That jolly big fella is nearly ready to start climbing down chimneys, and many of us are ready to start climbing the walls with preparation for the big day.

Each year as we near the festive season, more and more people shift to buying online.

The common myth is that online is cheaper, and in general it is, yet the web isn’t just a homogenous gloop of similarity.

Different stores have different prices and using the right tactics and techniques can massively cut your costs.

Yet these tips aren’t just for Christmas, they work all year round too… ! You have MORE rights buying online. Buy goods in store and you don’t have a right to change your mind. While some stores do allow you to return goods, by law you can only take them back if they’re faulty.

However if you buy goods online, you have an absolute no fault right of return, as long as you send them back within 14 days. And you should get the cost of postage to you back as well – although youmay have to pay for the cost of sending it back.

This disparity of rights is causing a nightmare for high streets, as many people are starting to realise if they browse in store, but order online, they’re better protected.

  • Bag hidden local eBay bargains as gifts. eBay sellers often specify items, from bikes to PS4s, as “collection only” – they get fewer bids, so prices are lower.

You can’t search for them on eBay, so I built the mse.me/ ebaymapper and the eBay Deals iPhone and Android apps to find them.

As Jen said: “I had been looking for a double buggy for my two nieces. Most of them ended up selling for around the £40 mark. I found one via the eBay Local Bargain Finder and ended up winning it for £1.24.”

  • Use shopbots to find the cheapest online prices. A shopbot, or shopping robot, is a comparison site that searches a range of e-tailers to find the cheapest price, including delivery, in the same time it takes to search at just one e-store.

Different sites are good for different things, but I’d suggest kelkoo.co.uk, foundem.co.uk and megashopbot.com for general purposes and then specific sites like bookbrain.co.uk for books.

  • Check out web outlets for up to 80 per cent off deals, including Argos, M&S & Tesco. It used to be if you wanted to buy last season’s goods or seconds cheaply, you needed to head to a big out-oftown outlet shopping centre.

Those days are gone as many stores now operate web outlets, where the same goods are sold online at huge reductions – some via their own stores, such as M&S Outlet, Asos and Kurt Geiger (called Shoeaholics), others via special eBay sites, including Argos, House of Fraser and Office. Of course, stock and sizes are limited, yet it can be a real boon.

My Outlet Discount Finder tool has a full list and search tool of over 50 outlets – mse.me/Outlets ! Beware last free or cheapest order dates.

Many firms’ cheapest or free online order dates end earlier than you think – after that they’ll still deliver, but they start to charge. These dates include: Asos – Thursday, December 18, Tesco Direct – 5pm on Friday, December 19, Amazon – Friday, December 19, Asda Direct – Friday, December 19, M&S – Friday, December 19, John Lewis – 8pm on Saturday, December 20 and Debenhams – Tuesday, December 23.

  • Don’t spend Tesco Clubcard vouchers on festive food. Many save up their vouchers to use for the big festive lunch – yet that’s a waste as you can get far better value using them for other things.

a) First, reclaim lost/unused Tesco Vouchers (can go back two years). You’ll need to sign into your tesco.com account to check, then just go to the My Vouchers page and see what’s there. You can print out (or use online) any vouchers unused in the last two years.

b) Once you’ve got the maximum voucher amount, first see if there are any Tesco Partner Deals that you can use them on.

Here you can get up to four times the vouchers’ value (so £5 becomes £20) on days out and restaurants, three times the value at Goldsmiths Jewellers and two times the value on train fares at RedSpottedHanky. See tesco.com/clubcard/deals c) Then check if anything in Tesco Christmas Double Up deals is suitable. Here both online and in store you can swap a £5 voucher for £10 until December 14, but it only works on specific department, including toys, console games, Christmas decorations, electricals and more.

  • Be aware of gift cards – unless you’re clever. Be wary of giving gift vouchers or cards as presents because a) if the firm goes bust, they’re worthless, b) some run out of date and c) people lose them. But there’s a clever trick which makes them useful, more for you than as a gift though.

If you’re planning a big spend at any one of 50+ retailers (including Halfords, Homebase, Debenhams, PCWorld), buy the gift card inMorrisons and you get 1p/litre off fuel per £10 spend. So £100 gets 10p a litre off, £1,250 gets a free tank.

So, here the real trick isn’t to use them as gifts, but that if you’re planning a big purchase in that store anyway, first pop into Morrisons, buy the gift card, then a few days later, once its active, go and use it to buy your planned purchase, giving you a potentially whopping petrol discount.

  • Ban unnecessary Christmas presents. Far too many people are doing tit-for-tat giving at this time of year – this ends up with many of us giving tat. Part of the problem is the reciprocal obligation – in other words if I give you, youmust give me. This isn’t about gifts to your kids under the Christmas tree, it’s about the ever-growing list of extended family, friends, even kids’ teachers we feel the need to buy for.

It’s time to stop – to go cold turkey (sorry) on this pattern of giving. Make a pact with friends and family to avoid it. If you’re asking “what about the joy of giving” – well, actually that can be selfish. If I give to someone, I obligate them to buyme something back, even if they can’t afford it. It could be the best gift is releasing them from the obligation of buying for you.