It is just the first full weekend of November and already retail stores like Wal Mart, Sears, JCPenney, and online retailer Amazon.com want you to stock up on gifts for the holidays. All these stores are offering specials and pretty good deals today.

These were the specials that were going on today:

* Walmart’s Saturday Sale – valid Saturday, 11/7 at 8am
o Xbox 360 Arcade Console w/ $100 eGift Card – $199
o Sharp 42″ 1080p LCD TV (LC42SB45UT) – $498
o Panasonic 46″ 1080p Plasma TV (TC-P46U1) – $788
o HP 15.6″ Laptop w/ 2.2GHz Processor (G60-W519WM) – $298
o Sony Blu-Ray Disc Player (BDP-S360) – $148
o Magnavox 1080p Up-conversion DVD Player (DP170MGX) – $29

* Sears’ Black Friday NOW! Sales – valid Saturday, 11/7 from 7am to noon
o Zenith 42″ 720p Plasma HDTV – $499.99
o Sony Blu-Ray Disc Player (BDP-S360) – $148
o Samsung Blu-Ray Disc Player (BD-P1600) – $149.99
o Kenmore 30″ Freestanding Gas Range – $374.99
o Craftsman 8-Drawer Pro Tool Chest – $99.98
o Colormate Basics Bath Towels – $2.99 Each
o Coats & Outerwear for the Family – 60% Off

* Kmart’s Better than Black Friday Online-Only Sale – valid 11/6 – 11/7
o Sylvania 32″ 720p LCD HDTV – $349.99
o 40% Off Family Outerwear

* JCPenney “Biggest Sale of them All” - valid Saturday 11/7 from 7am to 1pm
o Men’s and Women’s Coats (Outerwear) – 60% OFF
o 3 Star Down Comforter (Any Size) – $39.99
o $10 off $50, $15 off $75 and $20 off $100 No Exclusion Coupons

There are several things on sale today because the retailers really want everyone in their stores right now so they can start tallying up their $$.

Some of these sales are pretty good. I am even in the market for a new laptop and for $298 for an HP, it didn’t sound too bad. However, that really is a low end model and from what I have read online, they aren’t that great.

Source: BFads.net

However, with stories across the internet about consumers getting burned with the sales, we were hesitant to even pick up a DVD.

Sites like the Consumerist and even Yahoo.com have been telling stories about how customers are buying things like LCD or Plasma TV’s and the TVs are shattered and Circuit City refues to refund the money, and previous to the sale would not let the consumer open the item in the store (which I witnessed first hand, not being able to open items in the store).

This sale has been rediculous since the beginning when Circuit City was taken over by a lousy reseller.

Hopefully the store will ride off into the sunset like it should, instead of stories like this looming over its head in the demise.