When you purchase a lot of technical components like me, it is critical to get the best bang for your buck. One of the tactics that I use is the price matching guarantee.

If you are unfamiliar with the price matching guarantee, it goes something like this:

Retailer A will sell an item, lets call it a WiggleDo. The WiggleDo goes for $100. And they gave a price matching guarantee that states they will beat all other retail prices by 10%.

Now, Retailer B is selling the WiggleDo for $90. You can go to Retailer A and get the WiggleDo for less that $90.

But, it is never that easy. Just yesterday, I went to get a price match at a common retailer and instead of gladly giving me my price match as indicated in their policy, I was told that I was not eligible for the price match. I needed to really push the manager who was on yesterday until I got my price match. This prompted me to write this post to arm you with as much information as possible so that you are successful in your price match.

Just so everyone knows, I price matched on a PowerLine HD Network Starter Kit (DHP-301). I found it online at DirectCanada for $114.59 plus $9.99 next day shipping (total of $124.58). Staples was selling the same product for $149.99. Once they applied my discount (competitor’s price minus 10% of the difference), I got the unit for $122.04. I ended up saving $27.95 plus taxes.

Tip 1: Do Your Homework

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is going in thinking that they will just hand over the product. You are going to be challenged every step of the way so you had better be prepared to make your case.

Tip 2: Know Their Policy Better Than They Do

This is where they tried to get me yesterday. I went in and told them that I needed a price adjustment. I was promptly told that they no longer price match with online retailers. I asked to speak with a manager and he indicated the same thing, that they only price match for authorized retailers and that the online retailer that I was price matching against was not authorized. I asked him to provide me with either a list of authorized retailers that they would price match against or the documentation that showed the criteria for determining an authorized retailer.

After some time, he came back and gave me the price match. I later discovered that while he was away, he was busy reading the policy. It appears that he did not even know the policy and that he was just accustomed to bullying his way out of the situation.

So, the moral of the story is this: know the policy of the company that you are going to be requesting the discount from like the back of your hand and ensure that you are truly within the policy and deserve the discount.

Here are the price match policies of some common retail stores for your convenience (If you know of any others, add them to the comments and I’ll add them in):

• Staples - Canada, US
• Best Buy - Canada, US
• Futureshop - Canada
• Office Depot - Canada, US
• Circuit City - US

Tip 3: Have Your Documentation Ready

Whenever I find myself in a price match situation, I come it with all of the documentation ready. This includes:

• A printout of the product if found online, a copy of the sales flier if found in an advertisement, or a photo of the product and the price if found in a store (a camera phone is very handy for this)
• A print out of the store price matching policy in case when you are challenged

Tip 4: Make It Easy For Them

A store will be less likely to give you a price reduction if they have to do all of the work. You can make things easier for them by:

• Highlighting important information on your documentation such as make & model number, price, shipping price, website address, store location, store name, phone number, date of advertisement, etc.
• Get the product off the shelf and indicate to the sales person that you are looking for a price adjustment as soon as possible so that they can page their manager right away

Tip 5: Be Polite But Firm

Most of you have heard the old saying, “You will attract more flies with honey than vinegar!” You will get nowhere if you come across arrogant, angry, or demanding. Remember, this is a win-win situation. You are getting a deal on a product, they are getting free research on that product.

But, do not back down just because the manager is gruff or rude. This is their policy that they voluntarily implemented. They do not have the right to take it out on you.

Tip 6: Do Your Math

When you are studying the price match policy, make sure that you know exactly how to calculate your reduced price. By doing the math ahead of time, you will remove the chance that there will be a math mistake that is not in your favor.

To help do the math, I have created an Excel spreadsheet that does most of the work for you. This sheet assumes a typical 110% guarantee calculation that is typical of places like Staples and Best Buy and also takes into consideration next day shipping which is often required by many retailers when calculating price matching.

You can download the worksheet here.

Tip 7: Have A Backup

Sometimes, you do make a mistake. You could have your math wrong or you may misunderstand their policy. If this is the case, have another price ready to take advantage of. The more options you have, the greater the chance that you will get a discount.

Tip 8: Maximize Your Discount

It may seem a bit backward at first, but you want to go to the store that has the highest price. This will generate the greatest discount and give you the lowest price in the end. Use the Price Matching Worksheet to help you determine this location.

