Do you actually go from store to store trying to find a better price, maybe even looking for no fees on the same item?
I think comparing prices is super important in economics, especially for folks who buy a lot at once or just shop frequently in smaller amounts. Even tiny price differences can really add up if you're buying in bulk or over time. A lot of people don't pay attention to this, either because they can't be bothered to shop around or just don’t care about their spending. For those who don't want to run around, it’d be awesome to have a service or a website that helps with price comparisons. I know there are some online options, especially in the crypto scene, but doing it right in the real world seems a bit tricky.
Yes, in my country I dare not go to the market without Force making the survey to know the market price of which commodity before buying them, else they would have scammed me by inflating prices when I stand not to know their prices from other sellers, we live in a country whereby everyone take advantage of inflation and inflated the prices on their own even when the economy is not inflated, once the sellers observed you have no clue about the market price, then they take advantage of you and sell at high price.
There are online stores in my country that we can order a lot of things from. I mean thinks like phone, computer, solar panels, batteries, rechargeable fan, power bank, inverter, power station, rechargeable fan batteries, fridge, freezer, gas cylinder and many other things.
On the online stores, there are different people that are selling their products there. I will look for cheap ones and make sure it is not inferior because there are inferior products like JBL fake speakers and some other ones which I will avoid.
If the one in my town is cheaper, I buy it in my town. If the one that is online is cheaper, I buy it online. I have bought many things this way before both in my town and online. For the online, if it is not what I want, I can return it if I do not use it.
I don't go back and patronize any shop that their price is higher than others. As a matter of fact making price survey before purchasing any item is the best because it will make you buy it at the normal price and that will make you know the stores or malls that their price is cheaper in order for you to patronize them. I buy in bulk to get discount, instead of buying in small quantities.
In some cases yes but in a place that has the price tag of the items then no need to bargain for anything cause no one will listen to you as
you will look stupid asking for the price when it is boldly written there.
If I go to a supermarket or a mall and noticed that they have a very high price compared to the price of things I usually buy then it gives me the impression to compare the things I want to buy from them and the place I have been shopping before and if it's something I can't continue then the best thing is to move out and try another place. Things are hard it's better to use your money on affordable things than spending them on the things that is not work the money.
It depends on what I'm buying and whether it's my first time buying that product or I have past experience of buying either the same or similar products which means I should have a slight idea of what the price should be. So if I go somewhere to buy a product that I know the price of or at least have the slightest idea, I would understand if I'm getting a good price or the price is high for the product, and then decide based on that whether I should buy it or move to the next place where I can get the same product to see what price they offer. If bargaining is an option, you can go for that as well and see if they come lower or not.
However, if I'm going to buy something that I've never bought before, what I do is I search for the price of that thing online first, and specify that I'm looking to buy this product in this country, so what the price should be, you will get multiple search results, but you can get an idea of what the price should be, and then you go out to find out what you are being offered, and of course, you can visit multiple shops or super markets before finalizing it because there will surely be slight differences in the prices in different stores for it.
My comparing would depend on how I use to buy because if I usually buy it the same amount I would just pay and head back home or if the price only change with a minor addition of how the price is before I would also pay because the price they added is not big but when it has been a lot I will not accept it until I make sure it wasn't the only shop that's selling that high so while visiting other shops and see the rest of the shops selling normal price it will be the last time for me to buy from the first shops because I'm going to change customer at that moment because I will no longer trust any price he would sell to me.
Buying products by checking the price not only makes you economical but also makes you economically efficient. Checking the price of a product once is enough, the next time you create an idea about that product which helps you to be more economical.
There are two types of shops in my country, one type of shop where there is no opportunity to check the price, you have to buy the product at the price given on the product. Otherwise you can ignore it. There is another type of shop where the price of the product is asked several times more than the fair price, in this case you have to have an idea about the price of the product and try to buy the product by checking the price. In this case, if you have the skill and experience of checking the price, then only you can buy the product at the normal price, otherwise you have to buy the product at several times more price.
And what makes me laugh, usually mothers chase cheaper prices without paying attention to the location of the shop. They prefer a 10 cent difference even if they have to travel 5 miles further for 5 or fewer items. Compare items between stores effectively not only on price, but also on transportation costs, time, and the potential for spending more money on something you don't really need.
There are some shops that their things are extremely expensive, the profits they add to their products is just always so much, so if am getting something and I dont really know where to get it, then I can decide to check like 2 shops to compare their prices, then I will buy from the one which is cheaper. But if am getting something that am use to buying, I already know the shops which their prices are lower, and I know the ones which the prices are high, so whenever I want to get things for myself, I already know where to go.
People that dont care to move around are people that are Rich, but an average person is definitely going to go for lower price, if you are not extremely rich, then you just going to have the desire to move around by force, because if you know where you going to get something cheaply, you not going to ignore that and go to a place thats expensive.
