These tips are for buying new electronics cheaply, although many of them could apply to any shopping.
Please feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments section. If there are any great ones I will add them to the bottom of the blog;
5. Keep notes
4. Online Research
3. Shop online, research offline
2. Compare online
1. In with the old, forget the new
5. Keep notes
Primarily, a list of what you want from the product. With the amount of differing opinions you will subject yourself to on the internet it is easy to become confused. Always refer to your list and if it ticks all the boxes then you know it is the right one for you. Bottom line, if it does what you want it to do it doesn't matter what others think.
When online it is worth keeping notepad open and cutting and pasting as you find interesting information online. It is also worth keeping a list of the price on each website. This saves having to spend a long time retracing your steps trying to re-find a website that had a good deal.
4. Online research
Preliminary research should start with looking up your chosen product on review sites. These can be found by typing the product name and the word 'review' into any popular search engine. As well as providing feedback, they will also often suggest alternative products in a similar price range.
Forums are also a great place to get feedback on a product, including reliability and real world use. Users are usually not shy to voice their opinions and you can often find information about similar, better products from them too, although if it is a forum for a specific brand you may find brand loyalty clouding their opinions... so beware.
3. Shop online, research offline
Although I strongly advocate supporting your local businesses, it is a fact that shopping online can save you a great deal of money. Remember to take into account the cost of shipping though, which may make it cheaper to buy from a shop depending on the size and weight of the item.
One of the worst aspects of the internet for shopping is you cannot really tell what a product is like, even with great pictures. If possible you should go to your local electronic retailer and check out the product for real. Touch it and play with the features to make sure it is what you want.
Take the time to compare it to similar products. In most cases the cheaper brands will have similar products and often with more features - quality sometimes, but not always, being the trade off.
Be sure not to get suckered into believing the hype of better brands. For example, there are probably only one or two companies who supply LCD screens to the majority of TV manufacturers, so it may be possible to pay a lot less for exactly the same screen quality.
2. Compare Online
Using a comparison search providers such as kelkoo, you can quickly discover the price point of your chosen product from a range of suppliers. Again, it is also worth taking the time to read the forums relating to your product as often there will be retailer recommendations by other buyers (if the forum rules allow) and it is possible you will find out about the smaller, specialist retailers who don't have well established websites but may have greater bargains or better package deals (e.g. cameras with cases and memory cards thrown in, or TV's with home theatre bundles etc.). However, sadly, smaller companies are more likely to go under, so if store given warranties are important to you then bigger companies are a safer bet.
1. In with the old, forget the new
The internet makes it a lot easier to find information on product releases. Is your chosen product the latest one? Is it about to get replaced? Was the previous model that much worse?
Decide what features you want and try not to get swayed by the bells and whistles on the latest models. Bargains can be had if you are prepared to wait for new product releases. As the date gets closer keep an eye on your chosen product as it will likely have it's priced drastically reduced in preparation for the new release.
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