Tip 9: Keep Shopping After You Have Bought a Product

A lot of retailers will give you money back, even after you have purchased a product. Keep “shopping” for your product until the price match policy is no longer in effect.

Price Canada has a great tool that will monitor a product for you and then send you an e-mail if it finds a lower price.

Miscellaneous Other Helpful Hints

• Go when it is busy. Sales people and managers are less likely to argue with you if there are a long line-up of people waiting to spend money or (better yet) walking out.
• Don’t rush. I know that this is an uncomfortable situation for most people but if you rush, you will make mistakes.
• Don’t let the manager walk away. This is a common tactic. If they do walk away, get another manager.

Price Comparison Websites

Here is a list of price comparison websites that I have run into. If you know of others, please leave them in the comments so that I can update the list.

• Price Canada
• ShopBot (Canada)
• PriceGrabber (Canada or US)
• PriceProtectr (US)

Some Gotchas That Can Break The Deal

• Limit quantities sold to an individual. If you want to get three of a product, you will probably have to go back three times and talk to three different managers because they will limit you to only a single quantity of the item.
• “Limited quantities”, “while supplies last”, “clearance”, “close-outs”, “bankruptcies” or special events should send up alarm bells. Be prepared for them to not match on these items (but don’t let it stop you from trying)
• Typos. This just makes sense. If a competitor incorrectly types 10¢ inctead of $10, don’t expect the competition to match it.
• Calculate in next day shipping for online items. This can often add as much as $20 to an item. Once you take this into consideration, it may not be worth it.
• Make sure it is in stock. If the product is not in stock at the competitor’s store, they will not price match.
• Make sure it is in local currency. This is less of an issue now with the Canadian and American dollar so close but there have been a number of times I got pretty excited only to realize it was in US, not Canadian dollars.
• Is it worth your time? I have to admit that I’m often in it just for the fun of it. You need to make sure that the savings are worth the time you put into it.

Your Turn

Let everyone in the comments know about the wonderful deal you made through a price match and don’t hesitate to name names as others may want to get in on the action. Also, help me to expand my list of price matching companies and their policies. And more price comparison websites are also welcome.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/09/07/howto-price-match-successfully/trackback/

I’m pretty sure that it has sunk in to the people of Microsoft by now that their deployment of Windows Vista has been an utter disaster. Vista has been out for over a year and a half now and it looks like there is only about a 14% adoption of the new OS.

This should serve as a warning for all other software developers out there and software companies. It is really easy to screw up your market and turn your clients against you.

This has prompted me to provide you with some lessons that we should all have learned from the Vista debacle.

Just because you decide you are going to lead does not mean that others will follow.

Microsoft figured they had it all figured out. Windows XP was arguably the most popular operating system on the market and the most successful version to date. Now was the time to lead the sheep clients to a bold, new OS.

Unfortunately, computer users like to think for themselves. They will not purchase something new just because they are told to do so.

Some of the more common alternatives that users went with other than buying Vista include:

1. Doing nothing and sticking with Windows XP
2. Buying a Mac
3. Learning Linux
4. Putting off purchases in the hopes that something better comes along

Lesson: Let your clients lead. Get to know what they want and put in the new options that they want, not what you think will make you money. Make the client happy and the money will find you.

Terms like “better”, “easier” and “improved” are subjective.

I will be the first person to admit that there are some definite improvements to the way that things are done in Vista. Yet, I often miss the way things were done in XP.

Microsoft has told us that Vista is better, easier and improved. Does this mean that XP was worse, harder and crappy? Of course not! So if many people feel that this is inaccurate, your credibility may just go out the window.

Lesson: Make certain that any claims you make about your new product does not reflect poorly on your old product and can be, more or less, agreed upon universally without leaving much room for opinion.

People will not change for the sake of change.

There is a certain geek element out there that want the latest and greatest in anything that you make. These are the types who stand in line for the new iPhone, even though they will not be able to get service for several months.

But, the majority of your clients do not fall into this category. Rather, they are cautious and are concerned about spending their money.

Lesson: You need to give your clients a reason to upgrade and change. Without that, they will not part with their money.

More options are not always better.

Have you ever stood in the cereal isle at he grocery store? Have you ever tried to decide which cereal to buy? It is insane how many different types and brands of cereal there are out there. Different manufacturers have knock off versions of other brands. Manufacturers try to create a new cereal by simply changing something small about one of their old cereals. It’s almost enough to make the buyer go cereal serial.

