We purchase products and services almost everyday of our lives. As consumers, we need to make the best decisions, so we don’t unnecessarily spend more money. I am going to discuss two products that my family and I have purchased in the past. The first product is an iPhone case/cover, which costs less than $25 and the second product is a MacBook Pro laptop, which costed well over $200. Although these products are of a different value, the purchasing process can be quite similar.
When I purchased my iPhone 5, my next step was to buy a case to keep the phone protected from any accidental damage. Since I was at the Apple store at the time of the purchase, I decided to look at some of the cases that were offered. I liked the Otterbox cases because they seemed to be the most effective in protecting the phone. I knew that my screen would have a much better chance at survival with this case on, if I happened to drop it by accident. Although the Otterbox cases were made with great quality, the prices were a bit extreme ($50-$75), and I knew that once I walked out of the store and over to one of the cell phone case kiosks, that I may find the same case if not better for a cheaper and more affordable price. So that is exactly what I did. I went to the kiosk and started looking at some cases, which looked appealing, and when I asked the guy how much he sold his Otterbox cases for, he replied $40. Eventually, I was able to bring the cost down to $30 with no tax after some bargaining, but I didn’t end up buying the case because I still felt I was being overcharged.
Shopping malls really mark up the price on their goods so I figured, why not save some money and get the same product from a different seller. I know that these types of cases are brought in from China at wholesale rates which are ridiculously low, so I felt that I would be able to purchase the same case online for substantially cheaper. When I got home, I started checking www.amazon.com for their Otterbox cases. I was pleased to see just how cheap they were being sold for. To say the least, I could’ve ordered several for the price that the Apple store and the kiosk were charging me. No lie! I saw Otterbox cases as cheap as $0.17 and as expensive as $75. I was so glad that I did not purchase a case from the mall because I realized my options were endless and I could choose how much money I wanted to spend. The only thing is that I have experienced some issues with Amazon in the past. One instance consists of my item not being delivered to me for almost 6 weeks and the other instance consists of my item no longer being available through that seller and me having to contact them several times before getting my refund. Due to these past situations, I wanted to make sure that I bought my phone case from a reputable seller who offered two day shipping because I didn’t want to keep the phone unprotected for too long.
After browsing through many Otterbox cases from many sellers, I narrowed down my options to a handful. Keep in mind these are all the same design of Otterbox cases. One costed $1.70 from a 0 star rated seller, another costed $7 from a 2 star rated seller, and the other costed $19.99 with free two day shipping from a 4 star rated seller. Considering my shopping was being done online, I then started looking at the seller reviews to see if there were any sketchy posts about the sellers. I wanted to feel secure about the transaction before making the purchase. I decided to go with seller number 3 and pay $19.99 (with free 2 day shipping) only for the fact that he had a 97% positive feedback score which I found to be trustworthy. Two days later, I received my Otterbox iPhone case and I was thrilled with my purchase as well as the additional money I saved! This taught me not only to analyze all my options but also that the Internet has much better deals then most brick and water storefronts. The next product I am going to discuss is the 15 inch MacBook Pro I purchased. This product costed me about $2000. Right off the top, I can tell you that when I am in the market to purchase a product this expensive, I am reviewing all my options appropriately. While I am more comfortable purchasing a phone case from Amazon, I am not as comfortable purchasing a high priced item from the Internet. A laptop is something I need to get in my hands directly after paying for it, which is why I will only go to the store, and I refuse to order one online. There are too many scams, which occur on eBay and Amazon, and I’d rather avoid them as much as possible. I chose to check out the Apple Store, Best Buy, and an electronics store in Queens. I went to the Apple Store first and I quickly made the assumption that I was getting the best deal due to their college student promotions. I was able to get off almost $200, which sounded very appealing. I was going to pay around $1990 instead of $2170. I could have purchased it right there and then but I decided that I wanted to do a bit more research before making such a big purchase, considering I am a college student. I went to Best Buy, which was down the street, and I saw that their suggested retail price for the same MacBook Pro was $50 cheaper but they weren’t offering any student discounts so I lost interest very quickly and left. I started browsing stores online, which sold this specific product, and I came across an electronics store in Queens, which had them, substantially cheaper. I decided to take a drive out there and see if the hype was real.
This guy was selling a few MacBook Pro’s for $300 cheaper then Apple, which caught my attention. Before getting too excited and making a purchase, I asked the salesman a few questions such as: Is this MacBook the current model being sold at Apple?, is it new?, is it refurbished?, and do I get a warranty with it? The salesman then told me that it is the latest model being sold but none of them are brand new. They are either refurbished or used and that I can purchase my warranty as an addition. I didn’t want to take a gamble with such an expensive product. I definitely wanted to make sure that I was getting a brand new quality product, which contained no surprises. So I told the guy to let me think about it and come back to him. It was clear to me that I shouldn’t mess around with taking the cheap way out as it could have cost me more money in the future in case I was buying a faulty product. I wanted to utilize my student discount with Apple and take home a factory sealed box. I figured it would be the best and most secured decision so I went to Apple the next day and finally bought my MacBook Pro.
Although I ended up where I started in the first place, I was happy that I looked into my other options before taking action.