded onto the card.
• Inactivity fees cannot be charged until the card has not been used for at least one year. You can be charged a fee to buy the card or to replace a lost or stolen card.
• The expiration date of a card must be clearly disclosed on the card, and fees must be clearly disclosed on the card or its packaging. 

More info:

Federal Trade Commission: Buying, Giving, and Using Gift Cards

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

Lured by the promise of luxury goods at discount prices, shoppers spend $22.4 billion at outlet centers, according to a 2010 State of the Industry report by trade publication "Value Retail News." But how much do shoppers save? Recent research on outlet shopping vs. retail by Cheapism.com revealed that consumers can save nearly 30 percent overall by doing their holiday shopping at an outlet mall. Cheapism found individual items for up to 85 percent less than comparable products at a regular retail mall.

Cheapism.com

Coach bags can be 44 percent cheaper at the outlet

The report compares the cost of shopping for a list of potential holiday gifts — an iPhone case, a wallet, a V-neck sweater, for example — and a few other things consumers might need for the season, such as holiday outfits for the kids. The total after discounts and before taxes came to $1,240.15, compared with $1,756.62 at retail — a savings of more than $500, or 29.4 percent, on comparable items. Cheapism also surveyed prices on dozens of additional items. Some of the biggest discounts included a Calphalon open-stock sauté pan for 85 percent off.

Price isn't the only consideration when you're shopping for gifts, however, and often can be misleading. Here are some of Cheapism’s tips for finding the best deals at the outlets:

Know what you’re buying and where it came from. Is that Coach bag a deeply discounted jewel or a made-for-outlet design? Each of the leading brands mentioned in the report is represented by a particular mix of products in its outlet stores. Some items are liquidation merchandise, but others are made specifically for factory stores and some are the same stuff you’d find at retail. Don’t be afraid to ask a salesperson about the origin of an item before you buy.

Pay attention to detail. Made-for-outlet products are sometimes constructed with less expensive material and less embellishment. For example, a red sweater dress from the Gymboree outlet emulated a dress from the previous season’s retail line but was woven from thinner material and lacked pockets and faux-crystal buttons. On the other hand, cosmetic flaws on discounted Dutch ovens at Le Creuset were scarcely noticeable.

Take the list price with a grain of salt. Outlets try to entice shoppers by printing two prices on the tag: the MSRP, or manufacturer’s suggested retail price, and the lower outlet price. Ostensibly this tells you how much you can save off retail, but remember that much of the merchandise some stores carry is made for the outlet and was never sold at retail.

Shop sales and use coupons. Much of the actual savings at outlet malls comes from sales and coupons the stores hand out at the door or offer online. Before discounts, the savings at the outlet mall were closer to 20 percent in Cheapism’s survey.

Retail stores sometimes offer better value. Depending on what you’re looking for, it may not always be worth it to make the trip to the outlet mall. Check Cheapism’s rundown of outlets vs. retail to find out when it pays to shop the outlets.

Universal Studios

Are you dreading the idea of being nice this holiday season? You're not alone.

You endured Black Friday. You survived the pepper spray and the taser guns. You may have even nabbed an awesome bargain or  decided to cut back a bit this season because of the grim economy.

But it's not even December yet. There's still a lot of misery left to endure.

At least that's the take of the venerable Consumer Reports, which asked its readers what they dread most about the holiday season.

Most of the top stress-inducing fears are obvious:

• 68 percent of the respondents dread crowds and long lines
• 37 percent fear gaining weight
• 37 percent fear going into debt.

But No. 10 on the list is a bit of a surprise. According to the survey, 15 percent dread the notion of "having to be nice." Yep, the idea of a forced smile and a "Have a nice day!" is just too much for some Americans. And nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23 percent) just can't stand Christmas music. The Grinch would be so proud.

"For all the chatter about nostalgia, family fun and gift giving this time of year, many people don't like too much of a good thing," said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports.

"This commercial overindulgence wears on most of us," Marks said. "The long season appears to sour teh Tiny Tim in all of us."

The poll's results of the survey were based on a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,013 adults.

For the full list, see the story here 

What are you dreading most this season? (Be civil, folks.)

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

People walk past a store in New York City.

Today Money and msnbc.com expert Allison Linn joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions about holiday shopping and managing your finances.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Matt asked:

“This year, my wife and i decided to buy each other ONLY necessities (socks, underwear, etc.) We are thinking about doing that for our kids too. Thoughts?”

Allison replied:

“Wow, Matt, that's a great strategy for saving money. I do think that it probably depends on how old your kids are and what their expectations are for the holidays. If you are going with necessities for them, you probably want to talk about that beforehand, explain why you are doing it and talk about how they can craft and appropriate holiday wish list. It can be a great holiday tradition, though, and who knows - my kids LOVE getting pajamas for the holidays, and that's become a holiday tradition for us.”

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here. 

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

Collin Morgan, the coupon-savvy mom behind Hip2Save.com, joined us for a live Web chat Thursday to answer your questions about Black Friday and saving money on holiday shopping.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Marcinda asked:

"Can the better deals be found on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?"

Collin replied:

"In my opinion, Cyber Monday is better! Plus, you are not wasting gas and time since you can snag deals in your PJ's without having to deal with crowds!"

Here’s the full chat archive:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here. 

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.