When to Pull the Plug on Bargain Hunting?
Perhaps you were smart and started your holiday shopping early. The rest of us will be scrambling for gifts at the right price this season. But whether or not you’ll be gift shopping, do you know when to stop looking for the right price?
A recent hunt for a replacement pair of running shoes inspired the question. I tried three different stores, all very different types of business. The first was a local sporting goods business. There I found the perfect pair for my overpronating feet, but the $110 price tag (and annoying staff) turned me off from buying my much loved Asics Gel-1120 on the spot. The second shop was a discount shoe retailer across the street. Everything there looked like it was fresh out of the mid-90’s, not to mention that not one shoe looked capable of withstanding a stroll around the mall. Finally I trekked over to a big-box sports retailer hoping that’s where I’d find a good deal. Each shoe looked like space gear designed by Solid Gold dancers — just imagine shiny, bulky and impractically high-tech.
I walked away from my bargain hunting experience empty handed and with an hour and a half down the drain. Persistent (or stubborn) devil that I am, I tried my luck with online shopping. Glory be to the shopping gods, I found my Asics online for $27 less, and with free shipping. But my size wasn’t available: by then it was now two hours down the drain.
Besides the waste of time, here’s what else gets me:
– Each store, whether brick-and-mortar or online, would have amazing deals on some shoes, but then others that were way overpriced, confirming your suspicion that you should shop around because a better deal may be around the corner.
– You have no idea how long an item may have been on sale, so when you find the item you want at the right price, the size or color you want may be going fast, or already gone. And can you really trust the sales clerk to put a sale item on hold for you? (Having worked in retail, I wouldn’t be so faithful…)
– You’ve got a million other things to do on your to do list; more people to shop for during the holiday season.
So when do you call it quits:
– After an hour of unfruitful store hopping?
– When you realize the price difference isn’t that significant across stores?
Or do you engage in these potentially time-consuming practices:
– Buy the item at the first place you see; do a return / get refund if you find it cheaper elsewhere?
– Force a store to do a price-match offer?
Or do you use a time-saving strategy such as:
– Check all the flyers in the paper before shopping (But who still reads print news?)
– Refer to a website such as Black Friday Ads that compiles all the local flyers?
– Shop online with price comparison websites like Pricegrabber or MySimon?
I’m not exactly sure. My time is valuable to me. Online shopping tends to have better prices, and I can do more efficient price comparisons. But then I can’t try things on or inspect quality like I can when shopping at a brick-and-mortar store. I think from now on two hours is my max for bargain hunting. If I didn’t put some time into finding a good deal, I’d feel bad about my purchase. Bottom line: I want to feel happy with what I bought.
But how about you, dear readers? As always, your ideas are welcome. At what point do you pull the plug on bargain hunting and just buy an item?
John- for certain things, I like to set a reasonable price limit for what I’ll pay. For instance- I am in market for a pair of brown shoes I could comfortably wear with pants or a dress. Whenever I am out & about, I will keep my eyes open for the shoes. I will not pay over $25 for the shoes. I had the opportunity recently to hit an outlet mall and thought I’d hit the jackpot. I did find a pair of meh (as in okay, but not good) Bass shoes for $40. For that kind of money, I’d expect the ultimate pair of brown shoes with no issues. A meh pair I could buy off the shelves of Payless for likely $15-20. I have since been frequenting eBay for my needs and keep my eyes open at the Rescue Mission, etc. I could easily just buy the Payless shoes and be done with it- since it falls into my perceived cost of item- but I might find higher quality (for me, that means better foot support in the case of shoes) elsewhere. If its’s clothing needed, the cut might enter in to play.
Other times, I start at the low end of the cost spectrum and work my way up. I need a new winter coat- so I have been looking at the used clothing places we frequent. No dice. We move on to big box stores, then mall stores, etc. until the item is found for the best price/quality mix acceptable. I have a coat online that I am nearly willing to buy- but I have one more store to check out before I’ll commit. When I am in the general vicinity of that store, I will check it out. Gas is too expensive to waste these days.
