ptg Granted, you don’t need a three-step process for one- time purchases of less than $50, for example. But for bigger purchases or purchases you make repeatedly, it’s well worth it. A recent search for a Garmin Nuvi GPS navigator, like the one mentioned in the introduction of this book, turned up a variety of prices. The exact same model could cost anywhere from $345 to $900. That’s a heck of a difference. How long did it take me to get that information? Less than 10 seconds on MySimon.com. Is 10 seconds of your time worth a $555 savings? I’m not saying you should necessarily buy the least- expensive item for $345, especially if it’s offered by an unfamiliar retailer with an amateurish Web site that doesn’t pass the “smell” test for being legitimate. If one retailer is offering a price far below all the others, there might be something fishy. But after those well-invested 10 seconds, you’ll have an excellent idea about the range of prices for that GPS system. Armed with that knowledge, how likely are you now to visit a retail store and pay $900, knowing the aver- age price is half that? Unlikely. Granted, that was a fun example using a “want” item, a GPS navigator. But you can use this system on needs too. 1. Read Reviews Some people are born researchers of products, while oth- ers are impulsive buyers of them. But if you’ll be spend- ing significant money, whatever you determine that to be, research can help you choose the right product. 108 The 1-2-3 Money Plan From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg The right product means one that fits your needs and is likely to be high quality. Nobody can be an expert on every purchase. You might know a lot about automo- biles, but nothing about buying dishwashers. Perhaps you know a lot about cell phones, but nothing about buying a baby stroller. Just as important, some quick research can reveal the range of possibilities within a product line—which fea- tures come with which model. Just a generation ago, research was laborious. Maybe you visited several stores and talked to salespeo- ple about the product. But if you need to buy a lawn mower, are you really going to visit a garden center and ask the salesperson which model you should buy? Salespeople can be very helpful, although it seems nowadays far less so. A salesperson has conflicting interests. He might have a genuine desire to do right by the customer. But a commissioned salesperson makes more money if he or she sells you a more expensive model of lawn mower, regardless of whether it’s right for you. So you need objective advice, or at least a variety of opinions, to make a smart spending choice. Consulting a friend or relative is a good idea, as long as you realize that’s just one person’s experience and not the final word about the product. In the past, you could subscribe to Consumer Reports magazine, which has in- depth reviews. But you would have to wade through dozens of saved magazines trying to find the review you sought. 109 How to Buy Stuff From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Because it was so difficult to find reviews, maybe you heavily researched purchases of homes, cars, and a few big-ticket items. And for the rest, you just winged it. Today, because of the Internet, it’s all different. You can research almost anything quickly. For example, now, you can subscribe to Consumer Reports’ online site and have instant access to reviews. Rarely do I suggest spending money in order to save it. But an online subscription to Consumer Reports, found at www.consumerreports.org, is an exception. At the time of this writing, a subscription is a mere $26. That’s a small price to pay for the outstanding product reviews and advice you receive. The advantage of the Web site over the magazine is the site is easily search- able. You can find the review you seek, even from years ago, in mere seconds. The Consumer Reports site also offers blogs on such topics as cars, electronics, and products for babies and kids. Blogs are brief news items stacked chronologically, with the newest on top. ConsumerSearch.com is another good resource. It’s an aggregator of product reviews and gives a summary of what all the reviews seem to be saying. It’s an efficient stop on the Web to get a lot of information quickly. Mega online retailer Amazon.com is a good place to find reviews from actual users. Because Amazon.com sells a wide variety of products, it’s worth a place in your Web browser’s Favorites list, even if you never make a purchase from the retailer. Read a sampling of the good and bad reviews. But with user reviews, take 110 The 1-2-3 Money Plan From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg comments with a grain of salt. Pay more attention to comments repeated in several reviews. Many retailers have user reviews on their Web sites now. So, if you were going to buy a particular model of LCD television, you might check large electronics retailer Best Buy to read reviews of the product on its site. Another way to find reviews is to use your favorite search engine, such as Google.com. Type keywords that include the name and model of the product and the word “review.” You’ll likely find several reviews. After a while, you’ll find review sites that you like. For example, I like Cnet.com for reviews of electronics and software. Automobile reviews are available at such sites as Edmunds.com and Cars.com. But if you want to keep it simple, check reviews at ConsumerReports.org, ConsumerSearch.com, and Amazon.com. 2. Research Prices The point of price comparisons is to know what a good price is. Blindly accepting the first price you see is a con- scious decision to be powerless as a consumer. In most cases, it’s voluntarily paying more than you have to. And, come on, that’s just plain dumb. Again, we’ll turn to the Internet to compare prices efficiently. Among my favorite Web sites is Froogle.com, also known as Google Product Search. If you type a specific product into the main Google search window, a sampling of the product search results will appear on top. You can 111 How to Buy Stuff From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg click through to view more. I also like MySimon.com and Shopzilla.com. These are all shopbots, like robots that go searching for prices on the Internet. After visiting just a few shopbots, which literally could take about one minute, you’ll have an excellent idea about the range of prices an item is being sold for. Be skeptical of prices that are far lower than others, especially if you click through to the retailer and the Web site looks amateurish. Included in some price com- parisons will be refurbished products and listings on auction site eBay.com. So view those listings differently than new products from well-known retailers. Speaking of eBay, that’s also a prudent stop in your quest to find good prices. Many items are offered as new on eBay and are worth considering if you’ll receive a deep discount in return for taking the risk of dealing with a person or merchant who might not be reputable. I’ve had good luck buying new items on eBay. Just because you’re searching online for prices doesn’t mean you have to purchase online. You could still purchase in person locally. But knowing what a good price is before visiting a store arms you with information. Opt for shopbots that include taxes and shipping charges. That way, you can get apples-to-apples com- parisons on the total price of acquiring that product if you decide to buy it online. You might find shopbots you like better, but good places to start are Froogle.com, MySimon.com, PriceGrabber.com, and Shopzilla.com. 112 The 1-2-3 Money Plan From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 3. Reevaluate We Americans generally aren’t good at delayed gratifi- cation. But try to wait a day or more between wanting to make a purchase and actually making it. That delay gives you time to reflect on the needs versus wants issue I talked about earlier. Waiting helps mostly with optional purchases. But it also gives you time to reflect on a purchase you need but were thinking about upgrading, by buying a brand name or a product with more features. 