Anyone who’s ever bought a digital camera from a store knows the frustration of seeing the same model a week later at a cheaper price. Not because there’s a new model out or because there’s been a change in the exchange rate for the yen, but because they simply didn’t shop around. And even worse, because they didn’t shop around on the Internet.
In 2011, there’s no excuse for people shopping locally. Unless you live in one of the ten biggest cities on the planet, the chances are that your local electronics store has prices that can be very easily beaten. In fact, if manufacturers and the market allowed it, they’d probably be selling goods above the recommended retail price in the effort to make ends meet when faced with competition from global internet marketing.
It always makes sense to shop first on the internet. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, internet retailers don’t have to carry huge amounts of physical inventory. If you walk into a store ask for something they’re advertising only to be told it’s out of stock you’re going to be annoyed. And if it happens repeatedly, you’re going to stop shopping there. But the internet retailer probably doesn’t carry any stock at all. When you order from him, he simply takes your money and arranges for the item to be shipped to you from the distributor’s nearest warehouse, all without laying out any investment beyond the cost of his web site and office. So he doesn’t have all those overheads of the local store.
The second reason to buy on the internet is because of the nature of global competition. The cyber shopper doesn’t get tired tramping from shop to shop comparing prices, he can do it in minutes from the comfort of his home and because of this will make many more price comparisons than the mall shopper. He’ll actually find the lowest price in the country, or even the world. This is a strong incentive for internet retailers to keep their 
prices low, and they’re constantly checking the competition to ensure that they’re either the lowest, or very close to it. Because of this, it really doesn’t matter where on the internet you buy, because the prices are likely to be all pretty much the same. Where you can save is by checking very carefully what delivery costs and how long the waiting time is.
But if you’re after a serious bargain, if you want a digital camera, especially a more advanced model, at a very good price, spare a thought for the second hand dealers. You don’t have to leave the internet, there are plenty of them around offering reconditioned cameras, often with a warranty and often at bargain price. You’re not going to get the latest models, but unless you’re a gadget fashionista, that’s not going to bother you too much.
And that, in a nutshell, is the very best way to get a digital camera you can’t afford at a price that you can.
