The Secrets of Bargain Hunting, Part 2
If you haven’t read The Secrets of Bargain Hunting Part 1, do it before continuing on.
In part 1 you learned to treat every buying opportunity as a pricing challenge, and the very basics of online search as your friend in comparison shopping. In this post you will learn a skill that will become your primary weapon in distinguishing a good deal from a great one. It saves you loads of time and money, and you can continually fine tune it as you shop.
Rule #3: Develop a Price Index for the Items that Interest you
As you look for deals, keep an eye out for deals on other items that might interest you—even if you won’t need them for awhile. What you are doing is developing what I call a “price index” for them. You are training yourself to better judge what constitutes a good price for that item so that you’ll be able to quickly identify when a great price comes along.
So, young grasshopper, let’s look at a real-life example. While looking for a new digital camera I stumbled across some deals on memory cards. I didn’t need them now, but I was going to if I ended up buying the camera. The online prices I saw for the memory card online ranged from $20-$50, and I did end up getting the camera at my local Fry’s Electronics store. Fry’s had the same memory card for $50. It was sleek, flashy, and said it would make the perfect bundle with the stylish camera I just bought. If I hadn’t spent those extra 2 minutes establishing a price index for the memory card I would be $30 in the hole on that transaction. And you’ll soon learn that $30 can go a long way.
Rule #4: The Deal Seeker’s Favorite R-Word — Rebates!
Rebates are another hidden treasure in the world of deal hunting. You may have come across a few while shopping online (here’s an example). They come in several flavors, but generally speaking a rebate can be offered by a store (e.g. Staples), or by the product’s manufacturer (e.g. Logitech). Either way it means money back to you– the rebate provider will literally mail you a check with your name on it (and in some cases you will see the savings instantly upon purchase).
When comparison shopping, look out for these rebate promotions, and factor this in when calculating the final cost of the product when determining where to buy from.
Finally, we have the treasure within this hidden treasure: Check the store restrictions of the rebate to see if you can use it at a store with the cheaper base price! Not many people ever think to do this. If you did, well done! Here’s an example: you are buying a Sony computer monitor, and you narrowed down the vendors to Office Depot: $119.99, and Best Buy: $149.99 with a $50 rebate. Hmm, Best Buy seems to have the monitor for $99 after rebate, but wait! The rebate on the monitor is directly from Sony the manufacturer, and has no restriction on where you buy it from! Print that puppy from Best Buy’s website, order from Office Depot, and celebrate having paid only $69.99! That’s a hefty wad of cash back in your hands!
In the final chapter of this trilogy I’ll teach you how to optimize your search techniques, and introduce you to my favorite websites to find deals on.
And here it is, your BudgeX Bargain: A Super mini Bluetooth 2.0 USB dongle for $2.64, with free shipping too!
