I bought a desktop shelf on Cyber Monday because I’m the most boring deal shopper in the world – and you should be like me

My problem with endlessly pursuing Cyber Monday deals in search of the one amazing deal that will compel you to buy is that it’s become a Pavlovian response to these annual sales. As soon as we start getting the emails, we begin the hunt. But what are we hunting for? In my case, I wander through the virtual aisles on Amazon, Best Buy, deals on TechRadar and random Google Shopping hunts looking for something – anything – that might jump out at me. As is often the case, I’m overwhelmed by choice and buy nothing.

But not this year. I’ve already made my best Cyber Monday purchase and it is a wonder. Few products offer this mixture of excitement and banal utility. What did I buy? it’s a Safco Onyx Desk Organizer. Yep, a vertical file holder that came in at a stunning 60% off (sadly, in the UK, there is no comparable sale for this organizational wonder) That may be the best deal ever on this metal file-folder system, but I wouldn’t really know since I’ve never seen them it buying it in this Cyber Monday sale.

I have, though, been looking for them, or something like them for years. You see, as a tech reviewer I have a lot of gadgets; many smartphones and tablets that are simply stacked willy nilly on my overcrowder desk (interestingly, I have almost no file folders since every bit of “paperwork” is now digital). It’s gotten so bad I almost have to slip into a diving suit to find last year’s best Android phone. I always imagined a simple desktop shelf system would solve my gadget organization problems.

Before I explain why this most basic piece of desktop file organization system caught my eye, let me be clear about my Cyber Monday intentions and how, perhaps, my strategy should be yours.

Today’s best Safco Onyx Desk Organizer

Instead of a random, “Hey, what’s on sale?” approach, I went in with intention. Remembering my clutter conundrum, I rebooted the search for a shelving or storage system that I liked and that might save me more than a few bucks. The entire process took about 15 minutes, which is my kind of shopping experience.

Initially, I spotted the Safeco Onyx Desk organizer’s little brother, it had just six slots but cost a little over $18 in another Cyber Monday sale. Oh, but Amazon is crafty and it showed me in a “You might also like” box this sexy beast. Eight vertical steel shelves, all waiting for my dust-covered gadgets.

Measuring 19.25 x 11.5 x 8.25-inches high, this storage system looked like a perfect fit for vertically aligned smartphones, tablets, and e-readers, and at 60% off, the organizer had tumbled from a list price of $83.00 to just $32.87.

I get it, you thought shopping on Cyber Monday would be exciting but when that magical tech gadget doesn’t jump out and inspire you and you’ve spent the last hour numbly searching for anything you can gift yourself or others, you’ll thank me. Think about what you really need and go shopping. I bet you find your own “Safco file folder system”.