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How do you find a good deal?

Search and compare

This is probably what everyone starts with. Search for it on the Internet. Chances are it is already offered by someone at the price you like. Don’t use Google though. I suggest one of these deal aggregators. They will allow you to focus your search and build your efforts on the efforts of thousands bargain hunters like you.

Once you feel you are up to something good, relieve yourself from the doubts by comparing the price to other offers out there using a price comparison site.

Patience, patience, patience…

The really good deals don’t just happen every day. You often need to wait for them weeks or months. Many web sites (including one I maintain) offer deal alerts. These essentially help you organize yourself. Add an alert for the items of your interest and monitor your e-mail box once a week or so. You might also want to keep a log of the best deals you find along the way. Once the price is looking attractive – go for it.

If you know exactly what you need and that something happens to be selling on NewEgg then this little tool might help you. Find the item on NewEgg, add the item # to the PriceTrackr database, and bookmark link to the chart. Visit it once a week to look at the price graph and check how the price has changed.

Don’t be afraid to ask. You might just get it.

DealTaker has a forum that allows you to ask for a deal from Overstock. Just post what you would like to buy. You can even mention the price you are willing to pay. They periodically review the requests and sometimes (I guess whenever it makes sense for them to do so) they will offer deals on the requested or similar items.

Something for you geeks.

In case you have the time or are really just enjoying the bargain hunting process (like myself) then forums at FatWallet and SlickDeals – the two most popular destinations among bargain hunters – offer endless opportunities for you. You could use this little tool as a starting point to get an idea of what the people at these forums are up to at the moment. Also before you rush make sure you know the language these geeks speak.


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1 Response to “How do you find a good deal?”


  1. 1 probargainhunter Oct 9th, 2006 at 8:59 pm

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