That pink mouse was when negotiations on price began in earnest. Here’s how it played out.

After agreeing that a pink mouse would be lovely, the chat rep asked Significant Other if she’d like the computer to come in pink too. Doing so would cost a bit but not a lot.

Then the rep asked if she’d like to consider having the laptop come in pink as well. That would be an extra $25. SO hemmed and hawed. OK. She was sounding a bit disengaged from the deal.

Problem was, the price kept going up bit by bit, and pretty soon it would be way beyond the $1,500 price limit SO had set for the purchase, based on the size of the gift her father had sent her.

So SO mentioned all the discounts plastered around on the Dell website. What could the rep do about that? Without missing a beat, the rep offered $150 off the total, which brought the price down below $1,500.

That certainly helped.

And what about the shipping and tax and the rest of it? Tax was what it was. And there was a charge for a California state environmental disposal fee paid up front to cover the monitors. But the rep could provide free shipping. But that was a standard deal with Dell, wasn’t it, said SO. Sure, free shipping was standard, but not two-business-day free shipping. And that would apply to each of the components — computer, mouse and monitor — which would ship separately.

The rep said somebody else would call by phone to go over the complete order and take credit card information. And that’s what happened.

But even then, the deal-making wasn’t done. Suddenly, my SO realized that it would be nice to have a webcam eyeball built into that computer. (My small contribution to her decision-making.) So she called the phone rep back and said she’d like that added. The rep replied, the price would be an additional $25. SO asked if there was any way to get it for less. The rep didn’t hesitate. Yes, she could add it on for only $10.

When the final invoice came back, the tally was $1,596.55. I figure that extra $97 over the original goal will be my graduation present.

Next: What I’ve learned about getting a great deal on computers right now.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 by dian