Online shopping certainly has its pitfalls. Sometimes it seems like there are an infinite number of companies out there fighting for your dollar and just getting started is intimidating as there is always a better deal around the corner. And whom do you trust? These days, you cannot always judge a company by how slick its website is. Fortunately, you are not alone. There are whole online communities dedicated to sleuthing out the hottest deals around and as gaming and enthusiast hardware necessitates a strong web presence in the first place, many of these forums specifically cater to the kind of merchandise you are after. Who better to turn to for your hardware and gaming needs than others who have the same interests?

Forums such as the "Hot Deals" section at Anandtech and at Fatwallet.com are often the best place to start your expedition. There, people post the hottest bargains around, sometimes including complicated steps in outline form on how to arrive at the smallest price tag for a given item, so even novices can take advantage of them.

However, there are thousands of others reading the same forums who are ready to fight to get first in line on those deals. In order to reserve your spot in the rush, you have to read the forums daily, if not hourly (and it does become addictive) and be ready to spend your money on a moments notice. In fact, the rush of buyers even kills some of the best deals to be had, usually involving mistakes in pricing, as the deluge of orders alerts sales managers that something is amiss. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is, and chances are that the item will never get to you unless you were very first in line and if not, the results may vary considerably: at worst you might have to pay a "restocking fee" of 15% on something you never get, and at best, you might get a free "gift" (usually a broken, defaced, or useless item that the company would not otherwise sell) or a small to decent sized coupon for a future order in compensation for your trouble.

Many of the deals on these sites are contingent upon "price-matching" and "price-protection," features of some of the more advanced credit cards such as the American Express Blue card, the favorite of net shoppers who refer to it as Amex Blue. This often allows you to buy from some of trustworthy companies for the prices offered by some of the more sketchy outfits. Of course, in order to get these deals you have to qualify for the card in the first place--a distinct irony of capitalism. In addition to that, coupons or promotional codes are often included to sweeten the deal. While usually anyone can make use of these coupons or codes, they were usually designed for a limited audience and are not widely advertised. Throw in a manufactures rebate on top of that and the deal goes from "warm" to "hot."

Other deals allow you to simply get a jump on the competition. People who work at warehouse stores or who even deliver your newspaper (they get the Sunday paper ads a few days early) often scan the ads and post them in the forums, letting you know that you should be perched outside the store the minute it opens on Sunday morning to get a hot deal, or even buy the item beforehand and using your credit card's price protection guarantee to get in on the deal AND beat the crowds at the same time.

But despite all of that help, a good measure of self sufficiency is still required; after all, forums cater to impulse buying and what you need might not be listed there on any given week. The first step is to know the ballpark features of the item you want. Be realistic in what you think your money will be able to provide you, though you might be pleasantly surprised later. Once you have a general plan, it is good to start looking at what there might be rebates on at any given time. Try searching sites such as Rebatecatcher.com to see what models or brands might have a competitive edge in a given week, and take note of them.

After that, the next step is to use search engines that specifically cater to finding the lowest price for a given item. Pricewatch.com, Pricegrabber.com, Pricescan.com, as well as several others, can be used to find the absolutely lowest advertised price on a particular item and display the various vendors who list their products with the search engine (many of whom require you to mention the search engine when you order to keep that price).

Have that information available by printing it or merely keeping that window of your browser open. The next step is to see which of those companies, if any, currently has coupons available. Your first stop should be Techbargains.com which keeps a column on the right of their page which lists nearly every available coupon and its expiration date for most of the major and dependable dealers. Compare the results there to the choices the various search engines returned and see if that puts any of the dealers with more trustworthy names ahead of some of the more fly by night jobs.

Lastly, you will want to check out various consumer and government reviews of the business themselves, if you are not completely sure whether they are a credible organization. Resellerratings.com, Gomez.com, or even the Better Business Bureau's web site can be invaluable for this. Take note, however, that dissatisfied people are far more likely to speak up than happy customers, so remember that every company is bound to have a few bad reviews or ratings under its belt--do not be put off by a particularly harsh, well written, or persuasive claim by itself; get a general sense of how people are reacting.

So, after all of this, you might just have the lowest available price on an item coupled with a vendor's coupon and a manufacturer's rebate. The first thing you need to do is to place your order. Then tell your friends and family. And after that, make sure you post the deal (and the various steps required for it) on one of the several forums and give back to the community--it is only fair, after all.

by Richard Leader

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