Sneaky shopping

Okay, so I am overly analytical and that characteristic definitely comes out when I shop; especially for items over say $50. For instance, when I bought my husband's Garmin, I searched and searched for the best price (Amazon BTW). Well, recently I purchased a laptop (Best Buy) and discovered that I still needed Microsoft Office because new computers tend to come with Vista, over XP, etc. Okay I admit it, I don't know a ton about the mechanics of computers, but at least once they are on I am a very adept at using them! ;) No, seriously, I can make a killer Power Point; plus, there was even a comment on my last review "She is always available to answer computer questions." It's great if the questions are only related to simple Word, Excel, or e-mail. Shhh... don't tell them that I had no idea that an old Office Professional wouldn't work with a brand new Vista. Anyway, what I have learned this week is, other than searching on sites like MySimon or Amazon for the best deal, even the stores within the various companies have different prices.

So say you go to Best Buy's website and look at their ads; if you plug in your zip code you can get one price, but even a zip code 45 miles away can have a much better deal. For example, Office was $129 in my city, but the bigger city where my sister lives had a $99 price. Weird. I also discovered that some places like Walmart will have a price on say, once again, Office online for $89, but in store it was $129 (I think that is what it was). Here's the thing: You can actually get online in the store and order the cheaper version and have it sent to...that same Walmart, and get this...for free shipping. So, if you come back a week later you can pick up the same thing that is in the store right then, but you can save $40. Of course, I would recommend purchasing one on your own home computer just because community computers freak me out, but you get the idea.

We asked why they couldn't just give that price to us and were told that online prices are cheaper because they are ordered directly through the manufacturer and do not have to be warehoused (???). No, it makes no sense to me either. I mean, they are going to receive the new one a week from now and it will be the same thing they could have just handed me right there. Oh well, the point of this long, drawn out story is that I saved $40-50 just by looking around a little. Of course, on a side note: I also learned last week that Walmart has recently met with their top management to tell them that if Obama is elected he will make it easier to put unions in place. I guess this is a way to guide their management's voting decisions, which is kind of pathetic. So maybe the $10 extra to Best Buy would be easier and less detrimental to our freedom as voters. Not that I work at Walmart, or know anyone who does, but I would hate to think my employer would come up to me and pressure me to vote for who they like. In fact, the idea of my non-profit CEO doing this is totally absurd and kind of amusing. Well, that's politics for you... We can't even shop without being sucked into the game a little. :(