Neil’s General Buying Tips:
I am a self confessed gear nut and an obsessive bargain hunter. With that in mind, the following tips are tried and tested methods I have developed and personally used to save me tons of money. And you can too if you adopt them – Read On…Most of the examples here will be to do with music gear, but the same techniques can be used with practically any type of goods. Good Luck! And be sure to post your success stories in the comments section below. Thanks!
A) Software
1) Try out the free stuff first and see if you like it before buying.
You will find quite a few links to Free downloads in the Free Downloads Area of this blog and also on our Howtoprogramdrums Facebook Page.
a) Sign up for an account to get the Free stuff from places like Freesoundz and Oddgrooves.
b) Like a few Facebook pages, and qualify for a few extra free downloads in the process. You can do that for The Loop Loft, Platinum Loops and a few others!
c) If you want to buy a digital audio workstation and you don’t know which one to buy, try them out for free first! You can get demo versions of my personal favourites from here:
Mixcraft – “Note that the only difference between the trial version and the paid version of our software is that you need to enter a registration code to make the trial version into a full paid version. A registration will be emailed to you by purchasing the software.”
Reaper – “Download and evaluate REAPER for up to 60 days with full functionality before purchasing a license.”
Reason “Want to try out Reason? Download the software and run it in Demo Mode. Reason’s demo mode is fully functional and lets you do everything you can do in authorized mode, except for opening your saved documents.”
2) Don’t be tempted to buy straight away.
Sign up for a company’s newsletter and wait for a sale to be advertised. They come around more often than you might think. We have recently had the Black Friday, the Christmas and the New Year sales.
I got LZ Grooves from IK Multimedia for 12 Euros, about $16 USD (instead of $29 USD – that’s a saving on the current price of 45%) , and I recently picked up the Rapture synth for $20 USD (It’s usually $99 USD – that’s a saving on the current price of almost 80%!)
You could use google alerts or google reader to notify you, or just review your emails regularly. Check other blogs like the excellent Bedroom Producer’s Blog and subscribe to an RSS feed to keep informed of new deals and new free downloads as they appear.
3) Take advantage of any discount codes that are going.
Place your order within 30 minutes of visiting the Loop Loft site to get your discount and don’t forget to apply the code given in the little pop up at the checkout. It’s worth the extra effort.
4) Make sure you log into esoundz.com in order to qualify for the lowest possible price.
You will need to register and you will be quoted a membership price – don’t forget to check out their impressive amount of Free stuff on Freesoundz! There’s loads of it!
B) Hardware
1) Read reviews before buying.
Try Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
2) Never buy new – unless there’s a sale on!
You can still haggle – even if you are buying brand new. Ask for a deal or a discount in store.
3) Before buying: Look on eBay.
Check completed listings (if its still available) to see what people are actually paying for similar items.
4) Try Gumtree.
Make sure you can get to the place okay and get an idea of fuel costs (from Google Maps) and the value of your time spent driving to go and collect. Is it really still a significant saving? Bear in mind you will have no warranty in most cases (so no come back if it goes wrong) and you may not get a tax reduction on your expenses (if applicable) if you don’t ask for a signed receipt with the name and address of the person you are buying from.
Don’t be afraid to haggle or ask the question “Are you flexible on the price?”
(which also translates to “What’s the lowest price you would accept for this?”
I got 10% off [that’s $110 AUD so far) of both my Gumtree purchases by asking this one question.
5) Use some shoe leather. You could try Cash Converters in the High Street.
I can’t personally vouch for real rock bottom bargain prices in there though. I would still check the online places first. I mention it because one of my Gumtree purchases had been previously bought from Cash Converters.
6) Talking of Shoe Leather – My brother likes Bootfairs (Car Boot Sales).
You have to get up early and get there quick – You have to resolve to be at the very front of the “queue” (or is that rabble?) as the people are putting out their stuff from the back of their car. It sounds like a bit of a free for all from what he tells me! I’m pretty sure he got a Roland GR-100 Guitar synth and a Sequential Circuits Pro One from a boot fair, so it can be done.
7) Advertisements in: The music press. Loot. Exchange and Mart. Classified Ads. Your local paper. Postcards on Supermarkets notice boards. Charity Shops.
These are always an option, but my personal preference is using the internet. It’s just quicker to search online. But there may always be a cracking bargain to be had in one of these pther places if you are sharp. It’s up to you.
Neil’s Bonus Tips: A couple of useful online tools.
1) Invisible Hand
– It’s an addon for firefox. It checks the internet for the best price of the specific item you are searching for and flashes up the cheapest one at the top of your browser – It just saved me $80 on the list price of a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. $189 AUD in Megamusic locally, $109 USD at B&H in New York (before postage and duty). It doesn’t produce such a big saving that often as I have found that Amazon is cheaper than anybody else at least 90% of the time, and probably more often than that. But it’s worth a look, just in case.
2) E-snipe
– It bids on stuff in e-bay auctions while you aren’t there. It’s best to do this when you are not too fussed whether you win or lose. I kept bidding on a dehumidifier a while back and I bid too low a couple of times – Normal auction rules still apply so someone else who places a higher bid than you will still win. Eventually (about third time lucky) I got one at a good price. I wouldn’t use this for an item that you simply must have, because if you get the price wrong and someone outbids you, you lose the item. An identical model of the dehumidifier I wanted was being put on every week, so I kept putting in low bids until I “got lucky” and won one in week three. I simply didn’t care if one or two of them got away.
However, if you can’t get to your computer to watch the end of the auction (if its in the middle of the night or you are stuck at work or in a meeting or whatever…) Stick the highest bid in you can possibly bear to part with and keep your fingers crossed. E-snipe can stick in a secret bid of yours with around 10 seconds to go (you can change this time limit of you want) and win the item for you. You won’t win every single time, but if you can’t get to your computer then this will at least put in a bid for you and give you a good chance.
And Finally:
Do you want to make your very own personalised “WANTED” poster? Then head over to http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/