It appears that Microsoft hired all of their marketers from the cereal industry. They have split Vista into multiple editions and made the selection process so confusing people are not even sure how many editions there are. There could be four, five or six, depending on who you ask. And this does not even take into consideration OEM and open licensing. How is the average consumer suppoed to decide?

Lesson: Make your product models/editions/versions simple and easy to understand. Preferably, make one model and allow them to purchase additional options, much like the automotive inductry (but stay away from the upgrade bundle concept).

Trying to force users to upgrade will just make them find other ways of doing things.

Windows XP can no longer be purchased from Microsoft. This has been the case since June 30, 2008. They had announced that this was going to be the case back in April but they decided to postpone it. But, as it stands, you can not purchase a Windows XP from Microsoft.

Has this stopped people from selling it? No way! In fact, Dell is turning this into big business along with other companies.

Lesson: Do not try to force the hand of your clients. If they do not like your new product, they will find ways to stay with the old and send you less money in the process.

Don’t make people relearn something they already know.

With so many “improvement” in Vista, it is really difficult to know how to navigate around the system. While it may be more intuitive for a new user, the vast majority of people who will be using Vista will be those who have experience in other versions of the Windows operating system.

I know as someone who is technical, this really put me off because I’m not really interested in learning a whole new operating system, especially when I am finding it harder and harder to learn new things.

Lesson: Make your new product intuitive for both old and new users.

Make sure that those who are selling and supporting your software are on board with the upgrade.

I think that one of the biggest reason that Vista has done so poorly is that it failed to be adopted and promoted by the people who are in the trenches. I mean the techs, company computer guys, and sales personnel. Since these people were not behind Vista, they were not recommending it to friends, family and clients. This is where a new product is made or destroyed.

Lesson: Make sure that those who are speaking directly with the people who are parting with their money believe that your new product is the best version of the product ever made. Ensure that these people know as much about the product, they are excited about the product, and that they are using the product themselves every single day.

Don’t make people choose between functionality and aesthetics.

There are a very small number of people out there who will choose something useless that looks pretty over something that just gets the job done. Unfortunately, Vista, while it looks really nice, often does not get the job done.

Many people, especially those who decide to upgrade to Vista, find that the cost of all the bells and whistles means that some of their old hardware and software does not work and their system is now slower than ever.

Lesson: Focus your attention on ensuring your product gets the job done. If you have time and it is warranted, make it look pretty.

Make sure your product is ready for the market.

Even Steve Ballmer admits that they messed up the release of Vista. There are too many incompatible software packages that were critical to business and many hardware manufacturers had not gotten around to finishing up releasing new drivers for existing hardware.

All this made Vista a show stopper before people even looked at it.

Lesson: Make sure your product is usable by the largest audience possible with as few barriers to upgrade or replacement as possible.

Don’t force a hardware upgrade unless you absolutely have to.

This has goe to be one of the biggest complains made by users. Vista rarely runs well on hardware that XP was more than happy to work on. So now, the cost of purchasing Vista has just gone up significantly. This can get very expensive, expecially if they are part of a large business that has hundreds or thousands of machines to replace.

Lesson: Try to keep the collateral cost of upgrading to a minimum. Do not make people buy new products or add-ons unless they absolutely have to.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/25/10-things-you-can-learn-from-the-slow-vista-adoption/trackback/

YouTube has decided to implement some copyright filtering software this fall. This is all due to the number of legal actions that have been made against YouTube over the past number of months.

In my opinion, all of this comes down to who is responsible for the content that goes on YouTube. Really, there are three different people who could be shouldering the responsibility for the content, the video creator, the video poster, and YouTube.

I know who I think should be held responsible for this content but I want to know your opinion. So, vote on who you feel should be responsible for this content. If you want to say a bit more than just a vote, definitely at more in the comments.

