Deal Hunting 101 - tips, tricks and cheats to find and post the best deals

hope this proves useful so i can find some deals

just wanted to rec' our daily bread..tell me how

yoregano said: Whatatay said: Don't reply with "Thanks OP".
Wow, some touchy people here giving you red. I agree with you. If you want to say thanks, at least say something else relevant. A post of "thanks" or "in for one," etc., and nothing more is pointless. It contributes nothing to a thread and just takes up space. If you like a deal (or not), that's what the ratings bar is for. These must be the same people that get all hung up in the MCR thread if someone doesn't post "RNBM."

Update: Glad to see the green has overtaken the red in the post I refer to above. There are a few sensible people on this board after all.

vsfoxe said: Do not INVENT acronyms. See the FAQ: Text. If the acronym is not there, don't use it. Perhaps consider submitting it for addition to the list. Everyone can refer to the list, but not everyone can GUESS what a new acronym is trying to convey.

OK, IHNI, I RTFM, WTH does RNBM mean? And what is this MCR thread? Link it up, or spell it out.

Didn't scan the rest of the thread, but wanted to add this.

If you want to know grocery and drug store deals matched with coupons hit up <hotcouponworld.com>

They have stores by region, and a fantastic up to date, searchable coupon database. They are a huge community with hundreds of active members from all across the US. They are masters at saving on groceries and personal items.

I love the guys giving green to every post for achievements. Someone should tell them that you don't get anything...

Maybe they green you because they like your comment. Green! BTW, I earned my badges the hard way. But if you got any tricks for getting other badges, I'm all for it.

rbraden said:   I love the guys giving green to every post for achievements. Someone should tell them that you don't get anything...

I never knew about the Welcome forum until yesterday, otherwise, I'd have posted to this thread long ago.

1) Don't just look for advertised specials. Advertised specials are great and all, but it is not uncommon for unadvertised specials to far exceed the advertised ones in terms of discount. I have noticed this happens alot with technology (Newegg, Staples, and Office Max are three that come to mind). If you're in the market for something, periodically dig through the merchant websites a little bit. Sorting by price makes deal finding much easier, but realize that sorting this way may not reveal rebates depending on the retailer, so further clicking may be required.

2) Rebates, especially those not widely advertised. Obviously the fine print is tricky, and they can be unreliable, but as long as one takes the necessary precautions, they can be awesome. maOf particular interest are those that are on manufacturer's websites because these are often not accounted for by retailers. So, for example, a store could heavily discount a product unaware that there is also a manufacturer's rebate on it. Also a retailer may offer a rebate, but only advertise it one week when it is valid for four. This provides a window to stack with another deal (see 3).

3) Stack, stack, stack. There are a couple of ways this can be great, but essentially it is taking advantage of multiple promotions on one product. In my opinion, this is the greatest way to score deals. One type of sale that always gets my attention is when there is an advertised deal for a general class of products (for example, $250 off any TV 50" or larger or $20 gift card with the purchase of any GPS, etc). I then look at advertised and unadvertised prices that could be used in conjunction with this promotion. The more deals you stack, the better the savings.

Here's an example. Staples annually(?) runs a printer recycling program that knocks $50 off the price of a printers whose regular price is over a certain price. The promo runs for many weeks (usually around 8). Staples also frequently has coupons, sales (or clearance), and sometimes rebates. So in theory, it would be possible to buy a printer that is on sale and has a rebate using a coupon and recycling a printer. That's four total discounts.

4) Be familiar with certain merchant tendencies. This ties in with 3) to an extent, but other tendencies can pop up. For example, Newegg has combo deals that can make it so that if you are buying Product A, buying B as well is very cheap, free, or even cheaper than buying A by itself. Rebates can play a large role here too, so be sure to account for those (again, they may not show up every time a product is listed).

