I Got the Drop On You!!
by Gary Woods

One of the things that retailers do to get us to fork over our hard earned cash is to say they'll beat anybody's price even after we've made our purchase. The problem is, who has the time to scout the ads to make sure we did pay the lowest price possible?

Well if you don't have the time Price Protectr (www.priceprotectr.com) does. They will send you an email notification when the price of something you've bought drops within the time covered by the store's policy.

36 vendors are supported by Price Protectr including Amazon, The Apple Store, Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, Future Shop, Sears and Staples and to get the service started just enter your email address the price you paid and a link to a purchased item on the store's site. You don't even have to have purchased the item online.

There are directions for requesting a refund from each retailer and links to a store's policies which can range anywhere from 14 to 90 days are provided. If you sign up for a Price Protectr account, you can track your buying history and customize your notification preferences including specifying a dollar amount below which the price has to have dropped before you get notified. I mean who wants to get an email telling them they could save $1 by filling out 3 forms, copying the UPC and spending 41 cents plus the cost of an envelope.

The only downside I found is that the service won't track competitor sites to see if their prices drop below your purchase price.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910