What makes it hard is when one is stuck on a brand name or particular type of thing. What it comes down to is you’d like a pair of running shoes with a gel base. Are there other brands to consider? If not, the best you can do is probably surfing the net for the best price on exactly what you want.
However, bear in mind that I am someone who has time on my side. I have a stay at home partner who can help in the hunting process and my work time is really well defined (no overtime, weekends ever). My money is much more finite than the time I have, so I can take the time to search for deals. (And it can be really annoying to those around me who just want me to buy the dang pair of brown shoes already and get over myself!)
Length of time I will “Bargain Hunt” is inversely proportional to the Price of the item…the more expensive the longer I’ll look.
As for Shoes….I like Redwing brand and they have their own stores so I wait until they have a sale…they have one right now until the middle of November…and I’ll buy them then.
If they don’t have my size I badger a bit and usually manage to get a Rain Check for the sale price.
Shoes, like all the Podiatrist Ads say, are too important to not get good quality that fits.
Cheap shoes need “Breaking In” and my feet would hurt for a week or more…Redwings they are as comfortable out of the box as an old pair.
IMO worth the High Dollars.
~ Roland
I bargain hunt on some items but not others. For running shoes, I have a small local chain that specializes in running shoes. All their sales people are local college cross-country runners, so they know what they’re talking about. I will spend $10-$20 more buying shoes from them to support their business (although my shoes are usually the same price or cheaper there).
I usually tend to go the buy local and spend a bit more route than hunting for a bargain. As a small specialized business owner I know this makes a big difference.
You also have to add in your cost of driving around. That mileage adds up.
My time is worth much more than frustration and a few bucks. I only bargain hunt if it’s a high-priced item. And even then I’ll usually spend a little more and buy it local than buy from a national chain!
Bargain hunting can certainly be an addiction.
I’ve been known to waste hours on the forum pages at FatWallet and Slickdeals.
yep. Totally. DH and I must have spent an hour shopping for a suitcase, finally settling on the first one we saw – expensive but good quality, with a guarantee.
I don’t think bargain-hunting in itself is worth the time; a brief shop-around is, if you want to compare products for function, price, aesthetics. I think if you’re in the position where time=money, it is better to passively ‘bargain watch’ – making a note of things you’ll soon be needing, and taking advantage of sales.
John: funny that you wrote about this as I’ve been trying to buy new running shoes for months. Obviously, I haven’t tried very hard… remember, I don’t like to shop.
I went to the local running store and they were so understaffed that I walked out before being serviced. When it’s something I’m buying on my own then I never bargain shop. If I had found the right shoe at the overpriced running store, you bet I would have paid the price.
I’m better when Jeanine is involved in the purchase. Take our Riedel shopping excursion: We looked online and found the three stores in the area that carried them and drove to all three. It ended up being a waste of time because we bought at the last place which is where we thought we should go in the first place. But the comparison made us feel good about the choice.
Few things get that kind of time and attention from me. I prefer to shop online for most things since I don’t enjoy the shopping experience to begin with. I’m typically just doing it for Jeanine and she has learned to reward me with food/drinks at the end of whatever we’re shopping for.
I solve the problem by restricting my shopping to just a few stores-if they don’t have it, unless it’s desperate, I just don’t buy it. I stick to Nordstrom (for the service, quality, and great prices-yes, they’re prices are LOWER than other stores for the items they carry, it’s just that they don’t carry crap), the Gap (because their clothes fit me) and Target (for kids basics). I never even go into Macy’s, Penny’s, Sear’s etc, since they’re so big. Too many choices mean too many chances for second guessing and ‘is that a good deal?’ self-doubt. Good luck with your shoes!
I hate to shop for clothes, but for shoes, I will go to the local running store (for my walking shoes) or to the small independent store (for work shoes). I can actually get fitted there and that’s very important to me. I have a hip defect that can be REALLY agravated by poor fitting shoes.
For the (rare) dressy shoes, I do shop online, because I won’t be wearing them long/often.
I’m the polar opposite of a shoe!diva. I have only a very few pairs, but the shoes I have are very high quality. On a cost per wear basis, I expect it averages out.