FatWallet

The last deal I posted was from using one of the easiest methods out there. Fill your amaz0n shopping bag with any items you may want to purchase now or in the future for yourself or gifts. Check daily by clicking on your shopping cart. Any items that change price (we all know amaz0n prices fluctuate like crazy) will be highlighted in a summary at the top of the page- instantly tipping you off to a great deal on an item you want for a holiday gift, yourself or to flip.
It only takes a moment to check the account in the am or later in the day. I have found some unbelievable deals doing this.....although I am sure pecanpie has some advice to give on finding amaz0on deals

eta: remember this- knowledge is power, so be sure you know the best price out there. I like the free shipping and tax free aspect of amaz0n as sales tax here is nearly 10%- things to always keep in mind when looking for a deal...as shipping often kills the deal for me.

my deal hunting strategies are as follows;

1. I buy at 60% off or more only if possible. Buying items with less than that percentage of savings lets you to buy less and decreases your overall shopping expenditures. why buy 2 items at $30 each only 40% discount off with $.50 FW CashBack when you can get 3 with 60% or more off discount, priced $40 and with $.75 FW CashBack.

2. WAIT and shop after an intense research homework session, best way to stretch your budget is to avoid impulse buying.

3. Ask members here where they shop, how to get best deals, What avg going price is. It is better to ask than to overspend then be sad because you realize you overspent.

4.coupon codes!, coupon codes!, coupon codes! if you plan on getting an item, get free stuff at stores like Office Depot with free gift with Min purchase coupons. It overall reduces the per item costs. the free items can be gifted thus saving you the $$ you would have spent on a gift for birthdays or holidays. Sometimes it is better to use coupons that saves you money and lets you get free shipping, even better is to combine instant savings like free shipping specials at stores with percentage off coupon codes. sometimes you even can get FW CashBack for triple savings.

5. search out and frequent clearance bins and inventory reduction type sales. make your own bookmarks to clearance pages of merchants.

some resources I use;
Amazon Filler FinderThanks Pecanpie
Amazon Discount Search
Hot Current Deals Keywords Cloud
Coupon Codes Galore
Always Check Weekly Ads for Specials Here & Here

Don't reply with "Thanks OP". The OP knows we appreciate the deal by a red or green rating. There is nothing worse than seeing a deal, getting tired wading through 5000 "Thanks OP" replies, only to find out that the 5001 message, that you didn't read, was actually something important about the item, like a better price elsewhere or a high failure rate.

Post what the item actually is (JGH542 Hard Driver or KD516 10MP Digital Camera) and not just a model number (JGH542 or KD516) so people don't waste time clicking on something only to find out it is of no interest to them. This also allows people to a search on a specific item and to be notified for a match of their topic alerts.

There is nothing worse than a post like "SXR-7200XD Best Price Ever and $50 Rebate, HOT HOT HOT!!!" only to find out is is for a diaper changing table.

glenatuf said:eBay often serves well as a (semi-inflated) baseline price...

i'd say that eBay tends to be lower than average street pricing - as it should be, as there is more uncertainty in the transaction..

darkfyre said:i'd say that eBay tends to be lower than average street pricing - as it should be, as there is more uncertainty in the transaction..

I disagree, in my experience eBay is full of chumps who are willing to pay more that what I consider the going rate. This is the main reason I almost never buy anything off eBay. This is also what makes it a good place to sell. It's, IMO, a large collection of unsophisticated buyers.

About Posting on FW
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Whatatay said:Don't reply with "Thanks OP". The OP knows we appreciate the deal by a red or green rating. There is nothing worse than seeing a deal, getting tired wading through 5000 "Thanks OP" replies, only to find out that the 5001 message, that you didn't read, was actually something important about the item, like a better price elsewhere or a high failure rate.

I disagree with this completely. One of the amazing functions of FW is the community editable summary. It's there for a reason - use it. Getting a handful "thanks man!" is a great way to inspire people to post new deals. In the same respect though, flaming(attacking) a poster due to a non-deal, incorrect information, or a double post is a sure-fire way to push people away from the forums.

• If you know of a review or report on the item, if you find relavent information (such as drivers or what have you, or if you find a better price post a damn link to it in the Summary page. I'll agree that wading through 45 posts about irrelevant information to find "oh, you may want to download these drivers or it wont function properly" when I could have just read it in the quick summary. On the other hand, quick summary should not be used as a personal opinion review section. It should contain factual or relavent links, coupon codes, or B&M availability status.
  


• Green / Red should not be used as a "thanks OP", "you spelling is nots good so me red you" or worse yet, to red a post because it was a double post. Again, there is a function to alert mods about duplicate posts, use it! Giving a red to a deal because its a dup post is a terriable idea, for a lot of people they don't keep track of every thread that has been started so when they see the most recent thread (the one you all are redding - they may instantly think there is something that is detracting the value to the DEAL and not the THREAD and simply not bother reading it.
  


