JOHN YANG: The Internet has, of course, revolutionized holiday shopping, and now worries about the labor market and the effect tariffs are having are prompting even more Americans to search online for holiday deals.

Stephanie Sy tells us how sellers and customers are navigating this Black Friday weekend.

STEPHANIE SY: President Trump introduced some tariffs on imports in his first term, but, in his second term, the administration's aggressive tariffs on a wide range of imports have affected manufacturers, sellers and customers.

Frequent revisions to what products are and aren't exempt from the tariffs have only created more uncertainty.

So how does one approach their holiday shopping this year?

For help with navigating this and finding the best deals, I'm joined by Annemarie Conte, a deputy editor at New York Times' Wirecutter who wrote a piece on this very topic.

Annemarie, thank you so much for joining the "News Hour."

So, just to remind viewers, tariffs are, of course, basically taxes on imported goods, and that tax is often passed on to consumers.

How big are the price increases you have been tracking at Wirecutter in the last year?

ANNEMARIE CONTE, Wirecutter: It's been pretty scattershot.

And I think part of that is because these tariffs seem to be an ever-moving target.

And so the manufacturers have had a really hard time planning.

And so they have tried to absorb as much as they can, but, according to our tracking, we have seen as little as a dollar or two, up to $20, $25, depending on the cost of the item.

STEPHANIE SY: Help us understand to what degree we have seen tariffs passed down to retail consumers.

ANNEMARIE CONTE: It's been pretty significant.

We know now, according to New York Times reporting, that 50 percent of all U.S.

imports are affected by the tariffs, and a lot of manufacturers were able to bring stuff stateside and hold it in warehousing here to avoid some of those tariffs.

But as that stock depletes, now they're forced to pay them.

So they are trying to warn people as much as possible if there's an additional cost and if they can't absorb it.

This is especially happening with direct-to-consumer brands that don't have the buying power of the larger brands.

STEPHANIE SY: Black Friday sales, of course, start earlier nowadays.

Is now still the best time to get blockbuster deals?

And do those deals mean more, given that prices seem to have gone up at least a little bit across the board?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: So the deals aren't going to be the best ever.

And that is because of these price increases.

But it seems like a lot of these retailers have saved their best pricing for Black Friday.

So what we have seen is that it started earlier, it started as early as Monday, and it's going to continue through Cyber Monday.

So it'll be almost a full week of deals.

STEPHANIE SY: And are there certain categories where we might see better bargains than others based on where the goods are manufactured?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: It's hard to say.

The one thing that we definitely recommend is that, if you need or want any electronics, now is the time to buy it.

There's a number of factors.

The tariffs are sort of a catch-all of -- involving price increases, but there's a lot of factors, including A.I.

driving up the price of chips.

So if you need or want any electronics or headphones, laptops, things like that, gaming counsels, now is really the time to buy because you're going to get the best pricing, and we expect the prices to only increase in 2026.

STEPHANIE SY: What about on toys?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: Toys have really been affected.

It's significant because a lot of toys are manufactured in China.

So what we do is, we track prices every day of the year, and so we only post the best prices on the best products.

And what we're seeing now is, there are discounts now because it is such a heavy gift-giving category.

STEPHANIE SY: A lot of mass market items are, of course, available at multiple retailers.

What's the best way for consumers to compare prices?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: Yes, these retailers will definitely price-match each other.

And it's important to do a little bit of research.

One thing that we think is incredibly important is not to panic.

So you're going to be getting a lot of signals, a lot of marketing language, countdown timers, lightning deals, and we want everybody to just take a breath.

And you can do a little bit of research and you can look at price tracking apps to see what the historical pricing is, or you could use a resource like Wirecutter, which does that for you.

STEPHANIE SY: You know, there's all these tricky psyops to make, like, sales and deals look like great deals, but sometimes the tariffs are more obvious, right?

In your article, you described instances where customers ended up getting billed for the tariffs.

And I have heard instances myself where the tariff bill was greater than the item that was actually bought.

Where would you put up the buyer beware signs when it comes to online shopping?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: I think it's really important to know where an item is being shipped from, and you can't always tell.

But if you're shopping a site like Etsy, you can actually filter down to U.S.-based sellers, and that will help mitigate that.

We have definitely -- Wirecutter buys thousands of items per year, and we have definitely seen that happen here, where the shipper is going to give you a bill.

It's usually about $30, $35, in our experience, including fees, because they also have to tack on their fees on top of the tariff.

And so we have seen that they will not release the product until you pay the bill.

STEPHANIE SY: In your article, you mentioned a great way to get around tariffs, and that is secondhand shopping.

That happens to be the way I get most of my clothes.

But is that really something you think will be more popular in this tariff environment when it comes to gift-giving this season?

ANNEMARIE CONTE: I definitely think so.

I think the secondary market is really important to that.

And know your audience, right, if you are giving a gift to somebody who wouldn't appreciate it.

But I do think so many more people do love a pre-loved item.

And so you can look on eBay or Poshmark or all sorts of secondhand sites or thrift stores, things like that, to find something that's wonderful and like a wonderful delight as a gift or for yourself.

STEPHANIE SY: Annemarie Conte with Wirecutter at The New York Times, some timely advice.

Thank you, and happy holidays.

ANNEMARIE CONTE: Happy holidays.

Thank you so much for having me.