Posted on 12/12/2001 9:06:08 AM PST by Illbay
This will be my fourth years shopping online for Christmas. Of course, the choices have become bewildering even with the shakeout, and I have found most of what I need. But there are a few items I'm still stuck on, and it occurred to me that perhaps the "shopping bot" technology might be better now than it was a couple of years ago, when I tried to use ClickTheButton.Com with no success in locating the best price for my purchases.
Have any of you tech-savvy FReepers out there got any suggestions? Do you use a "shopping bot" website or utility, and which do you really prefer, IF ANY?
Or conversely, which would you stay away from at all costs?
Seems to work well for locating good prices on books. I have not done any purchases through them and I would tend to visit the bookseller directly for the purchase.
They have other departments for other types of products.
I would be concerned about the organization from which I was making the purchase. Giving out your credit card information on the Web is something I don't like to do. I limit the number of businesses where I shop.
For example, if you just want a laptop or a camera, but don't really have a particular one in mind, you're going to be lost in a sea of choices. Best to check review sites to narrow what you want down to a few options, then unleash the bots to go find them. And if you already have something specific in mind, have at it.
A couple more favourites: Half.com, BestBookBuys.com, DealTime.com.
Type To: tech_index into to the search box at the top of the forum page when it is set at articles + replies. Articles related to technology dating back to 12/6 are there now. I don't know how long they stay there. They seem to clear out that site rather frequently. Bookmark the article for long term access.
I have 15 bookmarks in my "Shopping" folder and then I keep coming back to MySimon and pricewatch.com (the latter for computer components.) PricingCentral.com is a good site that maintains indices to the price comparison sites.A couple more favourites: Half.com, BestBookBuys.com, DealTime.com.
I've been using MySimon recently. It displays a very impressive selection of places. MySimon found prices as low as $499 for a Panasonic PV-DV401 digital camcorder I've been eying. Nice price! Enticing price...
HOWEVER, there is a fatal flaw here: MySimon, and I'm sure all the other shopping bots too, grab the prices off the retailers' websites. The lowest prices (on camcorders at least) turn out to be for greymarket, so-called "international" models. IOW, camcorders made for the domestic Japanese market - with the user manual in Japanese, and you'll have to ship the camera back to Japan if you ever need warranty service!
If not that, then maybe they're returned stock. I'm sure ther're other scams too.
These retailers that show the lowest prices on these items are truly bottom-feeders. The salespeople are generally demoralized or surly, or if you're lucky they're matter-of-fact, whambamthankyoumam types. Worse than used-car dealers! These retailers work on the classic bait & switch principle: Advertise a really lowball price for a version of the product that turns out to be clearly unacceptable (unless you happen to read Japanese), try to get you to accept the "real" product at the higher price, and then try to hard-sell you on overpriced accessories & shipping charges. If you're lucky you'll come away from the transaction with something close to what you thought you were getting, for less than if you'd gone to a big-box store. But you'll also feel like you could have just as likely gotten royally screwed, and you won't really know for sure until both the package & your VISA statement arrives!
If you still want to enter the arena to get the cheapest deal possible, there's one website I found recently that could be a lifesaver: www.resellerratings.com. They specialize in customer ratings of online retailers! I discovered one place, dbuys.com, that has prices a little higher than the absolute bottom feeders, but they apparently treat their customers well. Much better reviews than Royal Camera, Regency Camera, etc.
I was going to go with dbuys.com tomorrow, but as it happened, after I told hubby about my experience, we drove down to Video Only to try to figure out just what the true Panasonic PV-DV401 package comes with. (Two online retailers, including the guy at dbuys.com, insisted it came with a 15 minute battery & we needed to buy an extra 3hr battery(???). Total cost would be $800.) Hubby - no easy mark - ended up insisting we buy the $1000 Sony TRV-17 instead. Merry Christmas to me!
So the moral? Maybe the big-box stores aren't dead after all. You can be much more sure of what you're getting, and you don't come away feeling like you've just negotiated a dubious deal for safe passage along the Kabul Highway.
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