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Which website is the cheapest for Christmas toys?
Toy specialist Smyths Toys could be the cheapest place to buy toys from this Christmas, particularly if you're looking for the latest Barbie or Peppa Pig sets and Hasbro games.
We compared a trolley stuffed full of the most popular branded toys for a variety of ages across four of the biggest retailers – Amazon, Argos, Smyths Toys and The Entertainer.
Here, Which? reveals how much you could save by shopping around, and which shops were the cheapest for popular toys.
Where can you buy the cheapest toys for Christmas?
To find out where you can buy the cheapest children's presents this Christmas, we put together a bumper trolley of 45 of the most popular brands of toys — including Barbie, Fisher-Price, Lego and VTech — and calculated their average prices at major toy retailers Amazon, Argos, Smyths Toys and The Entertainer between 10 September and 10 October 2022.
Altogether, the 45 toys cost £1,077.70 at the cheapest store, Smyths Toys. At The Entertainer they were £200 more expensive (£1,277.08).
Amazon (£1,110.43) was the second cheapest and Argos (£1,259.36) was the third.
| Toy retailers (links take you to the retailer sites) | Average price for 45 toys |
|---|---|
| Smyths Toys | £1,077.70 |
| Amazon | £1,110.43 |
| Argos | £1,259.36 |
| The Entertainer | £1,277.08 |
- Find out more: baby and child shops rated by customers
Cheapest retailers for Christmas toys by age group
We broke down our trolley of toys by age group, splitting them into toys for babies (under 12 months), preschoolers (1-3 years old) and school age (4-11 years old).
| Age group (no of toys) | Cheapest store (total £) | Most expensive store (total £) |
|---|---|---|
| Baby (5) | Amazon (£87.26) | The Entertainer (£115.29) |
| Preschool (10) | Amazon (£172.80) | The Entertainer (£209.47) |
| School age (30) | Smyths Toys (£809.07) | Argos (£971.37) |
Amazon was the cheapest place for toys for babies and preschoolers. Our baby and preschool list included (average price):
- Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone – cheapest at Amazon and Smyths (£7.99).
- Mega Bloks 60-Piece Building Blocks Bag – cheapest at Amazon (£9.78).
- VTech Baby First Steps Baby Walker – cheapest at Amazon (£29.99).
For our list of 30 toys for school-age children, Smyths Toys was the cheapest, beating Amazon by more than £41. The selection of toys included (average price):
- Baby Annabell Leah 43cm Doll – cheapest at Smyths Toys (£56.12)
- Barbie Dream Plane Transforming Playset – cheapest at Amazon and Smyths Toys (£59.99).
- L.O.L Surprise Omg World Travel Doll Assortment – cheapest at Amazon (£13.26).
- LEGO City Ice Cream Truck – cheapest at Amazon (£15.40)
- LEGO Star Wars Luke Skywalker’S X-Wing Fighter – cheapest at Amazon (£36.67)
- Rubiks Cube Tilt – cheapest at Amazon and Smyths Toys (£9.99).
The Entertainer was the most expensive shop for both baby and preschool toys, while Argos was priciest for school-age toys.
The Barbie Dream Plane Transforming Playset was more than £43 more expensive on average at Argos (£103.64) compared to Amazon and Smyths Toys (£59.99 at both).
The Baby Born good night bassinet was £25 cheaper at Smyths Toys (£29.99) compared to The Entertainer (£54.99).
Jigsaws and games
If you're looking for jigsaws or games to play (or argue over) at Christmas, then we also had items in the analysis for you.
Smyths Toys was the cheapest on average for the Ravensburger Big Ben Night Edition 216-piece 3D puzzle (£17.64), as well as the Hasbro Cluedo Junior Game (£14.99).
Amazon was the cheapest for the Mattel Uno Flip! Card Game (£6.14).
What the retailers told us
We contacted the retailers with our findings.
Matthew Redfearn, Toys Category Leader at Amazon UK told us: 'Customers come to Amazon to find low prices, wide selection and fast delivery - and we put our energy into ensuring that’s true every day. In a year where less is more for many families, we are offering options for all tastes and budgets this season, including tens of thousands of toys under £20 across Amazon, so our customers can find that perfect gift this Christmas.'
Argos said that prices are influenced by a range of factors, but that it's committed to offering customers great choice and value across a wide range of products.
How does Toys "R" Us compare?
A big name has recently returned to the toy market ahead of Christmas. Toys "R" Us stopped trading in the UK in 2018, but launched a new website in September this year. We don't know yet how it compares on price, but it's offering free delivery on all orders over £20, and next-day delivery on all orders placed before 6pm.
Supermarket toy sales
We wanted to include supermarkets in our analysis, but they don't always stock a full range of branded toys. Keep an eye out for sales in supermarkets though, as there are good discounts to be found.
- Aldi Last week Aldi has launched an online toy shop, and toys landed in the special buy aisle in stores on 20 October. There are lots of wooden toys for sale, plus toys from popular TV characters such as Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and Bluey.
- Lidl There were toys in the middle aisle this week at Lidl, but as always with the German discounter these are often fleeting. As their slogan says, once they're gone, they're gone.
- George at Asda There's currently a sale on wooden toys at Asda, plus a 'rollback' event. Asda has a range of own-brand large toys in the rollback, including an Asda supermarket checkout and a pizza counter.
- Sainsbury's A large number of toys are currently on offer at Sainsbury's, with many part of a two-for-£15 promotion – including Lego sets, Chad valley toys and Barbie assortments. Some of the toys included in the offer are £15, so you could potentially save 50%.
- Tesco It's worth checking for Clubcard prices on your Christmas list must-haves, as we found toys with as much as 50% off for Clubcard members. This includes a hot wheels flip racer (£30 reduced to £15 for Clubcard holders) and a Hey Duggee doctor set (£20, reduced to £10 for Clubcard holders).
The sales listed were running as of 19 October.
- Find out more: which supermarket is the cheapest?
Should you wait to buy toys in the Black Friday sales?
This year Black Friday falls on Friday 25 November.
Last year, toy shops tended to introduce discounts across ranges or the whole store, so keep an eye out for what's on offer.
Our research has shown that not all Black Friday 'deals' you see advertised on individual products are good ones, though.
Luckily Which? is here to help. Our experts track prices throughout the year so they can cut through the spin and bring you deals we genuinely consider good value.
- Find out more: use our Black Friday insider's guide to find the best deals for the items you need to buy this year
How to get the best price when shopping for toys
The cost of living is squeezing household budgets more than ever, so it's important to be saving-savvy in the run up to Christmas this year.
- Shop around In our analysis there were 15 toys that varied in price by more than £10 in the month at the same stores. There were two toys, the Barbie Dream Plane Transforming Playset and the Scalextric Micro Batman Vs The Joker Race Set, which saw a £20 fluctuation in price during the month.
- Buy early If you can, try to spread the cost of Christmas shopping. Many retailers extend returns policies for the Christmas period, so you don't have to worry about being lumped with an unwanted gift. Check the returns policy before you buy, though.
- Use discount codes Google the name of the site you're buying from with the words 'discount code', and more often than not, you'll find several websites claiming to offer codes that will save you money or shipping costs. It can be a bit hit and miss, though, as codes may have short usage windows.
- Earn as you spend Cashback sites offer deals at retailers and also help you get money back on your spending.
- Buy second-hand toys As people declutter ahead of Christmas, there may be bargains to be found in charity shops. Some charities have dedicated kids' stores, for example, Fara, which has 14 child-specific shops in and around London. There are also lots of toys for sale on second-hand sites such as Facebook Marketplace and Vinted.
