You know it’s the holiday season when you look up and the falling leaves of autumn have been replaced by a cascade of catalogs that covers your mailbox. You are suddenly surrounded by the signs of the gift-giving season — not only piles of catalogs, but sparkly shop windows, mailers and pop up ads — all encouraging you to buy gifts. How can you sort through the clutter and find the perfect present for the best price? Discover the best deals by following these simple tips.

1. Sign up for flash sales online. Decide what type and brand of gift you are seeking. Many of your favorite big name brands and retailers hold periodic flash sales online. A flash sale is a limited time offer of highly discounted items designed to draw people to a web site, or allow them to sample a brand. Items sold at online flash sales are sometimes off-season or discontinued items, but equally often they are recent, high quality products that are offered at a discount as a form of advertising.

Great deals can be had on clothing, house wares and quality accessories like beautiful women’s watches or jewelry. To participate in a flash sale, go to your favorite retailer or online discounter. Put your name on their email list and you will be notified of sales via email. Some sites are dedicated private sale sites and require that you join to be notified of flash sales. Plug the keywords “flash sales site” into your search engine for a list.

2. Search online for coupon deals for all kinds of items for men, women and children. Many brands and varieties of toys, electronics, clothing and more are available at steep discounts with printable coupons. To find deals on particular items that you are searching for — put the keywords for your item, for example “quality sport watches” in parentheses and add the word “coupon”. There are sites that offer coupons for many different brands, and there are large stores and retailers that offer coupons only on their own items. Coupons work like flash sales — items can be overstock merchandise, or they can be new items that are on limited promotional discount. If possible, find a favorite coupon site and sign up to receive email alerts the minute new discounts come up.

3. Compare prices by using an online price comparison tool. A web site such as bizrate allows you to enter the name of an item and compare the price across multiple retailers and vendors. Enter the name of a specific item and try sorting by price from lowest to highest. The least expensive option should appear at the top of the list, along with a rating of the vendor who is offering the item. If the vendor has a great reputation, that will be noted next to their name. If you must pay full retail price, you should at least get the best price.

Follow these tips to get great gifts at the very best price this holiday season — happy shopping!