I recently purchased my laptop from Best Buy a week ago.  Before I made my purchase I did my research online to see what kind of products each and every store offered – Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Office depot, and Staples. 

Honestly, I didn’t find any good deals on computers online and I knew I was not able to negotiate price reduction so I went ahead and went to each stores to negotiate prices. 

To my surprise, most of the stores did not give me price reduction (discounts) or special store offers (e.g. gift cards or free products or product program upgrade and etc). 

I honestly thought, in this economic situation, store managers would be willing to negotiate prices to entice sales.

Yes, many of these retailers did decrease their prices drastically, but my dad always told me “never take their first offer.” 

I am not much of a haggler, and frankly I hate negotiating; however, a dollar saved is a dollar made for me.  If we had two incomes coming in every month I would be less reluctant to negotiate, but it was our decision for me to stay home with our children.

Alright back to my point – when the managers weren’t willing to work with me on prices I just left the store and went to the next one.

By the time I went to Circuit City I was tired, irritated, and just wanted to end.  CC did have the product I wanted and they did have a great price point, but when I was about to check out they told me that my “laptop” had to be ordered and it’ll take a week.   

So, I asked the salesperson to find me a substitute.  Unfortunately, the closest substitute they could come up with was $80 higher than the product I liked.  I asked the manager that he should match the price, but he was not willing to do it.  So, back out the door I came in.

Funny, he was willing to sacrifice $1,500 purchase (laptop, printer, and wireless accessories) for $80?  Wow, I was speechless.

Thus, I went back to Best Buy – place I received great services, managers satisfying their customers (savings), and getting reward points, and etc.

Let me tell you … shopping for a laptop was not a fun experience; however my madness to save money paid off at the end.  I saved about $160 (discounts) and received a $30 reward points.

So, there you go – was it worth it?  My feelings says “No” since I don’t like negotiating, but “Yes” when I did save close to $200.

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