It has become a habit now. And it's not only from shop to shop, brick and mortar but mostly with online stores like from ebay/amazon and the likes of it. I think that each country has their known local ecommerce websites including these known ones such as temu and alibaba. This is a norm now that even you've got enough money to purchase, there might be the same product that's being sold in the market with less amount. So, getting 2% to 10% of a discount from that purchase is already a good savings for us although it will consume a little bit of our time.
I do that, however, it feels like I'm not happy if I get a higher price when the same item in another store is much cheaper, it makes me upset.
Not only in conventional stores that require walking to see prices and compare them, in online shopping I do it too, open many marketplaces to find the same item and compare them, even often also do price comparisons between conventional stores and online stores just looking for a more logical spread to buy, if the difference is not much different I will buy it because it is much better, along with I help the ecosystem of money circulation in the market, on the other hand also I don't want to buy too expensive items that have a lower price than what I can't accept the price.
If it is a purchase that is worth spending time to do the research. Let's say am buying a smartphone then I will look for any offline store is selling them below the online price but trust me 99% of the time the amazon got the cheaper price along with may offers. But I am not going to do that over a few cents, that is not worth it.
But don't waste money on brands that is stupidity in my opinion. I can have a bag, any bag instead of the ones that cost hundreds or even in thousands.
It's normal as a buyer to look for a seller who has a much better rate. We all want to save money while purchasing a goods or product, no matter how small the difference is, when you see a seller who is willing to give you same quality of products for a lower price then it's best to go for it. There some other reason as well. On the other hand a buyer might go for a product with higher prices because of certain criteria, but quality is usually the most important. Some sellers reduces the price of their goods when they notice it is beginning to pass it's date of expiration especially for perishable products. That way they can sell them off quickly and get fresh products.. but some buyers might not be willing to go for this. They will rather go for the expensive product because they prefer it's quality to the other...
If you are staying in a place for sometime it is better to roam and check the whole market because going to one place and buying something expensive, while if you had gone a little further, you could get the same thing cheaper. It has happened with those who recently moved to a new place because they are not aware of the stores and shops, they usually buy from an expensive one because of the location of the store,, while the quality usually stays the same.
But after they discuss it with their neighbours, they come to know about their expenses and how much they could have saved.
That's why if you are new in a place, spend some time checking every store, and search online too, because little effort could save you more than you can imagine.
No one can be happy when you realized that what you bought at a certain price is higher compared to some other places that is very close to where you bought, if certain products can be gotten in different places within the same area it becomes very easy to compare prices in different shops before buying and in some cases if you are not in a hurry to go back home too, as for me most of the time I can be patient enough to move around a little to compare prices and while some times I don't really care much of the price as result of impatient provided the product can give my satisfaction and I can afford it I will buy and go without comparison.
Yes as a matter of fact when I am shopping online I check several stores before I place my orders. When I was little I never gave any importance to this and I never bargained. Over time when I started to earn my own money I began to bargain with the seller even if I do not want to buy. It has become my nature but some places have fixed prices where we cannot bargain so in such situations we have to compare them with their competitors to get better rates.
We have to put a small effort into it but we think it would waste our time. Once we actually start purchasing from different places because of the prices and quality we live a better life. It is not a lot of work that we cannot do and it also does not need a lot of time.
Buying in large quantities has always been cheaper than buying a single item but some places are still expensive.
There's what some business do, they might be very friendly with you and give you discount in some products that you buy from them and they will treat you so special so that you will come back next time and keep coming back until you make them your regular option and after that has been achieved, that's when they will start to hike price for you and you won't want to argue because you will be like, "after all, I trust them and they sell cheap" So you won't suspect.
Since I noticed this, I don't buy my daily, monthly and annual needs items from the same shop, I like to go to different place to buy, so that when next the formal shop sees me again, they would be like, " My customer, it's been long you came to buy something from us" At such, they would want to treat me fine and give me some discounts to encourage me come back next time, but when they don't see me for a long time, they will still treat me better next time I go there. It's true that the price of some items can be different in different shops, it might not make much when you are just buy a few of that item but if you are buying it in a high quantity, then it's necessary to find that item in another shop that it's less expensive. I can do that when there's need for it.
Sometimes comparing the price is so exhausting and the difference usually is not much. What I do instead is to shop at different places where I know that the prices are lower and shop in bulk. Bulk buying is one of the hacks to argument this. Buying in bulk reduces the money youll spend in buying just one item.
It's one of the most basic things that everyone should learn to do in life, as you can save so much money over time by doing this. Just imagine that you save 10-20% over time just by doing a quick search or getting a feeling for prices before you jump in. For every $100 you earn and spend, you could keep $10-20. At a small scale it might seem trivial, however imagine you spend $100k over five or ten years. That would add up to saving $10-20k over the same time just by being vigilant and careful with your money. It's what most self made rich people learn to do naturally and just becomes second nature when you start doing it. Even on the smallest shops it is something you should try to practice.