Eric Gulbransen
January 27th, 2007, 02:15 PM
Money doesn't come easy to me, so when I face a big dollar purchase I typically search for cheaper ways out. One time that particular thinking "almost" got me in trouble, as I came a whisper away from falling into the grasp of the aggressive internet criminal sellers who seem to populate (read: "generate") the "Discount, wholesale" digital sales world.
I promised myself, after I learned that very vaulable lesson, never to trust those types again. And I haven't. But, still, it's been tempting these past months to browse through their ads that claim "unrealistic" prices. I knew what would have happened if I had called, or if I clicked "Purchase now." So I didn't. But still those ads left a lingering impression that at the very least there "Might" be a way to save some money (sweat) on this big (for me) purchase.
The best I could figure, after quite a lot of hunting, was that I had two options: Pay full retail for the lot of equipment I needed, and take no chances, or go for the discount and be completely destroyed by the enemy. But then I followed some friendly advice and instead of just checking the DVinfo.net site sponsors for inventory and prices, I actually -called one- Tapeworks. Once I did it didn't take long for me to learn that all I knew up until this point was not all there was to know about buying dv equipment. Suddenly I had a name, and wasn't referred to as buddy. When I didn't have a name I was referred to as Sir. Instead of getting cheap tripods jammed down my throat, simple ten packs of HD tapes were gently "suggested." I was helped, rather than taken advantage of. I was respected, rather than disgusted.
Today I've got a lot less money in my piggybank, but I'm very happy to report I'm not pacing about the room in a cold sweat over it. I'm actually pretty damn happy about it. And that's the way it should be.
Hope this helps, back.
I promised myself, after I learned that very vaulable lesson, never to trust those types again. And I haven't. But, still, it's been tempting these past months to browse through their ads that claim "unrealistic" prices. I knew what would have happened if I had called, or if I clicked "Purchase now." So I didn't. But still those ads left a lingering impression that at the very least there "Might" be a way to save some money (sweat) on this big (for me) purchase.
The best I could figure, after quite a lot of hunting, was that I had two options: Pay full retail for the lot of equipment I needed, and take no chances, or go for the discount and be completely destroyed by the enemy. But then I followed some friendly advice and instead of just checking the DVinfo.net site sponsors for inventory and prices, I actually -called one- Tapeworks. Once I did it didn't take long for me to learn that all I knew up until this point was not all there was to know about buying dv equipment. Suddenly I had a name, and wasn't referred to as buddy. When I didn't have a name I was referred to as Sir. Instead of getting cheap tripods jammed down my throat, simple ten packs of HD tapes were gently "suggested." I was helped, rather than taken advantage of. I was respected, rather than disgusted.
Today I've got a lot less money in my piggybank, but I'm very happy to report I'm not pacing about the room in a cold sweat over it. I'm actually pretty damn happy about it. And that's the way it should be.
Hope this helps, back.