Martin Lewis's top tips for buying Christmas gifts and it's not on Black Friday

Money-saving maestro Martin Lewis shared some top tips on how to bag the best bargains on Christmas presents during a segment of his popular Money Show Live on ITV, in response to a question from a viewer named Korka. Eager for advice, Korka asked: "When is the optimal time to buy Christmas gifts? Often I find items are discounted before I even give the gift. And are gift vouchers to be avoided? " To which Martin deftly replied with a touch of humour: "The optimum time to buy Christmas gifts is in January", prompting laughter in the studio.

Though his comment initially tickled the audience, Martin further explained, stating: "Generally in the January sales it's cheapest. There's two ways to do this, you can buy them very early or give someone an IOU if you're brave enough and say 'I'll buy you it when the prices are lower'."

He pointed out that consumers should not feel pressured by the "Then we're not held hostage by this retail festival we seem to live in" atmosphere.

Delving deeper, Martin Lewis cited research carried out by his team which analysed price trends around Black Friday and pre-Christmas sales across approximately 50 products. His findings were intriguing: "70% of items were cheaper on Black Friday, 12% were cheaper in the pre-Christmas sales, and the other 18% were equal. So if you're going to be buying before Christmas at this time of year, Black Friday is the time that you want to be buying.", reports the Mirror.

Regarding gift vouchers, Lewis expressed a strong view, stating: "I'm not a fan."

He highlighted two significant drawbacks - their limited validity period and the danger of them becoming worthless if the issuing company becomes insolvent. Lewis stressed the importance of verifying the company's financial stability before purchasing gift vouchers, but generally recommended steering clear of them.