I like to shop around. For example, the most expensive thing to ship for is
often a computer case. Most retail stores do not give you a break on this
because cases are shipped separately.
Some places like Best Buy have Free shipping on computer cases and just
include shipping in the price. This increases the Tax you may or may not
pay.
New Egg is pretty good on some things. New Egg does not always promote
loudly their free shipping items. However if I have a choice, I look for
free Shipping.
www.crucial.com
has free shipping on Memory and a more secure guarantee if you use their
memory selector.
www.googlegear.com has free shipping on some items like Processors and
sometimes on selective high-cost power supplys.
It may be cheaper sometimes to buy miscelaneous items at places like Best
Buy or Sams at full retail. However, there are always those hard to find
items. I have seen some items like hard drives, network gear or video cards
at fairly nice prices.
Shop at Christmas Time. Dont ever underestimate Christmas Specials. Save
up and buy things over the Christmas sales rush. Some things like Routers
and Cable modems are often offerred for good prices from places like
www.amazon.com
They sell all kinds of interesting items at Amazon. They are more than a
book store.
I have purchase some really cheap chinese made optical mouse for ($5.99),
and have seen some really cheap $3.99 stereo computer speakers, and also
some good deals on bulk cable and testers, and crimpers at
www.dalco.com
They have a lot of hard to find items like plugs, cables, adapters, etc.
If they sell some thing like a Linksys Router or a patchcord or an 8cm fan,
or hard drive, you think you can trust at radio shack, SAMS or Best Buy
just buy it.
Retail items often come with extra install software, cables, and mounting
hardware. Just think how much it would cost to ship it.
The major problem is that some items just can not be purchased in retail
stores.
I recently purchased an AOpen QF48A Computer case for $39.00. The Shipping
was either $10 or $15 which brings the price up a bit. $18.00 is a common
shipping price for a case. Cases are usually shipped separately. I liked
this case. It is smaller but it has room for a floppy, 2 hard drives, 4 CD
Bays, and room for 2 8cm exhaust fans. Sometimes for just a little more you
can buy an Antec or Chiftec Mini-Tower. It is a definite advantage to buy a
case that already has 1-2 Fans installed. A Fan may cost $5.00 plus another
$5.00 - $10.00 just to ship.
