Do you have any idea what the street value of this Night Elf is?

Let’s face it…our drug of choice is not getting any cheaper. No, not booze jackass…I’m talking about games. When a new title hits the shelves, you’re typically looking at dropping $50.00. If it’s an MMO, count on an additional $10.00-$15.00 per month just to be able to keep on playing it. Now how many of you only have one title in your library? Show of hands? Thought so. Some of us have collections that value in the thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars. All indications of future pricing point to a $10.00 increase per next-gen title, bringing the wallet pang up to $60.00 each…for that you could almost buy a Game Boy Advance SP.
It doesn’t have to be this way.

I don’t consider myself to be cheap…hell, I’m not even frugal. However, 3 years of Purchasing has taught me that if you’re paying list price for something and you don’t have a damn good reason (ie. I need it right this second and will pay whatever it takes to make that happen) then you’re just throwing your money away. There is always a deal to be had, and companies will compete for your dollar as long as they know that they have to. You can bitch and moan all you want about how things should be or how company X is just out to screw people over, but until consumers start spending more wisely and realize that everytime they open their wallet, they’re casting a vote, no change will come about.

Here then is a primer for getting the most out of your hard-earned cash.

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1) Join up, you’re not alone
There are several websites out there that are devoted to just this sort of consumer awareness. Forums where people discuss what deals there are to be had, complete with links, instructions, coupon codes, and everything. There are sites which have a broader focus, such as SlickDeals or FatWallet, as well as those which zero in on our digital heroin, such as CheapAssGamer or Byte Size Deals.

2) Get the flyers
Keeping an eye on the weekly flyers in the Sunday newspaper can serve several purposes. In addition to keeping you up to speed on what’s coming out this week they tend to give you a baseline reading of what you should expect to pay for not only a particular item, but whole classes of them. The less specialized stores such as Best Buy or Circuit City will usually quantify why one thing costs more than a similar thing because they want you to know why it’s worth it to spend the extra cash on some option you’ll never use. Another good reason to grab the flyers is so that you can continue to shop at your favorite store while price-matching to the competitor’s advertised price. Trust me, these places would rather knock $5 or $10 off their price and pocket the rest of it than to lose the whole wad to the guy across the street.

3) Stay on the ball
When that gotta-have game is coming out, start checking around. 9 times out of 10, there will be some sort of sale or promotion going on the first week of release that will bring the price down below list, sometime even all the way down to half price. Miss it during that first week, though, and count on it being $50.00 for a good solid 6 months before it’ll see a price drop. There are always exceptions, and be prepared to see random sales pop up here and there, but the best method of attack is a quick one.

4) Leverage the interweb
When shopping for hardware, you’d be pretty hard-pressed to beat the deals you’ll find online. Don’t be taken in by that “One Day Sale” bullshit…it means nothing when you have “One Day Sales” 7 days a week. Still, NewEgg, ZipZoomFly, and Monarch Computer Systems are tearing up the charts lately with competitive pricing, speedy and cheap (or even free!) shipping options, and solid inventory selection. Additionally, you will often be able to find and use coupon codes to further sway the deal.

5) Getting the best buy
Though it may seem gimmicky, the Reward Zone card could actually be the best thing Best Buy has ever done for its customers. Out of the 3 years I’ve been a part of it, they’ve paid for my membership twice. That brings the program cost down to $3/year for me. What does that $3.00 get me? A few measly 10% off coupons and maybe a couple $5.00 off coupons? Wrong. When you actually do the math as far as how much you have to spend before you get a coupon, the whole thing basically translates into 4% off anything in the store all the time. That might not sound like much on paper, but it’s enough to give them the edge over a Circuit City or CompUSA. And if either of those places has a better price on the item you’re looking at?…see point #2.

6) The other card
One of the lesser known tricks to further reduce your costs at Best Buy lies in the gift cards. Not just any gift card mind you…the Gamer Gift Card. This particular gift card has a coupon included on the back for an instant $5.00 off any video game $29.99 or over. How does this help you with that shiny copy of Burnout:Revenge you’re ready to buy? Put the game down, go up to the cashier and put $25.00 on the Gamer Gift Card. Walk out of the store, remove coupon and gift card from the jewel case, walk back in, and buy your game. Use the coupon to knock the price down and then pay for it with the balance you just put on the gift card. Grab some Strabucks on the way home and blow your profit margin.

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I don’t know if any of these tips have been helpful. I don’t know if anyone will change their buying habits. I don’t know if you’ll take that extra money you just saved and buy something nice for your girl for putting up with your gaming, or if you’re going to turn around and plunk that cash right back down on a PS3 pre-order (You damn junkie). What I do know is that the preceding worthless article was published on time, which means that we’re now 3 weeks running and I haven’t broken the chain yet. Ok, you caught me…I haven’t actually played any games since the EMB weekend, so I had to pull this out of my ass. For the record, I hate moving. Expect to be visiting me in Wilmington for a long time to come.

You’re up, Tim!