It is easy to go onto ebay or some other auction site and see a laptop and purchase it because of the great price listed. Sometimes you find a great deal, other times you get burned. If you have a lot of extra money and plenty of time to vent your frustration… hop online and buy the first thing you see. If you have a little time to prevent yourself from spending a bunch of extra money, you might want to consider some of the ways people who think they are saving a lot of money actually end up spending more than than someone who planned ahead.
The first and most common mistake people make is simply this; they buy the wrong laptop. They see a laptop for $250 and think it is a great deal, but didn’t really think out what they needed. They find this great deal they have didn’t come with a CD burner which they need for their line of work (like graphic design) or it didn’t have basic Word Processing programs they need. This error can occur in a variety of forms. Make sure you know what you need before you go out and buy.
The next most common mistake is buying a used laptop with “issues.” Yes, this happens a lot. It may have a dead battery which costs $80 to replace or a CD Rom which is going out. There can be a lot of issues to make the used laptop a little cheaper. Sometimes, this can save money if it isn’t an issue that matters to you and other times it will cost you more because you will want to replace/repair the problem.
Another way to get to spend more money than you bargained for is to buy a laptop without an Operating System. You might wonder who’d do this sort of thing. If you look at laptops from various retailers that are used, you will find close to half of them do not have an Operating System. If you have a copy of Windows XP or ME or 98 from your last system that died… (meaning it is not currently being used on another hard drive) this can be a great way for you to save money. However, if you do not, be prepared to spend an extra $100.
Really, the best way to get the best deal on a used laptop is to know what you need to do and make sure the laptop you are buying can do those things. If you buy a laptop which only meets half your needs you will be forced to spend a lot of time and effort making the laptop work properly in the long run. Why not just start out that way. Know what you are planning to do and find a retailer who you can trust to help you find a used laptop that can do all of it for you. Buying a used laptop is a great way to save money IF you purchase thoughtfully.
Jesse Harwell owns several websites including http://www.usedcollegelaptops.com aimed to help the consumer spend their money as wisely as possible on computer purchases.
My husband and I recently had a baby, and family and friends have been dropping by regularly to visit and see our new addition. We live near my family, so they’ve been over almost every day while my husband’s family is spread out all over the United States. Since his family can’t exactly drop by for obvious reasons, we’ve gotten a lot of cards, letters and gifts in the mail. One day the doorbell to our apartment rang and I opened it to find a delivery person with a gift basket. After thanking him, I took the basket and placed it on the table with all the cards and letters we received in the mail that day. I thought I would wait until my husband got home from work so we could open them together.
As I looked at the gift basket, I noticed it was filled with European chocolates. I briefly thought that was an odd choice and was going to look at who sent it when my newborn awoke and let me know it was time for the bottle. After feeding her and putting her back to sleep, I had a bit of a sweet tooth so I decided to open the gift basket and have a chocolate. It was delicious. One chocolate turned to two and two quickly turned to four and before I knew it, I had eaten almost half the basket. This was no small feat as there were a lot of chocolates. I guess I wasn’t quite ready to give up the eating habits I had before the baby was born. As I was enjoying the chocolates, my husband came home and I mentioned that whoever in his family that sent the gift basket really knew what they were doing.
I thought it a bit odd at first (expecting a baby gift basket, if anything) but once I bit into the first chocolate, I knew that whoever had sent this realized just how much I needed a quality chocolate break from the stress of all that comes with having your first baby. This made me remember that I forgot to check the card, so I asked my husband to look since he was up. As it turns out, this gift basket I had halfway devoured was intended for our next door neighbor. It was delivered to us by accident. Here I am, relaxing on the couch with a chocolate in my hand when my husband breaks the news to me. With my chocolate filled mouth wide open, I looked at him so seriously as if to say, “What are we going to do?” He started laughing, which made me start laughing as I now saw the humor in the situation. We ordered a new basket to be delivered the next day for our neighbor and also went by to explain what had happened.
We all had a good laugh over it and I was relieved since I had never formally met our neighbor and didn’t know what to expect. I’m actually quite glad that this happened. I got to meet our neighbor and learned a valuable lesson about checking the card before you open the gift. I also know what I will send my friends and family after they welcome a new addition. I’m sending chocolate.
To purchase a gift basket for any occasion visit www.giftbasketontheweb.com/
