Researching a Purchase

Filed under , , by Alison on 3:42 PM

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I've been in car seat land lately as I try and find a new car seat for Monkey. It's just so hard to know which ones are of good quality and where to find the best price. I decided to take a little break from car seat research to share what I do when I'm researching an important purchase.

Find out what's out there
I first did some browsing online and at Target and Wal-mart, just to get a feel for what is out there and how much I can expect to pay. It's been over three years since I last bought a car seat, the products have changed.

Online or In Store?
I'll be buying the car seat in a store simply because I don't want to wait for it tobe shipped. This means that my choices may be narrowed down a bit, so deciding this was a good thing to do early on. It would have been not so great to fall in love with a seat only to find out I can't get it locally and it's on backorder at every online store. Maybe you don't care where you purchase it as long as you get the best price out there, just don't forget to factor in shipping costs! Returns are another thing to keep in mind when you are deciding where you'll buy. Some chains will allow you to return an item in store that you purchased online, but if you go with a web only company, returns may be tricky.

Figure out what you want
What characteristics are important to you? Obviously with a car seat, safety is number one, but I'd also like something that weighs less than the child in it and that doesn't take up the entire backseat. I've also decided that Monkey will be moving up into Bug's seat and I'll buy Bug a seat that is designed only for forward facing, has a five point harness, but can still be converted into a belt positioning booster in a few years. These seem to be cheaper than the convertible seats that can rear face or forward face.

Pick Your Product
Now that you've narrowed it down a bit, ask for recommendations, you could always start the whole process by asking for recommendations, but I find that sometimes it's easier if you narrow it down a bit beforehand. It probably depends a lot on what you're in the market for.

Look for reviews online. I like to check Amazon.com and Target.com. Keep in mind that even with a good product that's worth purchasing, you'll still probably find bad reviews. If people are consistently commenting about the same flaw, then you might want to go with another product.

Find the Best Price
If you decide that you'll buy it in store, check prices at all the stores so you know you're getting the best price. If you can, wait a few weeks to see if the item goes on sale. Often stores will credit you if you buy something and it goes on sale within a few weeks, so after you buy keep checking the ads if that's the case.

If I am going to purchase online, I might just google whatever I'm going to buy or visit some online retailers that I know carry the product. The later is more efficient for car seat purchasing, but when I was in the market for some sheets of magnet paper, I simply googled it. I also visited eBay. Turns out the merchant who had the best price for what I wanted also had an eBay store where they sold the same product for slightly less. Look online for coupon codes that might help you save money. We have a Discover Card and if we use that card, and enter the store's site through a link on Discover's webpage, we'll get a 5% cashback bonus on our purchase.

Here are three resources that can give you some tips for finding the best price online:

How do you research a big purchase?

Photo by byrdiegyrl