Best places to shop? Deals etc

[jo_marnes]

Hi all,

 

Over here in the UK I rely heavily on online sites (like Money Saving Expert and HotUKDeals) to help me find the best deals around.

 

I know they are pretty rubbish with things like that in Oz and I feel I am going to spend a fortune before finding the best places to go. I wonder if we can have a thread where people can post their best discoveries? It doesn't matter what the item(s) are - but if you find somewhere is better than the rest, post it here! I'm particularly interested in knowing where the cheapest places are for food/ baby equipment/ furniture and electricals.

 

Thanks,

 

Jo xx

[Guest Lulujim]

Great idea Jo I'd find that useful too!

[Guest ReadyPenny]

and me!!!! Hope we get some answers in a couple of hours when they all rise

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

you are right the internet is not the best place for info on that sort of thing. i usually wait for the paper form of the "internet " to come to my mail box in the form of "junk mail"!

These papers tell you who is selling what for what and what the specials are this week! The specials usually run thurs to thurs and the "internet" comes on tuesday so it gives you a day or 2 to sift thru it!

Otherwise you have to do it thee old fashioned way...drive shop to shop!

sarah

[jo_marnes]

These papers tell you who is selling what for what and what the specials are this week! The specials usually run thurs to thurs and the "internet" comes on tuesday so it gives you a day or 2 to sift thru it!

 

Now you say this, and I have been keeping an eye on the internet 'catalogues' that show you the offers, but when I tell my parents to go and get me whatever is on offer, it's never in stock! Not even on the first day of the offer. This has happened several times with car seats in Toys R us and a couple of other things. Very annoying when you can't order online and then the shop doesn't have it anyway

[Rachiegarlo]

it's a smaller population here and there is quite a bit you can get off the net.

[cormcvcr]

Hi there,

 

with regards to things like electrical equipment and cars, you can haggle on the price.

 

There are a lot of places that if you are paying cash, they will do you a deal.

 

Example, we bought a car that started at $10,990 and got it on the road including stamp duty for $8000. (I know they are prepared for this kind of thing and probably adjust the prices so they have some room to play, but on the other hand, if I walked in and said I wanted it, they would have been quite happy for me to pay the full price!)

 

JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Normans, Good guys, they all pay cash pay less, we bought most of our electrical entertainment items from JB Hi-fi, they had great knowledge and gave us a great deal (started at $9500 and we paid $6K.

 

You just have to shop around, to start with cheap as chips and the reject shop is good for smaller household items, tea towels, cutlery, washing baskets etc. Big W are also good for smaller electrical items and dinner services, bedding etc.

 

Spotlight are great for bedding, curtains etc.

 

Le Cornu for lounge, dining, bedroom, outdoor furniture.

 

It's just a matter of making a list of what you still need to get when you arrive and go round each shop and price them, then make a decision based on what you are getting for your money.

 

We paid a little more for some of our stuff for a couple of reasons, speedy delivery (couldn't wait the 6-8 weeks on items like beds), better quality.

 

Everybody has different taste and different budgets, so it really depends on those factors where you choose to go.

[Guest salisbury massive]

Where I work in Coles supermarkets we do a raincheck. If you want something that is on special and they have sold out you can get a voucher which will give you the item at the special price when they are back in stock. You can also get more than one of the item at the special price. Say for example its washing powder, normally $4.00 down to $2.00. If you want 4 boxes ask for 4 boxes to be put on the rain check. Most stores have this policy though some places like Target and K-Mart won't do it for popular toys or electrical items. Usually stores will ring other stores for you if you ask and arrange to get items from the store though this can take a few days sometimes.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Jo

[orrelljet]

Morning.

 

www.lasoo.com.au is a good place to start for high street shops - they collect together all the catalogues from the large retailers so you can search from one site, instead of having to jump from one to the other.

 

Also, don't forget that places like Harvey Norman will price match items that are in stock elsewhere - doesn't need to be that local either. If you're after IT equipment, and can't be bothered to shop around, check the prices on http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf and ask HN to match - colleague bought a 8GB usb (Sandisk) pen drive for $25 - normal HN price $69.95!!!

 

Another retailer I used to use in the UK, for gadgets etc, has recently started offering FREE worldwide shipping - www.mymemory.co.uk - great place for camera accessories and cheap HDMI cables etc. There are other stores around (on the net) that offer a similar service (www.bangcd.com is one) so never pay the price on the sticker, as you can always do better. Even if you can't pricematch an item, you can still haggle ;-)

 

Justin.