subject: Electronics: Shopping Around for the Best Deals [print this page] Electronics: Shopping Around for the Best Deals
There's a lot of opinion about when and where to buy electronics, and luckily there are also plenty of quality options. Big name stores sell many items, but another worthwhile option is to consider the numerous online retailers. Buying online may afford you several benefits regarding what you buy and your overall satisfaction. The first area to consider is pricing. In 2006, Consumer Reports did a survey of 20,000 readers to find out where they found the most favorable prices on electronics. The majority liked the prices they found on the internet best. They found that online sites had prices that were equal to or better than prices at electronics stores. MP3 players, DVD players and plasma TVs are just a few of the many items people purchase. Sites like buy.com get a lot of traffic for online shopping because they deliver quality results. Many shoppers also consider customer service. If you're in a retail store, there are few things worse than customer service that doesn't actually help. Often you have to deal with a salesperson who isn't knowledgeable or one who's uncomfortably pushy. Online shoppers, however, have a different experience. Doing web shopping allows you to review manufacturer information as well as professional and customer reviews. If you need more information, you can simply do a little more research on the web. Knowing a company's return policy is also vital for customer satisfaction. Of course you want your product to work well, but in case of problems it helps to know what your options are for fixing or replacing it. Online shopping has the inherent risk of shipping and handling. If you want to buy online, you have to know the return policy of the site. For example, the site buydig.com has a very limited return policy. Once the packaging is opened, they allow the return of very few products. On the other hand, Costco has a favorable return policy. You can return most items any time after purchase although one notable exception is computers. If you want to take an online purchase to a Costco warehouse, you can even do that. When you're in the market to buy a new TV or the latest computer, put some thought into where you want to buy it. For many people in-store shopping has yielded great results, and others want the new experience of buying online. You don't have to settle for a bad experience because there are many great shopping options.
