SYRACUSE -- It's all hustle and bustle at the mall this time of year.

Jason Loper and his family are here to scope out the deals but he says he's holding off actually making the purchase.

Loper told Action News, "I wait right to the end because, usually, like the day before, everybody is like I have to get rid of everything because nobody's coming to buy tomorrow. So if you go the last day you get 75 or 80 percent off!

The same goes for Paulette Dahl and her husband.  Paulette said, " We're last minute shoppers because we feel the deals get better the closer we get to Christmas.

But, the National Retail Federation says if you're waiting for those last minute deep discounts, you could be waiting a while.  The reasoning is that stores did their planning and ordering with the recession in mind.

Retailers say have been running most of the year with less inventory and have gone into the holiday season with less inventory than they had last year.  That means less to get rid of and likely fewer discounts.

While you might not see the 'sale' signs you're hoping for, experts say this *is* a good sign for the economy.  Hermit Arora, Professor of Economics at LeMoyne College, said  the profits are coming from the top line not from the bottom line; not from laying off employees, but from the actual sales.

Yet, some still believe they'll get that steal of a deal...but that's when retailers say shoppers could be faced with some bare shelves.