Background Reading

• Copyright Filtering Coming To YouTube This Fall (Wired)
• YouTube Preps Video Fingerprinting (Washington Post)
• YouTube to Implement New Technology Against Copyright Infringement (FOX News)
• Google Plans YouTube Antipiracy Tool for September (PC World)
• For YouTube, a System to Halt Copyright-Infringing Videos (New York Times)
• Google plans YouTube antipiracy tool launch for September (TechSpot)

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/07/30/who-should-be-responsible-for-youtube-content/trackback/

After the feedback from the Today’s Tech News Poll, I was a bit unsure as to what to do.  It seemed like the majority of people didn’t care what I did with the news posts while the rest were evenly split between liking and not liking it.

So, here is what I have come up with.  I will no longer be putting the tech news in the posts.  Instead, I have a link to Today’s Tech News on Google in the blogroll.  This way, the RSS feed does not get clogged with the news and those of you who want the news can still get it.

I may still highlight some exceptionally noteworthy piece of news from time to time but there will no longer be a regular daily news post.

I hope this works for everyone.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/03/09/todays-tech-news-link/trackback/

Web 2.0 Is Old News! Sony Gives You Game 3.0 - Playfuls.com
Despite rather modest sales up until now, PlayStation 3 is still far from being defeated in the gaming console war.

Turkish court shuts down YouTube - Financial Times
By Vincent Boland in Istanbul. Turkey’s largest internet services provider shut down access to the YouTube video-sharing web site yesterday after a court ruling that some of its content insulted Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Editor scandal rocks Wikipedia - National Post
The anonymous user-driven encyclopedia Wikipedia is struggling to regain people’s trust after one of its most trusted and prolific editors, who claimed to be a professor of religion, was exposed as a 24-year-old from Kentucky.

HTC Adopts Yahoo Go - PC World
Yahoo has teamed with High Tech Computer (HTC) to put a suite of Internet software applications on millions of Windows Mobile handsets, the companies said Wednesday.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Patch - Who Does it Hurt? - GizmoCafe
Recently, Microsoft slammed Xbox 360 hackers with a rather sketchily-defined patch. Although the measure promises to simply fix certain, unnamed “online issues,” instead it completely disables any attempt to establish a secondary or alternative …

Study: World needs more data storage space - Computerworld New Zealand
The amount of data that is created globally is set to increase to 988 exabytes (that’s 988 billion gigabytes) by 2010 while the capacity of storage systems is predicted to be just 600 exabytes, …

Nintendo’s 2nd Quarter Release Dates - Gaming Age Online
Nintendo revealed some release dates for upcoming games on the Wii and Nintendo DS. While there’s not anything too surprising on the list, it’s worth noting that Nintendo is bringing over the DS web browser so people can surf the Internet from their DS …

Microsoft vs. Google: More at Stake Than Books - TechNewsWorld
Microsoft attorney Thomas Rubin on Tuesday accused Google of taking a “cavalier approach to copyright” and of using its Book Search project to make money off other people’s copyrighted creations.

Apple Updates iTunes and QuickTime - PC World
Apple today released updates for its digital jukebox software iTunes, as well as an update for QuickTime. Apple on Monday released updates for its digital jukebox software iTunes, as well as an update for QuickTime.

Samsung Samples First Hybrid Hard Drive to OEMs; Retail ‘Soon’ - PC Magazine
Samsung said Wednesday that it had begun shipments of its first hybrid hard drive to select OEMs, and that retail shipments would begin “soon”.

Image scrimmage - Manila Standard Today
BACK when the speed of PCs was measured in megahertz, most serious graphics design work was done on powerful and expensive workstations.

Microsoft Set to Deliver Enhanced VoIP Solutions - Playfuls.com
In a keynote address at VoiceCon Spring 2007, Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft Corp.’s Business Division, today predicted that in just three years, the average voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solution for business will cost …

GDC 07: Project Epoc brings mind control to games - GameSpot
Emotiv Systems introduces new helmet that could allow gamers to leave behind joysticks and buttons in favor of thoughts and emotions.

Adobe to release two versions of Photoshop CS3 - Macworld
Photoshop is about to become a one-two punch. Adobe will unveil two versions of its flagship image editor when it announces the rest of its Creative Suite 3 bundle on March 27, the company plans to disclose Thursday.

Analysts: Apple to Use More NAND Flash Memory - Channel Insider
By Scott Ferguson. Apple will likely introduce more NAND flash memory in several of its future products, including a sub-notebook that should hit the market by the second half of this year, according to a March 7 report by American Technology Research.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/03/08/today%e2%80%99s-tech-news-mar-8-2007/trackback/