Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell how much consumers will spend after all. The world of holiday guesstimates was unleashed this week. Amazon.com says consumers will spend $8 billion online for the holidays. CyberSource says the number is $7.3 billion while Ernst & Young projects holiday online spending to fall between $12 billion and $15 billion. Meanwhile American Express projects Americans will spend nearly $100 billion on holiday gifts while The Conference Board says Christmas gift purchases will total $50 billion. All three of the projections for online holiday spending are somewhat fuzzy as to the definition of holiday online sales or the timeline involved. Last year AOL shoppers spent $1.2 billion online between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Based on merchant and card usage growth patterns this year, it is more likely AOL shoppers will spend $3.5 billion and that total online sales, including retail, travel and entertainment sales, between the two major holidays, will land just north of $13 billion. American Express said the average American family will spend $1,008 just for holiday gifts. The Conference Board said its poll shows the average to be $500. AmEx says total holiday spending will hit $1,558 per family. Both surveys show spending on holiday gifts will fall between $50 billion and $100 billion. Total holiday spending will land somewhere around $100 billion to $150 billion based on the two surveys. How much will consumers spend? Who knows! or maybe Who cares!

For more information on the holiday surveys visit www.cybersource.com; www.americanexpress.com; www.amazon.com; and www.conference-board.org.