I've learnt my lessons with early christmas shopping.
Last year I had it all done by mid October and when it came to the big day, all the presents sucked and I couldn't get a refund on any of them.
I've started to look at what I might get people for Christmas, but I won't get it for a while (but not too late that they hike up the prices)
Also I hardly use Amazon for presents, unless I know my item is going to be over �20 free postage, as there are alot of other companies out there who offer cheaper products than Amazon and also free P&P (Play.com, CD-wow.co.uk etc etc)