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The Technopeasant’s Guide to Bargain Hunting on the Web By Jeff Pasternack 12/03/02 Everybody likes a bargain. More importantly, everybody likes to think that the bargain they’re getting is better than the bargain the next person found. Nothing like the feeling of superiority when it comes to out-saving a neighbor, my grandmother would say. And there’s no better bargain-hunting tool than the Internet. Sure, there are many Web sites that offer discounts on their products. And yes, some online prices are better than what one might find elsewhere, but sometimes, when you consider shipping and the time delay, it turns out not to be such a good bargain after all. My two key criteria for shopping online are that the bargains needs to provide an extra bonus on top of an already low price and that the vendor have an excellent rating: returning items bought online can be dicey at times. There are essentially three categories for finding deals online. The first is to use sites that aggregate products and prices submitted by vendors who are paying for the right to have their prices listed. The second is to find sites that have special deals submitted by consumers. The third and arguably most popular are to use auction sites.
Product Aggregators Another way that vendors can be listed on aggregator sites is to pay for the listing, so the “best price” might in fact only refer to the prices offered by this limited selection of vendors. In all cases, unless you have bought from the vendor before, do your research by checking up on the public’s opinion of the vendor. Some aggregators, such as Cnet.com or PriceGrabber.com, provide a customer review forum and others do not. If all else fails, simply go to Google.com and search on the vendor’s name and the word “complaint” or “opinion.”
Deal Aggregators DealCatcher,com is a nifty site that aggregates deals that are generally submitted by vendors. It used to be that the Price Mistake of the Day feature was a genuine pricing error. Now, however, it is simply a loss-leader marketing tactic used by vendors to bring customers to their site.
Auctions eBay, which allegedly started out as a way for the founder to buy Pez Candy dispensers, also has a live auction capability for their higher cost items. Unlike Dovebid, however, eBay has built its service around small transactions between people and only recently began its corporate line of service. Here is how eBay normally works. You find a painting that would look great in your office. Place an early bid so that you are on the notification list and you’ll be emailed updates. This bumps up the price, but you feel it is a necessary evil. You wait until your best guess of the auction’s last possible five seconds to submit your best and final bid. If it is a hot item, you lose. Even if it isn’t, you may still lose. To whom? A sniper. Simply put, AuctionSniper.com automates the process of placing your bid in the closing seconds of any eBay auction, dramatically increasing your chance of winning. The idea on eBay is that you want to pay the lowest possible price, but most people hurt this effort by placing an early bid. This increases the price and causes others to bid higher than you. Instead, list the item in AuctionSniper.com and it will submit your bid at the last possible moment. Their system is faster than yours, believe me. If you’re even partially interested in eBay, this tool is a must.
Two Examples of How the Technopeasant Goes Shopping Techbargains.com is another deal aggregator that specializes in, you guessed it, technology. I found a deal on their site based on a certain series of mouseclicks and I could buy a super low cost Dell Dimension 4500 with an Intel Pentium 4 2.4ghz. The result? Instead of paying about $799 plus tax, I was able to take advantage of a stackable 10% off coupon code, $100 off if I ordered online, free shipping and a $150 mail-in rebate, bringing my total to $510 including shipping and tax. In conclusion, it is much easier to bargain hunt online and off when you know what you want. By looking for rebates on these websites or even just by going to Google.com and typing in the product name and the word “rebate,” you might be surprised at how easy it can be to save money. The best part, of course, is out-saving your neighbor who just bought the same thing.
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Jeff Pasternack is the president of Dynamic Consulting Group, a franchise partner of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and author of the TechnoPeasant Review. If you have questions or comments about this column, please write to him at Jeff@TheDCG.com. |
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