Holiday Buying Questions???

Hello everyone! This post is all about finding out what your Holiday Season buying plans are! This season seems to be a bit different than the last few! We might actually have to work HARD at selling items and work HARD at selling to new people!
Last year, some of our best customers had huge changes in their economic situations, and we definately felt the pinch. These are customers that generally spent anywhere from $3000 to $12,000 at Christmas and all of a sudden, we were lucky if they spent $250!!! It was quite a shock, but we still managed to break even with the prior years' sales.
This year, the situation looks like it will be even more interesting...
I am focusing on buying much lower price points and fewer high end pieces. If I am really lucky, I will get the high end pieces on memo or consignment, so if they don't sell, I'm not out anything! I am trying to roll the die a little more in my favor this year. Terms are very tempting with all of your regular vendors, but most everyone wants the bill paid in full in January. I have spent a lot of the year struggling every month to make ends meet, and I don't want to give up all the profit in January to meet those terms. There is always jewelry left over, the vendors don't take it back, and you could still be sitting on it next Christmas! These are the things you should be doing your best to avoid!
There are no clear cut answers to the state of the economy, but smart buying will be a huge factor in how you start 2009. Let's do our best to start out ahead.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to make better decisions...please forward them. We really do need to help each other stay in business!