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| Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
| At Megastores, Hagglers Find Prices Are Flexible |
The New York Times reports: At Megastores, Hagglers Find Prices Are Flexible Information from the Internet helped Amber Kendall, 24, and her husband, Matt, when they shopped for a camera last October. The couple, who live in Boston, found the Canon camera they wanted online for $350, then used the Internet price to bargain with Ritz Camera, where the price was $400. Then they used the Ritz Camera offer to get the same price at Microcenter, where they preferred the warranty offer.
The technological influences are not just on the consumer side. Retail industry analysts said corporate retailers have begun using computer systems that let them do real-time pricing and profit analysis. Such systems tell a company what price it can set and still make money, and they illuminate the trade-off between lowering prices and raising sales volumes, said Andy Hargreaves, a retail industry analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. I have not tried any instore haggling, but I am used to searching for bargains online. The article does not say what Canon camera this couple was interested in, but if it was me, I would start my research with Amazon.com and seek the best price there first, then see what the brick and mortar stores are offering. But then I like when Amazon will deliver my purchase to my door for free, vr me having to drive around and visit multiple stores...
Here is an example of an Amazon search link in the Canon camera category. The filter is set to only return items eligible for free shipping and at 85% off:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?node=493706&pct-off=85&emi=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sort=price
and here is the same link with the percentage off changed to 75% - so you can see how you can easily change that number in the address bar to hunt around in a category:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?node=493706&pct-off=75&emi=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sort=price
- Holiday Bargain Shopping at Amazon.com |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 2:57 PM *
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| 4 Comments: |
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My boyfriend recently picked up a change of address form from the Post Office. Inside there are some great coupons -- including one for 10% off any item from Best Buy. He used it to buy a Nikon D300 (he's a hardcore photographer) and got the store to special-order it. The camera retials for $1800. He scored the $180 (10%) off the retail price. Plus we signed up for their customer program (free), so we'll get another $20 BB gift card since we spent $1000 there. Finally, I charged the camera to my credit card, which does rewards, so that means I'll get another ~$20 back in cash. All told, it was an unbelievable deal -- better than any price on the Internet. He is already using the heck out of the camera since he shoots a lot of high-quality nature photos. Getting good deals == awesome.
Also, the change of address form contains great coupons from IKEA and Home Depot as well. They are free from the Post Office even if you aren't moving -- just pick one up. I will do this ALL the time when I want to purchase items >$100.
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I like to use www.pricegrabber.com as my "go to" page for price comparisons. It quickly lists all marketplaces offering a particular product, price, taxes, shipping and even tells you where the best deal can be had. It also includes a review section for the product itself and for the selling company.
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Off topic, how do you set your initial filter to find deals that are a certain percent off? Do you keep the URL and keep changing the details, or is there a way to do it on amazon's site? I've seen you post URLs like this before - it's really cool!
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How about haggling with banks?
I do that ALL the time - and i basically let them know that if they can't satisfy me I will just empty my deposits and move most of it to another bank - with the current liquidity crunch it is amazing how responsive most banks are... My assets are about 80-90k total... i was able to negotiate a money market at a local bank up to 4.4% (that's pretty good considering the market) that will be good for 3 months - then i will just renegotiate between the 4 local banks... i find that the smaller banks are easier than the Bank of America, Citizens, Chase banks..
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My boyfriend recently picked up a change of address form from the Post Office. Inside there are some great coupons -- including one for 10% off any item from Best Buy. He used it to buy a Nikon D300 (he's a hardcore photographer) and got the store to special-order it. The camera retials for $1800. He scored the $180 (10%) off the retail price. Plus we signed up for their customer program (free), so we'll get another $20 BB gift card since we spent $1000 there. Finally, I charged the camera to my credit card, which does rewards, so that means I'll get another ~$20 back in cash. All told, it was an unbelievable deal -- better than any price on the Internet. He is already using the heck out of the camera since he shoots a lot of high-quality nature photos. Getting good deals == awesome.
Also, the change of address form contains great coupons from IKEA and Home Depot as well. They are free from the Post Office even if you aren't moving -- just pick one up. I will do this ALL the time when I want to purchase items >$100.