The age of bits and bytes, ipods and mice that click instead of squeak is a wondrous thing, and for the oily rag bargain hunter it has opened up exciting frontiers.
The age of electronic wizardry is great at bringing together people prepared to sell stuff cheaply and those who want
to buy for a whole lot less than you would usually pay.
The latest faditis to infect the cyberspace is the rise of grab-a-bargain websites.
Imagine each of these sites as an enormous bargain bin that has lots of cheap stuff in it, marked down between 50 per cent and 90 per cent, and you can see why they appeal to oily raggers. Let's have a quick look at these bargain bin sites and the sort of deals you would find in them.
The best known of the grab-a-type sites is grabaseat.
This is where Air New Zealand offers its deals. It obviously wants to put people on planes so they don't fly around empty, so they entice price-conscious travellers on board. For example, a special last week was a flight from Auckland to Wellington for $39 instead of the usual $200-plus.
You need to be quick to get the deals as lots of people are hunting online for such bargains. You'll also need to be prepared to plan ahead since most deals are for flights a few months away. The site is at www.grabaseat.co.nz
Another grab site is GrabOne, at www.grabone.co.nz
This is a coupon site that offers one deal a day.
You buy a coupon using your credit card. The deal of the day we visited was an eye examination for $25 instead of $60 (921 people bought that day's deal). Most of the deals are for services and activities rather than products.
Another coupon site is Ezycoupons. It is styled more on the lines of the classic coupon that arrives as junk mail or appears on the back of supermarket checkout till receipts. The site has lots of coupons for lots of things - anything from pizza to toys at 15 per cent off retail. If you are into coupon specials have a look at www.ezycoupons.co.nz
All you need to do is print the online coupon and redeem it at the store.
Product deal hunters may be interested in www.1-day.co.nz It offers a limited range of stuff at big discounts. The best deal when we visited was a four-person picnic hamper for $30 instead of $105. We have posted lots of new tips on the oily rag website which is getting bigger by the day.
Dave from Wanganui says: "Several technicians told us when we had trouble with our TV and Sky that turning the appliance off at the wall would shorten the life of the machines because the power surge at start-up time was not good for them. Can you confirm this?"
If you have the answer for Dave, drop us a note and we will pass it on.
Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living Off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips on-line at www.oilyrag.co.nz
The age of bits and bytes, ipods and mice that click instead of squeak is a wondrous thing, and for the oily rag bargain hunter it has opened up exciting frontiers.
The age of electronic wizardry is great at bringing together people prepared to sell stuff cheaply and those who want
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