Comparison Shopping - How well would you rate yourself?

[DaveInPgh]

In many cases, you can save money on your purchase if you take the time to comparison shop. There are many useful tools online and via phone apps to help with this task.

Personally, I know that I don't do it often enough. I have no idea how much more I spend a year than I need to. I suspect it is enough to buy some items I categorize as "wants" and I forgo buying because they are not "needs."

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself as a comparison shopper. 1 being horrible and 10 being excellent.

I would probably rate myself a 5 or 6. I do a good job on big ticket items but smaller household items I rarely make the effort.

[DaveInPgh]

The thing that sparked this read was a letter I received today trying to get me to change Natural Gas suppliers. I get these type of offers a couple times a month and I never take the time to seriously review them.

The offer I received today involves a price guarantee of 42.8 cents/Therm through September 2018.

I have no idea how much I am currently paying. My plan is to hold on to this offer until I take the time to compare it with what I am paying.

[disneysteve]

We used to be much better at this, maybe an 8. Today, I'd say about a 6. We're just too busy, always on the go, and don't always take the time to shop around.

That said, the smartphone is a wonderful tool because you can comparison shop on the spot. I did it just yesterday at the supermarket. I was about to put something in my cart (a non-grocery item) and checked the price on Amazon before I did. Turns out it was cheaper at the store so I bought it. Numerous times, the opposite was true and I dropped it in my Amazon cart rather than buying it on the spot. With Prime, I have it in 2 days (sometimes even 1 day).

We're not great at taking advantage of supermarket sales. We used to, and DW is trying to get back on track with that. Those small savings can really add up over the course of the year.

[GoodSteward]

I'm borderline obsessive with this on most purchases. I would consider myself anywhere from 9-10. I hate buyers remorse, and it eats me alive to buy something just to see it cheaper shortly after. I comparison shop until I feel confident I have found the best deal. That's really the only way you know if you are getting even a fair deal is to know what something has been selling for for a little while.

I've always been this way, and it only got worse when I went through major financial trouble years ago. I'm still stuck in it. It actually can be a problem because it makes it hard to enjoy buying something since I can obsess over finding the right price. Sometimes I just buy it , and feel better knowing I didn't waste so much time worrying about the price. haha

[feh]

I'd say 9. I'm extremely diligent when it comes to finding the best price/value.

[scfr]

7-9, depending on the scale of the purchase. Maybe more important for my financial security, I'd say I'm an 8+ on quickly deciding NOT to buy something just because it catches my eye, eliminating the need to comparison shop.

[cooliemae]

I would have to say that I'm a solid 8 when it comes to price comparisons.

Personally, I am always looking for the best price but also go further into shipping, rebates, ebates, and the like. I actually enjoy the hunt so to speak, but I also see it as time well spent. For instance if it takes me 30 minutes to find a $15 dollars savings, then I was just working for $30 an hour!

Professionally, I do quite a bit of shopping for work. Last year I spent over $50k and I definitely want to find the best prices since we have limited monies to work with. The best part is that I get to play against those asking me to make the purchase. Can I find a better deal than the one they've presented me with? For example, I might be asked to purchase some steel for our welding program. The requester gives me a PO for Company A for $1000 and it's the same company they've been dealing with for years. I call around and find that Company B will sell us the same steel for $300 cheaper and voila I've won the game, even though I'm the only one really keeping score.

[DaveInPgh]

The thing that sparked this read was a letter I received today trying to get me to change Natural Gas suppliers. I get these type of offers a couple times a month and I never take the time to seriously review them.

The offer I received today involves a price guarantee of 42.8 cents/Therm through September 2018.

I have no idea how much I am currently paying. My plan is to hold on to this offer until I take the time to compare it with what I am paying.

Took me awhile to get to this, but I made time to research this last night. I am currently paying 27.? cents/Therm. I think one of the sales pitches I received was that the cost was on the rise and I should lock in a rate.

I am sure there is information out there somewhere charting the predicted cost increase, but I have no desire to look for it and their guaranteed price is quite a jump % wise.

[Outdoorsygal]

Took me awhile to get to this, but I made time to research this last night. I am currently paying 27.? cents/Therm. I think one of the sales pitches I received was that the cost was on the rise and I should lock in a rate.

I am sure there is information out there somewhere charting the predicted cost increase, but I have no desire to look for it and their guaranteed price is quite a jump % wise.

That's a great way to save money with very little effort, good thinking.
They have special offers here for propane but it is always only for new customers.
Sometimes they send coupon specials out to area's they don't actually ...service because it is part of the advertising package thus they don't have a choice.

[Singuy]

I would say it's one thing to save money and compare a product, it's another to get full 100% utilization out of the product.

Just because you found the cheapest MacBook Pro using all sorts of student discounts and online codes, doesn't mean it was $1500 well spent if all you do is web-surfing and facebooking. Any 300 dollars thin and light laptop can do that even if you paid full retail price.

[snafu]

I rate myself at 6, DH tips me near 8 for purchases over $ 1 K. I can easily shoot myself in the foot on those $ 200. - $ 800. items, checking details and missing the 'best buy' which is my goal since price is only one of several factors. During holiday season, I saw and noted a terrific price for a large screen TV but [in a reverse of typical response] DH nixed a year the idea, preferring to wait a year. Started noting holiday prices the following year and didn't find anything nearly as good so I nixed the purchase. Finally year 3, actually went to a couple of specialty stores where salesman willingly lowered the price of a preferred brand not in their ads. As a bonus he included professional installation. DH explained later he'd confided in salesman that I was one of those 'walk away' customers if the price didn't meet a figure I'd set before leaving home.

I was surprised to see the facts supported the family's view that i was an 'impulse' buyer while I thought I planned purchases. I still need to do a much better job of price checking lower priced purchases. It's a challenge here as our phone apps do poor price monitoring due to small population [small demand] and we add currency exchange, ridiculously high shipping and tariff [tax] to Amazon or any off shore company.

I think it's important to check out repetitive cost like prescriptions, auto/house insurance, routine vehicle maintenance, yard/garden supplies. Different pharmacies charge different dispensing fees and different prices for common products. I'll buy gently used items where there's no discernible difference like garden tools or miss tint paint.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

probably an 7-8. I used to be better but I honestly save money by just not buying crap. Seriously I wonder where people spend their money then i hear I went to Home Goods, Target, Walmart, Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or clothing store and they buy stuff. Or shopping online. The best deal is no deal.