Saving Money Online in This "Economy"

[I've picked up a little tip I'd like to share. Needless to say online sellers are geeking for our business right now. Of course many places offer discounts up-front but some don't. I've found that with the ones that don't, they'd still rather make a sale at less profit than not make a sale. Say half the sellers don't offer any discount up front. Of those I'd say at least 25% will work with you, if you're patient, and play the game a little. It's fun, and I've saved some money.] [I'll say to begin with that most people shop on Amazon, but you can find a good bit of the same stuff on eBay, and you don't even have to register to buy- it's just like any other retail outlet, and usually considerably cheaper. Overall the number of people on eBay who'll work with you is probably less than the percentage of all retailers combined, but that's because they're usually heavily discounted to begin with. Maybe 15% or so of all listings will have an OBO, or "Or Best Offer" option, and you can offer and counter-offer. Of the listings that don't offer an OBO option naybe 15% percent will still work with you, but you have to show interest. If you put something in your cart the seller will see it, and if you wait a day or two sometimes they'll send you a lower offer. eBay still rocks, and now there's none of the "auction" thing to keep people from using it. It's just like ordering from Amazon, and you're supporting your people too.] [On other retail websites it's the same thing, although you'll generally have to fill in your info to get the ball rolling. Of course we see the pop-up windows that appear when you're about to click off the page that say "WAIT...save 10% NOW" or whatever (I guess they couldn't tell you to begin with), but even some of the ones who don't will eventually start offering you discounts, and if you sit tight, sometimes they'll get bigger and bigger. You might have to click on the item again once a day or so to let them know you're still interestede. You have to bait that hook and see if they bite.] [A while back I saw a pair of shoes I wanted for hiking around at the river, at least back when I thought I was going to be able to spend some time there. They were $120 but there was no way I was going to pay that. I entered my info and got all the way to "Submit Order" and then clicked off. There was no last-minute pop-up but sure enough over the next week or so I kept getting text and e-mail offers. They started with 10% off. Pffffft. I waited. The next day the offer was 15%. I clicked on it to let them know I was a player, and backed off. The next day it was 20% off, then 25%, 30%, 35% and then 40%. They don't usually go much below that without getting pissy about it, but when the price dropped to about $65 I yanked on the line. That's what they should charge to begin with, but still it's pretty cool to play the game and see how low they'll go, just like playing Limbo, and since everything IS in limbo.] [Out of the sellers who offer no discounts at any time, another handful will still accept an offer, but you have to ask. Can't hurt to ask, as long as you don't piss them off. For most items that aren't rare I'd like to get at least 25% off, but it's negotiable. On eBay I like to get maybe 15% or so if I can, but I don't dicker with sellers on eBay as much. Yet again they're already taking a cut to begin with, and they might need the money to put food on the table these days, and it's much better to support them than to put more money in the bank accounts of a bunch of foreign CEOs. As a general rule of thumb on eBay I like to get enough of a discount to cover shipping, but I don't press it. With other retailers I love seeing how low they'll go.] [I hope this has been helpful. It may sound obvious but lots of people don't know about it, and if a company can get you to pay full list price you know they will. You have to be patient and go back and forth with them but it's worth it in the long run. BTW I used this illustration of a coupon just because I think "Horny Goat Weed" is prett funny. Even the discount code "GOATSAVE" is funny. In any case just remember what my dad used to say- "CHEAP doesn't necessarily mean "ECONOMICAL."]