Consumer Confidential: Holiday sales, prudent plastic, bad cribs

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Here’s your mail-it-in Monday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--And the Black Friday express rolls on. Amazon.com and Best Buy are the latest major retailers to kick off discounted sales ahead of the customary day-after-Thanksgiving shop-a-thon. Many of the big boys are also planning additional sales on ‘Cyber Monday,’ the Monday after Thanksgiving Day. The bottom line for holiday shopping this year: If you didn’t get a hefty markdown from the normal price, you got had.

--Another indication that we’ve learned some lessons as the economy stumbles toward recover: The number of people making late payments on their credit cards fell nearly 6% in the June-to-September period from the previous quarter. The experts say this is doubly impressive because credit-card delinquencies typically rise in the third quarter as consumers splurge on back-to-school shopping. That said, California still has one of the highest delinquency rates.

--Federal safety regulators are planning one of the largest recalls of cribs ever, according to reports. Details are still sketchy, but it looks like the cribs in question have drop-down sides and likely represent a threat of little ones getting caught in the moving parts. Keep an eye on the website of the Consumer Product Safety Commission for more info.

-- David Lazarus

Photo: Associated Press