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Best buy electronics stores

Skip the extended warranty. Most electronic products are likely to outlive the period of an extended warranty without a problem. And if there is a glitch after the manufacturer's warranty expires, the cost of repair or replacement isn't likely to be much more than the amount you'd pay for extended coverage. Further, when respondents in a recent Consumer Reports survey tried to use their extended warranties, fewer than 60 percent said they were highly satisfied with the coverage. In our survey of major electronics purchases, readers were three times more likely to buy an extended warranty in a walk-in store than when shopping online. And they paid more. Also, sales staff at best buy electronics chains such as Best Buy and Circuit City were three to six times more likely to talk about buying extended warranties than those at discounters such as Costco and Target. There are two cases in which we recommend considering an extended warranty: when buying an Apple computer and when buying a rear-projection TV. But we are currently reviewing our projection-TV recommendation and expect to report findings in the December 2007 issue.

Use shopping "bots." For comparing prices, use more than one shopping bot, such as BizRate, DealTime, MySimon, Shopping.com, or Yahoo. Be sure to include shipping charges in your comparisons of best buy electronics stores. Depending on the merchant, some prices might include sales tax, while others omit it. But if the merchant doesn't collect the tax, you're generally required to remit it to your state yourself.

Be cautious of very low prices. If a selling price is notably low, verify that the item isn't refurbished or gray-market--diverted from other retailers or not meant for sale in the U.S. "Buying gray" might void the manufacturer's warranty; clues include a box that's been opened or bears only a foreign language. With unfamiliar, low-priced retailers, check user reviews on Web sites such as Yahoo Shopping (http://shopping.yahoo.com) for practices such as calling to pitch additional goods after a low-priced item is ordered.

Look for online coupons and other deals. After searching the Web for just a few minutes, we found a coupon at www.couponcabin.com good for 20 percent off a purchase of $100 or more at Crutchfield.com, one of our top-rated online retailers. Some Web sites, such as FatWallet and Ebates, offer not only online "affiliate" discounts at best buy electronics stores but also the option to get cash back on your purchases.

Negotiate. Another recent Consumer Reports survey found that about a third of shoppers had negotiated the price of an electronics item within the past three years. Most succeeded at least once in that time, and savings from their most fruitful haggling was $50 or more in a majority of instances.

Use a credit card. It provides wider protection than any other form of payment. Some cards, such as American Express, even extend the product warranty, often by a year. Using a card might let you rack up extra frequent-flyer miles, cash-back, or other common credit-card benefits. For maximum security, buy with a temporary "virtual" credit-card number offered by many card issuers. That way, the online merchant won't have your permanent card number.