I received a couple of PM's regarding what a "smart" way to buy from dell was... so I thought I would post it here instead of just randomly firing off messages with the same content:
So... what are these deals that Im talking about?
The thing with Dell is, they really arent a computer company - in essence they are pretty much a marketing company that sells computers. They twist their prices so much that its hard to tell when you are saving cash. The only time you absolutely know, is when you keep track of them on deal websites such as Slickdeals.net or Fatwallet.com and see a multitude of people go up in arms and stay awake until a coupon valid time ( Dell coupons are activated on a time basis / or sometimes usage basis).
A slightly exaggerated example of dell fucking with your mind is where they say " 50% off any system priced $1499 or greater!" but when you take a good look at it, its their bottom of the line system that you could have bought for $750, but they just marked it up by 100% to compensate for the discount.
So with that being said, you need to know not all Dell deals are great. Most of them time, they downright suck, and you need to be able to differentiate between those deals.
So... obviously you need to know what are true deals, and what are the fake and bunk ass deals. To sort throguh all that, you need to keep an eye on the deal websites that i mentioned above, and see when they post something - and let a few people comment, to see what htey are saying. Obviously, once you are doing it long enough, you too will know when its a good deal... and wont have to rely too much on other people. .
So... you need a couple of things to buy from Ebay if you dont get newsletters from Dell. Some of these may be coupon codes, Bigbucks, etc.
Coupons:
If you ned a coupon code, which can be purchased off ebay for a couple of bucks. For someone who may be making a big purchase, it makes sense to spend $35 bucks to save $50 on your total purcahse.
Keep in mind, not all coupons need to be purchased. Some of the Hot deals that came with coupons were a usage based coupon, where they are good for 10k uses before they expire.
DPA discount:
DPA discounts are (Dell Preferred Account or some shit)accounts that have recently been opened, and provided that you are awarded a credit limit high enough to charge your account, you get an additional 3% off the price.
Big Bucks
There are also some coupons called "BIg Bucks" where they stack with your other coupons so that you can purcahse systems. Again, these can be purcahsed on ebay, and spending $5.00 to save $20 makes a lot of sense.
So... here is what a typical "good" deal looks like, and where its not bullshit:
1600 O.G. price for a laptop (they usually run concurrent promotions and may take off $200 bucks etc)
$750 off $1500 laptops coupon
3% off DPE discounts
$X amount off with big bucks.
You can come out ahead with some serious computerage for only $800 ~ $900 bucks ro so. Dependant on where you live, you might not even have to pay taxes on the entire thing, so thats even bigger.
There is another program out there, called the Dell EPP program, which is the Employee Purchase Program. Apparently, dell states that big companies have great deals with Dell , but usually they arent "great deals" like Dell claims them to be... remember what I said about Dell being a great marketing company? They usually start modifying shit around on the EPP so that you might pay *slightly* less or pretty much the same thing. The monitor you purchased may be $90 cheaper, but guess what? shipping is $40 bucks and handling is $30 bucks, while on the regular website, "Shipping and Handling is free!" omfg
Soo... with all that siad, I hope you have a better understanding of Dell, and how their shit works.
If youre in a hurry to buy a laptop, youre kinda fucked, because you need to watch for these deals. Its not something you can just get out of the blue.
www.slickdeals.net or
www.fatwallet.com Be sure to surf the forums of slickdeals because there will be a ton of discusssion as to what are good deals, and what are not...
Also, know that SOME coupons stack, but not all do.... so dont start buying random coupons thinking that tyou can start applying them to a purcahse. Usually one coupon wipes out another, but again, coupon usage varies from purchase to purchase.
Seriously, its a like a fucking art form buying from dell. if you do it right, you can make serious cash on ebay by selling your shit, or get a fully decked out system. Its knowing when to buy from them thats the hardest part.
go spurs go
