Monday, June 9, 2008

It Pays to Heed My Own Advice

Three months ago when I set up my wedding registry, I wrote about how amazed I was at the price difference I found between the store and online for the same merchandise from the same company. I'm amazed again -- and have saved!

I've been wanting a new all-in-one printer/copier/scanner for a while. I have plans to use it for some upcoming wedding-related projects...as well as to just replace my 10-year-old DeskJet which can no longer do a nice print job. As usual, I have been overwhelmed by all of the options, brands, and ratings. I haven't been able to find one that seems like it has the right features for a good price and with decent reviews by professional rating people and ordinary users.

I finally found what I think will meet my criteria, such as it is (after all, I don't know much about tech stuff). I was prepared to head to Circuit City to get it. But then I remembered my own advice: see if there's a better deal. What I saw in the Circuit City sales flyer was the best deal. Nearly satisfied and ready to go the store, I decided to check one more place: the Circuit City website.

Guess what?! It was $20 cheaper online than in the store -- and they offer free shipping! That means I didn't have to fight traffic or waste gas (even though it is only 2 miles away). It probably saved me at least an hour in time to drive out there, park, find the item in the store, stand in line, talk to the sales people who would unsuccessfully try to sell me the extended warranty, check out, figure out how I was going to get that 26-plus pound box into my car, drive home, and figure out how I was going to get that 26-plus pound box out of the car and into the house.

Plus, there's more! Discover Card is giving me an additional 5% Cash Back Bonus because I linked to Circuit City's website through the Shop Discover program. Woo-hoo!

So, I saved 43% off of the regular retail price. And I saved 16% by getting it online -- delivered right to my front door, where it will be easy to push that 26-plus pound box right into the house. I love it!

You can see this is also a lesson in delayed gratification. I didn't need to have that printer right away. I could wait the 1 to 2 weeks it will take to be delivered. And I'm so pleased with the extra savings and convenience!

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1 comment:

Kate said...

Score! And isn't it great when being frugal means saving yourself time and effort?