Frugal Shopping

The smart shopper uses frugal shopping techniques for saving money while still getting what they need and want.

Let’s face it, we’re Americans, and we love to shop. It gives us a feeling of affluence and control over our lives. The problem is that most of us don't use frugal shopping techniques and that means we pay too much for the things we buy.

If you are to be a smart shopper, you either have to deny your cultural shopping heritage, or learn how to find bargains that meet your needs and satisfy your urge to shop.

Let’s provide some insight into how you might practice frugal shopping to obtain the best bargains. The good buys are out there if you know where to look and how to get them.

Buying Everyday Items

There are four keys to frugal shopping for everyday items. Be a smart shopper and practice them. If you do, you’ll be happy with your purchases, and you’ll also be pleased with all the bad purchases you didn’t make.

Here are the four keys to frugal shopping you should practice:

• First, shop with a purpose. Be deliberate. Nothing is a bargain if you don’t need it or won’t likely use it. Shop for what you need and want. Your list may be in your head or in writing, but have a list and stick with it. Resist temptation to stray from your list, even if something seems like a great deal.

  Retailers and advertisers are experts at triggering our natural American tendency to shop. It is in our culture. We are the greatest consumers on the face of the earth – no other people on planet earth are in our league when it comes to being consumers.

  Look at the glamorous and exciting displays at the retail stores. Those kinds of displays cost lots of money to design, produce and construct. If it didn’t pay off for the manufacturers and suppliers, you wouldn’t see the displays at the retail establishments.

  Rely on your frugal shopping training and walk on by those slick displays that are trying to lure you in. Be a smart shopper, stick with your shopping list and then get out of there.

  
  
  

• Second, know the price and value of items. You can’t practice frugal shopping and make price comparisons unless you know the prices for similar products in the marketplace. Knowing the typical price of things is most helpful when an opportunity arises to make a purchase. But, lower priced items are not always a good buy, especially if they have limited value.

  You need to know the value of a product based on quality and features. Not all products are created equal.

  For example, the $50 vehicle emergency kit that includes thin wire jumper cables, a pair of pliers and an orange flag won’t help you much when you have a dead battery. The cables are so thin that you can’t jump-start your car like you can with thick expensive cables that can carry the current necessary to overcome a drained battery.

  Your $50 is better spent on a good set of jumper cables, or a new battery.

  Also, different brands have different value, and that's important to understand. Good quality stuff generally lasts longer and is more functional, so it generally has a higher value in the marketplace and is going to cost more.

  For example, common hand tools will be considerably less expensive than a set of hand tools which are guaranteed for life. The ones with the lifetime guarantee can be brought back for replacement or refurbishment at anytime, so you only buy one set for life. The less expensive tools generally won’t perform well under rigorous use and will need to be replaced more often.

  In the above example, you pay more for the higher quality hand tools, but they last a lifetime, so they have higher value for a tradesman or anyone else who is serious about using tools. This is an important consideration in frugal shopping.

  
  
  

• Third, buy from private parties when possible. A car will cost much less when you buy it from a private party rather than from a dealership. Private parties don’t have employees or overhead. Frugal shopping is much easier when you buy from private parties.

  Private parties offer you several benefits. These include:

  • little or no competition;
  • friend-like pricing;
  • opportunities to get something for nothing;
  • and, you deal with the decision-maker.
  Learn more about the benefits of private party sales here.

• Fourth, negotiate for the best price. Whether it is retail, wholesale or a private party, you can negotiate a better price if you want to. Damaged goods, volume discounts, discontinued items, overstock, and otherwise unwanted items can all be purchased for less than advertised prices.

  Look for people in need of money, depressed markets, distressed situations and other factors to provide you with motivated sellers willing to negotiate. Are you uncomfortable with dickering for a better price? Frugal shopping demands it. I’ll show you how to haggle if you don’t already know how.

  It should be relatively easy to master bargain hunting for less expensive products and services. There are lots of bargains being offered out there. That means there is competition among sellers, and that naturally brings down the price of goods and services. Competition among sellers is always a good thing when you are spending money using frugal shopping techniques.

Buying Higher Priced Items

The keys to buying more expensive items are similar to buying everyday merchandise and services. The stakes are higher, so care, timing and patience are important.

One of the advantages of higher priced items is that you have more room in the price to negotiate, and the savings potential is also higher.

Here is additional frugal shopping guidance on buying higher priced items:

• First, don’t be an eager beaver. If you identify yourself as an enthusiastic buyer for a high dollar item, then you put the seller on a better footing right from the start. They know you want the item, so they have you where they want you, and that's not where frugal shopping tips can help. Turn the tables and make the seller sell it to you.

  You are more likely to get concessions if the seller believes they are necessary to get your interest and keep you as a potential buyer. They are a sales person, so make them do what they need to in order to sell it. Once they think you are interested, they won’t need to try so hard and all your frugal shopping techniques go right out the proverbial window.

  Look at different models that are offered. Take your time and learn about their line of products. Talk about your visits to competitors and what you have seen there. They can’t think that they are the only game in town, and they can’t think that you are sold on a particular product. If they do, then they won’t work so hard to get your business.