5) Amazon marketplace can be awesome, especially if you are looking for CDs, DVDs, and games that are not recently released. When I first got my XBox 360, I was looking for ways to build a cheap library. Amazon marketplace allowed me to average about $5 a game brand new for a while. I also get movies in the $2-$4 range frequently. From experience, just be wary of fake imports...open and test the media immediately to verify the contents as being satisfactory. (In fairness, many sellers on AM don't realize they are selling goods of a lesser quality.)

6) Just be patient and shop for things you would be shopping for anyway. You will find something worth posting.

I hope this helps...and happy hunting.

imv

DoctorDeals said:   I never knew about the Welcome forum until yesterday, otherwise, I'd have posted to this thread long ago.

1) Don't just look for advertised specials. Advertised specials are great and all, but it is not uncommon for unadvertised specials to far exceed the advertised ones in terms of discount. I have noticed this happens alot with technology (Newegg, Staples, and Office Max are three that come to mind). If you're in the market for something, periodically dig through the merchant websites a little bit. Sorting by price makes deal finding much easier, but realize that sorting this way may not reveal rebates depending on the retailer, so further clicking may be required.

2) Rebates, especially those not widely advertised. Obviously the fine print is tricky, and they can be unreliable, but as long as one takes the necessary precautions, they can be awesome. maOf particular interest are those that are on manufacturer's websites because these are often not accounted for by retailers. So, for example, a store could heavily discount a product unaware that there is also a manufacturer's rebate on it. Also a retailer may offer a rebate, but only advertise it one week when it is valid for four. This provides a window to stack with another deal (see 3).

3) Stack, stack, stack. There are a couple of ways this can be great, but essentially it is taking advantage of multiple promotions on one product. In my opinion, this is the greatest way to score deals. One type of sale that always gets my attention is when there is an advertised deal for a general class of products (for example, $250 off any TV 50" or larger or $20 gift card with the purchase of any GPS, etc). I then look at advertised and unadvertised prices that could be used in conjunction with this promotion. The more deals you stack, the better the savings.

Here's an example. Staples annually(?) runs a printer recycling program that knocks $50 off the price of a printers whose regular price is over a certain price. The promo runs for many weeks (usually around 8). Staples also frequently has coupons, sales (or clearance), and sometimes rebates. So in theory, it would be possible to buy a printer that is on sale and has a rebate using a coupon and recycling a printer. That's four total discounts.

4) Be familiar with certain merchant tendencies. This ties in with 3) to an extent, but other tendencies can pop up. For example, Newegg has combo deals that can make it so that if you are buying Product A, buying B as well is very cheap, free, or even cheaper than buying A by itself. Rebates can play a large role here too, so be sure to account for those (again, they may not show up every time a product is listed).

5) Amazon marketplace can be awesome, especially if you are looking for CDs, DVDs, and games that are not recently released. When I first got my XBox 360, I was looking for ways to build a cheap library. Amazon marketplace allowed me to average about $5 a game brand new for a while. I also get movies in the $2-$4 range frequently. From experience, just be wary of fake imports...open and test the media immediately to verify the contents as being satisfactory. (In fairness, many sellers on AM don't realize they are selling goods of a lesser quality.)

6) Just be patient and shop for things you would be shopping for anyway. You will find something worth posting.

I hope this helps...and happy hunting.

Good stuff. Thank you.

great info.. Thanks OP

• See a good deal @ Amazon? Check with the Camel to see how prices were in the past.
  
• Have a very specific product at a good price? Double check with froogle (Google's price comparison), you might find it cheaper elsewhere.
  
• Use the search feature here @ FW. You might find that the deal you think is great, was actually posted a week ago for even less.

sdsendoh said:   If you discover a ridiculous deal that may be a price error. Put in a disclaimer "do not call".

Nothing kills deals faster than a flock of deal hunters calling to verify a price mistake.
Sometimes a price mistake will get cancelled anyway, as in the case of this thread:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/expired-deals/1239989/m17377981/...