Slashdot Mirror
Shopping Online
A reader writes:"I've been buying stuff on the Internet for a while, and wanted to get people's thoughts about the best places to go. I primarily am looking for media or computer parts. Of course, I've used Froogle, PriceWatch or PriceGrabber, but also use places like tigerdirect or NewEgg. Where else do people go, and any recommendations for getting decent deals? " Oh, and of course, shamless plug for ThinkGeek, who is also owned by OSTG.
Fatwallet.com
I like to use froogle to find the prices.. BUT:
(and I hope some online vendors take note of this)
If I can't get the shipping price BEFORE I put in my Name and Credit card - I take my business elsewhere. Alot of these places put a low price out to get high on the search engines, and then have like $30 for shipping, which of course you can only see AFTER you put in all your shipping address and credit card, mothers maiden name and favorite pet, at which point I bet they figure either people won't notice, or will feel that they already did all that work they might as well just pay it.
So, bottom line for me : No shipping price ahead of time, No Business from me.
Don't Tread on Me
www.ebuyer.com has always served me well. I believe they have a US operation too.
Type anything* into google and invariably all the results are price comparison sites anyway.
I often put "-compare" as an additional search term to remove most of these, if I'm looking for just the specifications for something, for instance.
*Computer kit, obviously.
First http://ostg.pricegrabber.com/ (ostg sub-domain), then http://www.tigerdirect.com/indexus.asp?SRCCODE=SLA SHX, then a blatant plug for thinkgeek (a major source of revenue for LNUX). Should slashdot not disclose if they are affiliated in any way with all links? What is the purpose of the pricegrabber.com sub-domain, and the SRCCODE in the tigerdirect link?
If you absolutely must deal with circuit city, pay cash. I made the mistake of getting their "free" credit card when I bought a computer there. They screwed up my account, and then spent a year harrassing me by phone about it. My go.to/circuitcitysux page is no longer on line, but I one point I had this all fully documented.
I did end up learning a lot about my rights as a consumer.
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As to buying online, consider this option: don't.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
I've bought a couple books from amazon, to encourage the authors, and i still get christmas cards from a politician who i gave a dollar to,
but I've transitioned to a post-scarcity economy.
I have enough stuff. There is cornocopia of free stuff online. If it isn't free online, I can probably do without it. You can augment that with a library card, and by participating in a tool cooperative. Tool coops aren't always called that; yours might call itself a church or a neighborhod association or uncle fred.
If I felt a need for more random stuff, dumpster diving is more fun than golf. Here's a free copy of cory doctorow's latest book about dumpster diving: http://www.craphound.com/someone.
The american assumption that we need more stuff to keep up with the joneses is one reason asia is kicking our asses. Lower overhead.
By not buying online, you can resist impulse buys. I got this computer for $100 + tax from a local computer recycling nonprofit, virtualscavengers. Occasionally I'll get a good cup of coffee downtown, or have a drink at a local club, but that's more about renting space. I'm mostly out of the money economy, because i don't need more stuff, so i don't need a traditional job, which frees up a big block of time to waste on slashdot and suchlike.
My approach is only one strategy, and has some disadvantages too, but you can incorporate it incrementally into your lifestyle. We are moving to a post-scarcity economy, like it or not. Stuff matters, but not like it used to.