Today is the Internet equivalent of Black Friday — Cyber Monday.  It's based on the theory that people are back at work with faster Internet connections and will use lunch and other breaks to make online purchases of Christmas gifts.

In honor of Cyber Monday, many websites are offeing special deals, from larger than usual discounts to free shipping.  Some of the deals are only for today, but many of the deals I've seen go through tomorrow night.  Some last through the business week.

There are good deals to be had by shopping online.  Many online merchants will even take care of wrapping and shipping to your recipients.  Two very important things to keep in mind:

1)  Read all the fine print about the special deals. In some cases, a certain minimum purchase is required.  In other cases, an alternate discount may be better.  You may need to run some numbers to see which is best.  (For example, I have a coupon for one book free if I buy at least 3 books.  The site also has a special deal for 15% off the entire purchase. I had to calculate which is the better deal.)

2) Check the shipping status very carefully.  Most deals are only on regular shipping.  If an item is on backorder and is shipped by regular service on December 22nd, it might not arrive on time.

Happy shopping!