On my own blog, I post deal roundups every now and then. One of the questions I get fairly regularly is,
“How do you find deals?”
The answer may not include any groundbreaking ideas, but there’s always room for a refresher course!
Well, let’s start with a magical site that I’m sure no one has heard of before. Its name is…
…Google!
Seriously, though, Google is a great source for three different reasons.
- It brings up links to almost every store. You may need to add the word “buy” or something if you don’t want to dig through pages of reviews and discussions, but most of the major sites will be on the first pages.
- Google Shopping. This section of Google compares prices for items across many different sites, but take it with a grain of salt. eBay results are included and are often garbage, including used versions or not reporting correct shipping & handling amounts. Amazon is also excluded. But if you just want a rough idea, a quick click isn’t going to take much time.
- Deal forums and alerts. Google will often fetch reports that fellow anime fans had found items on sale. Some of these search results will bring up expired deals, which doesn’t help if you want to buy it now. However, this will also let you know what price it has dropped to before.
I can’t emphasize how important that is. Not all sales are equal. You might see a $40 game or whatever on sale for $25. Sounds pretty good, right? But if you find a post from a couple of months ago that people bought it at $20, that should make you reconsider. Of course, only you can decide whether you are still willing to pay $5 more, but you should also think that if it was that price not too long ago, now that the game is older, why wouldn’t it drop to $20 or less again? That $20 could have been a freak accident, but deal shopping always involves a gamble.
Yes, you will win some and lose some. You never know how many copies a publisher will make of their releases and whether the fandom at large will swoop them up or decide that something else is a higher priority. You will also have to decide how badly you want limited editions: is it something you really want, or would you be happy with the basic edition?
So let’s minimize that risk.
For Amazon, one way is to use a site called Camel Camel Camel (The Camelizer for the extension). Enter a product, and see the price history. You get a neat little chart that shows the prices for Amazon, third party news, and third party used. You can also set alerts so that when the item reaches your target price, you will get an e-mail.
Although not as sophisticated, you can join a site called Honey and use their Droplist feature so that you get a notification when an item you’re watching lowers in price. It works for sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and more.
eBay also has a feature where you can browse completed listings. You can see what people have been selling items for and whether they sold or not. Remember to take item condition into consideration, as some sellers are a little loosey goosey with ratings. (If it’s missing discs, it’s not like new condition!!)
If you just want to browse Amazon for items that are at a current good price, do a search and add
&pct-off=xx-
to the URL. Replace xx with whatever percent of you want; I usually do 30 or 35. This will bring up items that are xx% off or more, but you may need to add other filters (new, paperback, Prime only) to get the most relevant results. For other stores, you are probably just going to have to search by low to high. Some sites like Best Buy and Target do have filters you can add to only bring up items on sale.
Sites like Bookfinder, DVD Price Search, and CheapestDVDprice.com run automatic price comparisons for you, so you can compare multiple sites with a single click.
But that only shows today’s price, which still may not be the best price. If you want the best deals, the lead up to holidays and the holidays themselves often bring low prices. I don’t just mean Thanksgiving and Christmas; I mean even federal holidays and observances like Memorial Day and Halloween. Stores know shoppers are more likely to have days off around these holidays, so they’ll try to lure you in with special discounts while you are relaxing. Sentai Filmworks, for example, has been having good sales during most of these holidays.
But that doesn’t mean that the deals only happen during holidays. Lots of specials happen throughout the year. The first way to find them is to check the weekly ads. Know what day the stores reset their weekly specials (Best Buy on Sundays, GameStop Wednesdays, etc.), and make an effort to check early before things sell out or prices get changed.
Even if a store doesn’t do traditional ads, they still may have specials at the same time each week; Manga Mondays at Barnes & Noble is an example, and most digital manga sales at ComiXology and the other stores end Monday. Just get used to checking these once a week, and you will catch most of the deals.
The end of the week also often brings even more sales. PlayStation Network flash sales usually start on Friday, Right Stuf Anime has weekend sales, etc.
Too hard to remember all this? Sign up for emails. Most places will send you one when a new sale is starting, like the one below. If you don’t want to have your email flooded with junk though, set up a separate account or use a disposable email address where you will get these alerts. Sometimes, you may already have placed an order before word of the deal has spread across the Internet.
Most stores will try to get your attention when these sales kick off, but there’s another reason you want to sign up: extra discounts. Stores may send you codes and special promotions, especially if their research shows that not a lot of orders have been placed with that email address. Just by signing up most stores will give you a code, so you may want to wait to sign up until you know you are going to use their introductory offer.
Speaking of discounts, look for coupons. Sites like RetailMeNot host a list of coupons that users submit. Those codes may have expired or not apply to your basket, but it’s worth a shot. You could also use Google to find the deals, and some places may post coupons on their Facebook and Twitter pages. If you don’t have the time or energy to look, extensions like Honey will try to apply coupons automatically.
If deal shopping still isn’t your cup of tea, other people on the Web are nice enough to make it easier on you. There are deal sites like Cheap Ass Gamer, and The Broke Otaku and WTK are noteworthy for their deal updates.
This may seem obvious, but factor shipping & handling charges into your price, even if shipping is free. Sentai Filmworks is selling a Blu-ray for $3 cheaper than Right Stuf, but you also have to spend $75 for free shipping versus $50 at Right Stuf. Is that $3 savings worth it if you are spending $25 more on items you don’t desperately want or need? Are you willing to pay the same price for a great condition used set as a new one if you get it shipped free? Can you wait and make one big order during the next FUNimation sale?
If you do find a deal but shipping is an issue, look into whether another store will pricematch for you. See an anime set at Amazon but you don’t have Prime for free shipping? Walk into a nearby Best Buy and show them the listing.
In short:
- Sign up for emails.
- Always do a little Googling before hitting the buy button.
- Accept that there’s always a bit of luck.
Ultimately, though, you have to decide how long you are willing to wait and what the maximum is you’re going to pay. Is 30% good enough for a title you really want, or will you hold out for 50%? Will you splurge on a $10 set that normally runs $60, even if it’s something you aren’t really interested in? Those are decisions only you can make, but no matter what you decide, I hope you still get a good deal!