• If you are the OP (Original Poster) - be prepared to edit the title and information within the post. Although the quick summary is an amazing feature, editing your original post is often neccesary. Unfortunately the flagging system is often abused as stated above and one of the main causes for a poorly flagged (red) post is directly coorelated to the post and not the deal.

About deal hunting
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I'm sure this has already been covered here but I'm going to post for the sake of repition just incase. There are two approaches to deal hunting: a very direct approach and a casual great find

* marks a recently added tip.

Direct approach is when you have a specific item in mind that you are looking for, IE a laptop.

1. First and foremost should be to do research on the product that you are looking to buy. Don't just get a feel for the pricing of products but really try to get a good understanding of what you are looking for. Figure out your range in not only price but also specifications


2. The second part of research is prob the most important and the one I often neglect and regret. Do your homework on upcoming releases of the product. When a new version of a product is released it significantly pushes down the price of the old line. There is nothing more discouraging to find out that you could have saved $50 if you had waited a week or two


3. Another important part of your research should be to determine whether or not the product you are looking for can be bought in stages. This is important for two reasons, one is that if you can slowly build something you can extend your budget over a longer period allowing you to build something that is far better than if you simply splurged all at once. Also, more importantly is that it is often cheaper to buy the base product and expand upon it. For instance, in terms of a laptop it is generally much cheaper to buy a laptop with minimal memory and then buying the RAM from sites like Newegg.com or frys.com


4. Get a feel for whether or not the refurbished units of the product/manufactorer are of decent quality. In some instances, a refurbished unit can be better than one that comes off the line because they have been inspected and rebuilt to last. On other hand there are products and manufactorers that you should never buy a refurbished unit from.


5. Use tools like froogle.com to get a feel for the baseline price.


6. Setup a mail account specifically for retailer newsletters. Join as many as you can and then have that mail account forward to your primary. In your primary account, setup a folder that directs all incoming mail from that dump email account to the folder. This way its not cluttering up your mailbox but you can check it periodically when you are in the mood to shop.


7. Always search for coupon codes before buying something. You can almost always find one, even if you have to beg one from the One-Time-Use-Forum or buy it from e-bay.


8. Use pricematch policies to your advantage. Many stores provide a 'price-match' garuntee that may offer a price match of say 110%. Some amazing deals can stem from this approach if you are able to couple the price match with a rebate or a coupon. Note that this may not always work, so it is YMMV(your milage may vary).


9. Always try to use competitors coupons to sweeten the deal. A lot of retailers will claim to accept coupons of competition. However, managers that think they know better than corp. will sometimes try to block this. Note that this may not always work, so it is YMMV(your milage may vary).


10. Setup alerts for keywords that target the item you are after. For instance, if you are after a 42" LCD tv, you would want to setup alerts for keywords like "LCD", "42", "TV", and so on. This is a great way to use FatWallet features to your advantage.


11. * Try to figure out if high-end manufacturers of a product have an "off-brand." It is generally a common practice for the same factory that makes one high-end product to repackage and throw a new label on it for a lower-end product line.
    
12. More to come when I have more time...

A casual great find is something that you impulsively buy due to a great price. These are often the most fun IMO.

1. * When you see a post about a clearance item, do not call your local stores asking if they have it in stock. Store employees will often buy the remaining stock or alert their friends to do so.


2. Get to know where the clearance section is in all of the stores that you frequent like Target, WalMart, Circuit City, Bed Bath and Beyond and so forth and make it a habbit of passing by there when you are shopping.


3. If you are serious about deal hunting and love the hunt, get to know when your stores post items on clearance. There is generally a schedule that stores follow when marking down products and if you are the first to rummage through it - you'll often find better products on clearance. If you are diehard about it, you can set your shopping schedule around it.


4. Train yourself to spot clearance tags or hidden pricing that indicates clearances. For instance, Sams Club (depending on location) will end a product with the price of .01 if its on clearance. The hidden clearance can often be the best finds because store employees may not know about them and havent had a chance to buy for resale.


5. When shopping for food specifically - check for products that are about to expire. Stores often mark down meat, bread, etc that will expire in a few days. You can either freeze it or eat it that day and save a good chunk of change.


6. Buy clothing for next year and not this year. Clothing stores will seriously mark down prices when they are changing seasons


7. Check out discount stores like Ross, Marshals, TJ Max. You can often find great products at really low prices.


8. Whenever you run into a good coupon, like Best Buy 10%/12% off coupon, print off a couple and put them in your glove box. That way if you ever run into a clearance item you can attempt to use the coupon as well. Note, most coupons state they are for full-retail price so don't expect for this to always work.


9. More to come when I have more time...

...Enjoy, and happy hunting.

Read the stickies in each forum before posting. They have a *lot* of information.

If you are posting in the finance forum, do your homework. Be prepared to justify, follow-up, and be asked a lot of questions. You will not be spoon-fed, and if you present that you have done your homework and need some specific help, most members will be very helpful and forthcoming.

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