This year's Boxing Day sale was a forgettable experience for some shoppers in Whangarei who could not secure a bargain on items they wished to purchase.
Families thronged to the Okara Shopping Centre yesterday— lured by discounts of up to 70 per cent off on certain items— but some the Northern Advocate spoke to said the Boxing Day sale was a myth.
"Going into shops, there was nothing extremely cheap. Prices seem normal or as they were pre-Christmas," said Cindy Woolston, who was visiting her brother in Whangarei from Taumarunui.
She and her partner, Jake Allen, together with their 4-month-old son Kobe, were at the Okara Shopping Centre looking for presents for her nieces and nephews and clothes for their baby.
They come up to Whangarei on special occasions but Ms Woolston said she had never been to a Boxing Day sale in Northland.
"We go to Taupo where everything on Boxing Day is marked right down," she said.
Shoppers struggled to find parking spaces outside prominent retail outlets such as The Warehouse, Kmart, and Noel Leeming as well as Farmers as locals and visitors to the region hunted for bargains.
Sisters Tania Edge, and Tracey Lloydd snapped up linen and bedding at half price from Farmers utilising Christmas vouchers they bought for each other.
"It's the same price for most of the stuff. I don't think Boxing Day sale now is what it used to be in previous years," she said.
Road worker Ian Warne bought bags of compost from The Warehouse as he needed to raise his garden bed but found them to be more expensive than they were before Christmas.
"The prices are not as cheap as people think. A lot of the stuff is buy one get one half price but you really need one, unless you're buying for someone else," he said.
His daughter is coming from Auckland today so he was looking for a gift for her.
But not everyone went home disappointed.
Whangarei mother of four Briana Young was in need of items for the beach and bagged a bargain at The Warehouse.
"Beach towels for under $12. Normally they cost $25. Plus cheap shoes. Warehouse and
Kmart are always cheap and when you have three or four children, a couple of dollars off makes a difference."
Ms Young normally goes to the New Year sale but had to come into town yesterday for stuff for whenever her family went to the beach.