Cyber Monday: How to Avoid False Deals, Make Sure You’re Getting a Good Deal
Cyber Monday is a great opportunity to save a lot of cash on the gadgets, but not every deal you see out there is a good one. In fact, many ‘deals’ aren’t deals at all. Here’s how you can avoid getting ripped off by a Cyber Monday deal and quickly comparison shop across multiple Cyber Monday retailers.
Just because an online store says something’s a great price on Cyber Monday doesn’t mean its true. For example, TigerDirect is selling Call of Duty:Black Ops for $59.99 after a $10 discount through Cyber Monday. The big problem with this deal is that Call of Duty: Black Ops has an MSRP of $59.99 and other retailers, such as Amazon are offering modest discounts on the game.Gamestop isn’t bothering to discount Black op Since it’s a new release and one of the hottest games out there, the retailers aren’t in a rush to slash the price.
Another, and more sinister, rip off to be aware of is the outright bait and switch on high-end items, such as DSLR cameras. High end cameras, such as the Nikon D90 and D700, are rarely sold at deep discounts. If you see these cameras for half off at an online retailer you’ve never heard of run away. There are several scamsters that will advertise a $1,000 camera for $400. When you call to order the camera, they’ll tell you that the price was for a grey market camera (from overseas w/o a warranty), but it’s not available any more. They’ll then give you a song and dance about how the U.S. version is available for a little more. If you take them up on teh offer, they’ll then try and pile on hundreds of dollars worth of nearly worthless accessories (off-brand tripods, bags, memory cards, etc.). If you refuse all of the accessories and the extended warranty they’ll simply cancel your order or tell you that they just sold the last unit of the camera you want.
We’re not going to name an of the scamsters here in this article as we don’t want to drive any visitors their way, but if you see a camera that costs $999 at Wal-mart, B&H Photo, Ritz Camera and other reputable dealers advertised for $400-$500 elsewhere it’s probably a scam.
Another tactic retailers use to make you think you’re getting a better deal than you really are on Cyber Monday is to compare the deal price to what the price used to be. “Now $299, was $599!,” exclaim some Cyber Monday promos. While 50% off might sound like a fantastic deal, you should be aware of what this actually means. Many retailers are comparing their Cyber Monday prices to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, not the retailer’s most recent price. Gadgets’ prices often plummet within weeks of being announced. That gadget with a $599 MSRP may sell for $499 or $399 on a regular basis as retailers compete for customers. The $299 price you see advertised is still a great deal, but it’s only a savings of $100 to $200, not the $300 you may be lead to believe.
Quick Comparison Shopping
If you want to quickly check if the Cyber Monday deal you’re buying is really a deal, simply head over to Notebooks.com’s Price comparison tool and enter the name of the product you’re buying into the search form. The tool will even calculate your total price, including tax and shipping.
Before completing your Cyber Monday purchase at any Web site, use this tool to see if the Cyber Monday deal is better than what you can find here.
For a full list of Cyber Monday Laptops, visit the Notebooks.com Cyber Monday resource center.
Category: Cyber Monday, News
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