OT: Buying stuff on the internet

BH
Posted By
Beth_Haney
Jan 30, 2004
Views
282
Replies
11
Status
Closed
OK, so I can be kind of behind the times and miss some stuff everybody else knows about. Just in case somebody else hasn’t figured this out, let me share my buying experience from a few minutes ago.

I decided to get the Epson 3200 Pro scanner. (Hear that Nancy! I made a decision!) I’d Googled for stores that carried it and found one that had it for about the same price as a Costco online sale I missed. (That’s what sometimes happens when you think too long before buying.) But, I was on my laptop, and I had to print a rebate coupon, so I didn’t buy right then.

I moved into my den to use the big computer and printer, I went to the store site, did a search for the scanner, and the price on the page was $85 higher than what it had been 5 minutes earlier!!!! Well, heck, I sure wasn’t going to pay THAT much more, so after much snarling and gnashing of teeth, I went back to the Google price comparison site to look again. Ah ha!!! I found the page with the lower price, and at the top was a banner clearly saying that prices were lower for shoppers who accessed through C-net.

So, the moral of this story is… If you’re going to make a major online purchase, take a look to see if there’s a discount offered for accessing through one of the price comparison sites. Between the $85 difference in price on the two listings for the same item and the $15 coupon I found on dealmac for first time customers of that particular store, I saved $100. Cash. On the barrelhead. The rebate is in addition to that.

I was amazed, and I decided to pass this along to the – maybe – one person besides me who didn’t know about this little detail.

I’m now commited to the Epson 3200 Pro, and it should be here in a couple of days. After all the time and energy I put into making this decision, let’s hope I’m happy.
Related Tags
internet

Must-have mockup pack for every graphic designer 🔥🔥🔥

Easy-to-use drag-n-drop Photoshop scene creator with more than 2800 items.

NS
Nancy_S
Jan 30, 2004
<cheering and clapping for Beth and her decision making prowess>

Nancy
BH
Beth_Haney
Jan 30, 2004
Thank you, m’am, thank you. 🙂 That sure took a lot out of me.
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Jan 30, 2004
Beth, would you like to represent some of us as our purchasing agent? If we split the savings with you, we could all do well!
🙂
NS
Nancy_S
Jan 30, 2004
now, now Chuck…you know that Beth is stressed when having to make a commitment to BUY 🙂

—-edit—due to her thoroughness
R
Ray
Jan 30, 2004
Beth,

I was at Staples over lunch and looked at the scanner. I was impressed by the quality of the Epson,
though I can’t remember a precise model (except the 1600). I think you made a good choice!

Ray
BH
Beth_Haney
Jan 31, 2004
Thank you, Ray. I saw one similar to it (maybe 3150?) that was USB2 only, and I liked it. I was never able to find a 3200 Photo or 3200 Pro to paw for myself, but I think the connection is the only difference – the 3200s are both firewire/USB. The chintziest part seems to be the adapters, but I won’t be using them much, since I have the dedicated slide/film scanner. The trick will be to not look at any others so I won’t have a point of comparison!

Yeh, Chuck, Nancy’s right. Shopping stresses me out soooo bad! And I still have to make a decision on a computer, so the scanner was the easy part. Sigh. I’ll need months to recover. 🙂
JF
Jodi_Frye
Jan 31, 2004
Yay Beth!!, I’m happy for you…you deserve it ! Well, I think you deserved the more pricey one but this is better than nothing. Glad for you. 🙂
SK
Shan_Ko
Jan 31, 2004
Beth,

If you think the Epson’s film carrier adapters are chintzy, take a look at those that come with the Canon scanner. Comparing the two side by side at Compusa before I bought the Epson, the latter’s carriers looked bullet proof. 🙂

Shan
BH
Beth_Haney
Jan 31, 2004
Yes, Shan, I had at first been looking at that Canon, but you’re right – Epson’s carrier looks downright tough next to Canon’s!

I’m glad you can "appreciate" the agony of trying to be a responsible consumer. Sometimes it really is more trouble than it’s worth! 🙂
BB
Bert_Bigelow
Jan 31, 2004
Congratulations, Beth!

Now let me tell you MY sad story about Internet purchases. Some of you may remember that I ordered a tripod from a company called AccessoryFinder.com last December. After placing the order, I heard absolutely NOTHING from them for two weeks. The order status just showed "Processing" on their website. I Emailed them and called them numerous times. Finally, I wrote them a letter canceling the order! Also canceled it via Email. Then I placed an order with B&H Photo for the same merchandise, and it was promptly shipped. I’ve had it for several weeks. About a week after I canceled the order, I finally got an Email from AccessoryFinder confirming that the order was canceled. This morning, more than a month after the order was canceled, and almost two months after the order was placed, I got another Email from them informing me that the order had been shipped! Which of course means they have charged my credit card. I immediately EMailed them and told them in no uncertain terms NOT to ship, that I had already contacted my credit card company and canceled the charge.
What a DUMB company!!!
Bert
BH
Beth_Haney
Jan 31, 2004
I was wondering how that came out, Bert. I remember you saying the order wasn’t going well! I hope mine will be OK. I’ve never ordered from this particular company before, but people from another forum I frequent have used it. Here’s hoping…

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections