all the same shopping deal?

Having received an email with coupon code yesterday, I was kind of gung-ho on
getting a good deal with an online purchase. But after clicking around for a
long time, here's what I encountered .There are three ways to save:

-coupon discounts, instant discounts and mail-in rebates
-free shipping
-free upgrades

Right now, mostly everybody gets a base $50 reduction. But generally, if you
get one of the above 3 savings, another is taken away. For example, if you get
a 20% discount off a low-end $400 machine, then you have to pay $79 for
shipping. But if you get free shipping there is no discount, no upgrades. If
you get double memory thrown in, no free shipping. It's like a shell game.

Then there's a numbers game: e.g., if you pay shipping, it's $79,. But if you
get free shipping, it's listed as $99. If a monitor is not included, it's $75
to add one. But drop an monitor already included in the package, and you save
only $50.

Does that characterization seem right? Will there be times when sales are
better than average, sales worth waiting for?

(Al) wrote:

Does that characterization seem right? Will there be times when sales are
better than average, sales worth waiting for?

Congratulations! You are entering the Computer Purchase From A
Major National Marketer Adjunct to Murphy's Law arena.

After watching Dell's [Gateway's/HP-Compaq's/Whoever's]
promotional offers like a hawk for one, two, or more months, you
finally find *your* deal. In short order, the CPFAMNM Adjunct to
Murphy's law springs into action.

1. 21/30 days from your purchase [depending on vendor], when
your free no questions asked return/cost adjustment privileges
have expired, the vendor will offer a deal on the exact computer
you bought at an effective 10% [or more] less than you paid.

2. 2-4 months from your purchase, vendor announces the rollout
of the new Bxx series replacing the Axx series you bought.
Naturally this new series, at essentially a modest increase in
price over what you paid, offers the new Intel chip running at
6.5 GHZ, super-hyper threading, etc, etc, etc. All at only $100
more than what you paid for your Axx.

Moral of this? Decide what you want in your Dell [or whatever];
and when a promotion you like comes along, buy it. Then, don't
look back with any regrets. Therein lies madness. The "I
coulda"s and "I shoulda"s are counter-productive in terms of
mental and, depending on age, physical [e.g., high blood
pressure] health.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:01:04 -0500, Ogden Johnson III
wrote:

Therein lies madness. The "I
coulda"s and "I shoulda"s are counter-productive in terms of
mental and, depending on age, physical [e.g., high blood
pressure] health.

thanks for the chuckle, Ogden I'm flipping back and forth on whether to
buy or take a first stab at building, on a Sempron.

Meanwhile, while Dell's practices don't leave me with a good impression of
them, they still seem to have better deals than the others - except maybe
eMachines at BestBuy.

A couple of things: don't forget to look at the small business part of
the Dell site. Sometimes the same computer ordered through that
division is a better deal. One of the two Dells I bought last fall I
bought that way. I couldn't resist looking at prices for the rest of
the year and I never saw a better deal on my configuration. Finally,
if you buy a Dell through COSTCO, apparently you can use their return
for full refund policy which is better than Dell's.

Ken

Al wrote:
Having received an email with coupon code yesterday, I was kind of gung-ho on
getting a good deal with an online purchase. But after clicking around for a
long time, here's what I encountered .There are three ways to save:

-coupon discounts, instant discounts and mail-in rebates
-free shipping
-free upgrades

Right now, mostly everybody gets a base $50 reduction. But generally, if you
get one of the above 3 savings, another is taken away. For example, if you get
a 20% discount off a low-end $400 machine, then you have to pay $79 for
shipping. But if you get free shipping there is no discount, no upgrades. If
you get double memory thrown in, no free shipping. It's like a shell game.

Then there's a numbers game: e.g., if you pay shipping, it's $79,. But if you
get free shipping, it's listed as $99. If a monitor is not included, it's $75
to add one. But drop an monitor already included in the package, and you save
only $50.

Does that characterization seem right? Will there be times when sales are
better than average, sales worth waiting for?

"Kenneth J. Harris" wrote:

A couple of things: don't forget to look at the small business part of
the Dell site. Sometimes the same computer ordered through that
division is a better deal. One of the two Dells I bought last fall I
bought that way. I couldn't resist looking at prices for the rest of
the year and I never saw a better deal on my configuration. Finally,
if you buy a Dell through COSTCO, apparently you can use their return
for full refund policy which is better than Dell's.

AND, a purchase through the Small Business Divion usually affords you
the opportunity of purchasing a better (i.e., US based) service plan.

Notan