  Here's a great frugal shopping example: A friend of mine wanted to buy a nice well maintained motorcycle from a private party. He knew that he was going to buy the motorcycle, but he didn’t act as though he was all that interested. The seller almost pleaded with him to buy it. After all, he didn’t want a potential sale to walk away. My friend reluctantly made a low offer, and ended up with an outstanding buy on a very nice machine.

• Second, know the product features that you want. Higher priced items will have more functions and features, and you should become familiar with them. Some features have value that you can appreciate, and some are simply "bells and whistles" that don’t add to the value of the product.

  For example, a blender is something that works fine with three speed settings – low, medium and high. Having 18 speed settings on a blender might look impressive, but it doesn’t blend things any better. Can you really tell the difference between mix, chop, grate and blend? Most food processors have only one speed, and I don’t hear of anyone complaining about it.

  When investigating product features, you might find a manufacturer of a major brand item who also produces an off brand item with similar features. The off brand will often be less costly, and may meet all your needs in terms of features.

  Ask who makes the product and what other products they make. Washing machines and dryers come to mind as two products that are offered in lower cost off brands by the manufacturers of more expensive major brand appliances.

• Third, take your time and make the seller invest time in you. This is of vital importance. You need to spend enough time with the seller so that he or she feels it would be foolish to let you go without a sale.

  If you blast in and say you want to buy something, they will reach for the order form with one hand and your check with the other. Make the investment of time and energy a mutual activity between you and the seller.

  It is only fair. If you are going to invest a lot of money, they should invest a lot of time to explain the product and its benefits to you. Generally, more time spent will equate to a better bargaining position when it comes time to make an offer on the product.

  Take your time. Have no sense of urgency. After all, you need time to think when you make a large purchase. The seller is the one that should have a sense of urgency to sell to you.

• Fourth, seek out information. This will come in handy during negotiations. More information is better. You can’t make good decisions about large purchases based on limited information.

  Ask things like:

  "Who makes this product and what other products do they make?"
  "What kind of warranty does it have?"
  "Are these good selling products?"
  "Do you offer any sales incentives?"
  "What about financing?"
  "What kind of routine maintenance is required?"
  "What have you seen in terms of failures and other problems with performance?"
  

  Here is an example of a land purchase where information was crucial to closing the deal.

• Fifth, get to know the seller, and let them get to know you. This is especially helpful if you are going to make inquiries or negotiate prices over the phone. If they don’t know you, they won’t be nearly as willing to talk with you over the phone. They will want you in their shop before talking about those sticky details like pricing.

  Besides, you can’t expect personal service and a friendly atmosphere if you haven’t had time to get to know the person. How long have they been in the business? Do they own these same things that you are interested in? If you have trouble with the item, will they be handling you personally? You get the idea.

  People do business with people they know and like. Be a person that they know and like.

• Sixth, deal with a decision-maker. You are the decision-maker, so you should be dealing with a decision-maker at the selling end as well. Depending on the situation, that decision-maker at the seller’s end might be the owner.

  Putting a middleman between you and the person who is the decision-maker only puts you at a disadvantage. Now you are negotiating with two people, one who can’t make a deal and one who can, and the one who can make the deal isn’t in direct contact with you.

  This middleman scenario adds confusion to the bargaining process, and it provides a way out for the decision making person who is well "insulated". Excuses like miscommunication or "something must have gotten lost in the translation" aren’t nearly as likely to happen when there is no "insulation" factor.

• Seventh, consider last year’s technology. There usually isn’t anything wrong with last year’s technology, or even technology from many years ago. Many businesses make a nice living off of people who haven't discovered the benefits of frugal shopping, and who must have the latest gadget at any price.

  A cell phone from 6 years ago will work just fine if you want to make and receive calls. Do you really need a color display and a camera for still pictures and video? Are those games on your phone really necessary? I’m perfectly satisfied with the fact that it is a small portable phone that I can use to make phone calls.

• Eighth, don’t let phony store policy get in your way. If a shop has a certain way of doing business, such as "we talk pricing in person only", then you might have a consumer policy of your own, like "I only do business with establishments that I can communicate with on all matters over the phone."

  This puts you on even footing with the seller and puts them on notice that you won’t be buffaloed. If you can’t live with the policies of the store, and they won’t change them, you should let them know that your business is going elsewhere unless they can make it well worth your while to work within their objectionable policies.

  Let me tell you about one of my experiences buying a high priced item from someone with a phony store policy.

Putting it all together. Here is a true frugal shopping story about using several of the techniques highlighted above to purchase cheap solar hot water panels. This example shows how to save money by:

• Knowing price and value.
• Buying from a private party (to eliminate competition).
• Negotiating for the best price.
• Not being too eager a buyer.
• Seeking out information to support price negotiations.
• Dealing with a decision-maker.
• Considering older technology.

Your efforts might not always turn out so well, but this page gives you an example of what can be done.

Done with Frugal Shopping, take me back to the Home page.