113 How to Buy Stuff QUICK TIP One promising service is Frucall. If you’re standing at a store looking at an item and wondering whether it’s being offered at a good price, you can find out. Pull out your cell phone and call 1-888-DO-FRUCALL and enter the product’s barcode number. The auto- mated service will recite several prices from online retailers. You can also get the information by text message or by going to a Web site. Find out more at Frucall.com. QUICK TIP As a rule of thumb, wait one day for every $100 the purchase costs to avoid impulse buys. Of course, that rule works less well with very expensive items, such as a house or automobile. But for most purchases, it works well. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg I find that just the process of researching a product sometimes satisfies a buying impulse, or at least damp- ens it. Reading some negatives about the product, whether in professionally written reviews or user reviews, helps provide perspective that can also extin- guish the buying desire. Waiting allows that intense lust for acquiring some- thing to subside. When you’re clearheaded, you gain perspective about whether you really want it. Marketers know that time works against them. That’s why high- pressure advertisements always tell you to “Buy now!” Infomercials entice you to buy, saying if you “buy now,” you’ll get bonus merchandise of some sort. It’s why the car salesman says, “What do I have to do to get you in this new car today?” There are very few purchasing opportunities that will disappear if you wait a day and reevaluate. 114 The 1-2-3 Money Plan QUICK TIP If and when you go through with the purchase, you might be asked if you want to buy an extended war- ranty. Think about whether you want a warranty ahead of time, so you’re prepared to answer the question. Almost all the time, the answer should be a flat-out, “No.” See Chapter 3, “Get FIT (Food, Insurance, Telecommunications),” about insurance to learn why. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 115 How to Buy Stuff Price Protection After you leave a store or check out of an online retailer, you’re not quite done with your smart shopping. Even if you’ve done your due dili- gence on shopping for prices, a product might go on sale shortly after you purchased it. That infuriates shoppers. That’s why many retailers offer a price guaran- tee. Often it states that if the retailer lowers the price within 30 days after purchase—protection periods vary—it will refund you the difference. For example, if just before Christmas you bought a $1,500 television and its price in early January drops to $1,200, you could request a refund of $300. In part, a store’s price-protection guarantee is a sales tactic. It can give a buyer peace of mind and entice the shopper to buy immediately instead of looking elsewhere or delaying a pur- chase. It’s regret insurance. But really, price protection is a by-product of a retailer’s return policy. If an item’s price decreases, a diligent consumer who recently bought the item might return the old product and buy the sale-priced one, pocketing the dif- ference. For the retailer, accepting the return and processing another sale involves hassle and expense. To avoid that, the retailer offers price protection, where it just refunds the money and skips the hassle of a return and resale. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 116 The 1-2-3 Money Plan However, few consumers are conscientious enough to review advertised prices after a pur- chase and then claim a price-protection refund. So, the retailer rarely has to make good on its price guarantee. Therein lies the problem: It’s up to you to watch prices after you buy. But now, some free Web sites will watch for you, automatically notifying you when prices drop. That allows you to quickly and easily claim your refund. If you paid with a credit card, often the refund will be credited to your credit card account. Of course, price-protection policies vary from store to store. If you bought a big-ticket item at a well-known retailer, you could monitor its weekly advertise- ments, often in the Sunday newspaper or online, for the duration of the price-protection period. Easier, however, is to log purchases into a Web site, called PriceProtectr.com. PriceProtectr watches prices on literally dozens of retailers, such as Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, Gap, Costco, Sears, Staples, Macy’s, Toys ‘R Us, Home Depot, RadioShack, Target, and Wal- Mart. The big idea is to log purchases into PriceProtectr, which will send an e-mail notify- ing you if the price decreases within the price- protection period. It’s up to you to actually From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg How to Buy Services Many purchases we make today aren’t things, but serv- ices. We hire and subscribe all the time: home contrac- tors and plumbers, mail-order movie services, gym memberships, airline flights, and hotel rooms. 117 How to Buy Stuff request the refund. Durations of price-protec- tion guarantees vary widely by retailer—from 7 days to 90 days. Obviously, this is a bit of a hassle. But at least try it for major purchases, of more than $500, for example. And log your purchases during major buying sprees—holiday-gift shopping or back-to-school shopping. QUICK TIP Yapta.com offers a price-protection service for airline flights you already booked. How to Buy Services, 1-2-3 1. Seek reviews and references. Subscribe to Checkbook.org or Angieslist.com. 2. Research prices by getting three price quotes. 3. Reevaluate and review contracts carefully. From the Library of Wow! eBook . among the first products sold. They were ideal to purchase on the Internet because each 126 The 1-2-3 Money Plan From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg copy of a new book is exactly the same. The. avoid that, the retailer offers price protection, where it just refunds the money and skips the hassle of a return and resale. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 116 The 1-2-3 Money Plan However,. impulsive buyers of them. But if you’ll be spend- ing significant money, whatever you determine that to be, research can help you choose the right product. 108 The 1-2-3 Money Plan From the Library