Purchasing

From Notes

Subpages: /USB Drives /PDA /Cameras

Strategies for shopping

• Check as many options at once.
• Use keywords such as model #, vendor, important aspects of item.
• Look for trends, common vendors, pricing, etc
• Watch for added costs, such as shipping / handling
• Watch for refurbished items/used items.
• Watch for missing components as manuals, batteries, cords, etc.
• Weight added costs and missing items in cost of item.

'Current' Deals/discounts available

• Special online deals/coupons.. mixture of vendors/options... typically only good for 7 to 30 days.
  1. FlexDeals:, ^{http://www.flexdeals.net}
  2. DealCatcher:, ^{http://www.dealcatcher.com/}
  3. EDealinfo:, ^{http://www.edealinfo.com/}
  4. Deal Detectives (online coupons of the day), ^{http://www.dealdetectives.com}
  5. Monkey Bargains (online coupons/rebates if clicked, ^{http://www.monkeybargains.com/}

Price/option/vendor searching

• Sort by lowest price
• Check each product choice
• Check price/availablity sites
  • look over each lowest bidder, and vendors
  1. C-Net: http://reviews.cnet.com
  2. EveryPrice: http://everyprice.com
  3. Froogle: http://froogle.google.com/ (lots of vendors)
  4. BizRate: http://www.bizrate.com (offers selection by sub-groups, lots of vendors)
  5. PriceGrabber: http://sourceforge.pricegrabber.com/
  6. StreetPrices.com: http://www.streetprices.com (historical price graphs)
  7. NexTag: http://www.nextag.com (offers price history)
  8. Price Flo: http://priceflo.com
  9. Shopzilla: http://www.shopzilla.com/
  10. OverStock: http://www.overstock.com/
  11. ResellerRatings: http://resellerratings.com
  12. PriceScan: http://www.pricescan.com

Vendors for best pricing

Auction/Bidding sites

• Ebay http://ebay.com
• Amazon http://www.amazon.com
  1. Check similar items, auction and 'buy-it-now'
  2. Add several to your 'Watch list'.
  3. Watch for 3 to 4 days, see how prices typically end up
  4. Don't forget to add in Shipping/Handling costs
  5. Also include Taxes, if locally available.

Stores/vendors

1. FRYS Online, ^{http://shop1.outpost.com/template/index/}
2. DSL Depot (DSL equipment and parts!), ^{http://www.dsldepot.com}
3. JustDeals, ^{http://store.yahoo.com/justdeals}
4. Buy.com, ^{http://buy.com}
5. NewEgg, ^{http://www.newegg.com}
6. CCI Camera City, ^{http://www.ccicameracity.com}
7. ABES of Maine, ^{http://www.abesofmaine.com}
8. ICT:, ^{http://www.ictcompany.com}
9. Comp-u-Plus, ^{http://www.compuplus.com}
10. CostCo: (membership dues required), ^{http://costco.com}
11. Overstock: (limited outlet store items), ^{http://www.overstock.com/}
12. E-Cost Pricing them out, ^{http://ecost.com}
13. Best Buy, ^{http://bestbuy.com}
14. Circuit City, ^{http://circuitcity.com}
15. Deep Discount DVD: (DVD's only), ^{http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com}
16. EverTek, ^{http://www.evertek.com}
17. Star Surplus, ^{http://www.starsurplus.com/woot.lasso}

Vendors to avoid

1. Ebayers that suck!, ^{http://www.ebayersthatsuck.com/main/}
2. WaWaDigital:(Avoid at all costs, bait-and-switch, they rip you off!), ^{http://wawadigitalDOTcom/shopping/home.asp}

Bidding Tools

• eBay 'snipe' tool: http://www.isnipefree.com/

Some 'great deals' sites

• CD trade site: Millennium Music , ^{http://www.millenniummusic.com/trades.html}

Credit Score Report

• http://www.annualcreditreport.com (FREE every 12 months)