Before You Buy – Do Your Research!
So you are ready to buy a new something – maybe it’s a TV or Stereo, or maybe it’s a new car. Either way any purchase over a few hundred dollars deserves some research. A little research can go a long way and with all the information you need available online it is easy to make an informed purchase decision. There are many advantages to doing your research but the two most important reasons you should be doing your research is to save money and get a product that will last a long time.
Need an example? (I work better with examples myself)
Suppose you are going to buy a new TV for your bedroom. Well it might seem like something you could just walk-in and buy assuming that salesperson at the store will give you the best advice. This is where most consumers go for their advice and it can sometimes lead you to a purchase decision that puts more money in the salesperson’s pocket rather than creating more value for you. As you probably know salespeople are paid on commission so the more expensive the product is the more they make…right? Well, not always. You see television manufacturers are famous for giving incentives or specials to salespeople for a particular time period.
This means that a particular television company could give salespeople an extra $100 for every TV they sell in the month of October. Now here’s where the consumer gets screwed. Walking into the store you might be surprised to find that the salesperson doesn’t show you the most expensive TV, they might even show you the cheapest TV they have. The customer then think, “well if they are telling me this is a great TV and they make less money on it than many of the other TV’s – this must be an honest opinion!” Little did you know that the salesperson is actually making more money on the lower-priced TV than the higher-priced TV because the manufacturer is giving them a bonus.
Remember, this is only one example – the same can be true for car sales and even house sales! So how can you protect yourself and make sure that you are getting a good price and a high-quality product? Looks for reviews online! A simple Google search can help you out more than you think. Just go to Google and type “[product name] review” and you’ll find reviews of the product you are looking for.
Pay attention to who is writing the review. If the review is written by a publication then there is most likely some bias and you should take this review with a grain of salt. If the review is instead written by a user who actually bought and used the product than you can have a much better reason to trust it. For electronics products I oftentimes use Amazon.com as they tend to have a lot of reviews and the more reviews the better!
A little research can go a long way so before rushing to the store spend 20-30 minutes online and you’ll find yourself not only saving money but also getting a better product in the end!
