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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Bargain 101

I recently moved to a new apt and I was going to purchase a new dining set and other miscellaneous stuff from places like Macy's and Crate & Barrel... but alas, given the state of the economy, I've decided to start with the Salvation Army. Here are a few more bargaining tips:

1. Never accept initial offers, especially on big ticket items, even at places that you normally would never bargain. For example, I was browsing for a new coffee table at Macy's. When the sales associate told me the price, I let out a frown, and nodded ... he then immediately said he could give me additional ten percent off.

2. Always google for coupons when you do online shopping. Alright, I confess, I spent $$$ at jcrew.com today, bad bad Cat. But at least I got free shipping. I googled jcrew coupons, and voila, the coupon popped up. Also, I was purchasing tickets to see Romeo and Juliet at the Dorothy Chandler, and I googled for coupon, and got premier tickets for less than the price of second tier tix.

3. Shop for groceries (veggies, meats and seafood) at Asian markets (Chinese and Korean, not Japanese which tend to be more expensive). Never ever shop at Costco's unless you are the Octo-mom! They make you buy so much, I usually end up throwing away stuff or get tired of it before I finish. What a waste.

K, happy bargain hunting! As for myself, need to go patch some worn out clothes now!

2 comments:

Pei said...

Macy's is famously generous with their discounts. You can always always always get at least 10% off somehow. This is especially true on big ticket items, but even on things like clothing you can get a discount by:

-waiting for a sale. Macy's has one every other week these days
-buying the floor model.
-being from out of town. Anyone who shows a non-local drivers' license at Macy's can get a 10% off coupon from customer service.

There's no Crate and Barrel outlet around LA, is there? The one in Berkeley has great furniture deals.

Cat said...

There is a huge outlet mall near my folks', maybe I should go there this weekend.