2023-10-15 21:02:00
Hello.
One of the most popular questions that arise non-stop is “when should I buy such and such an item, when will there be discounts on it and I won’t go wrong.” For example, over the past week I was asked regarding buying a smartphone more than a dozen times, five times regarding a computer, and several times regarding something else. Often people describe their wishes, but forget to add such a small thing as their budget for the purchase.
At the end of 2021, I gave simple tips on how to organize your electronics purchases and what you should pay attention to. The article, on the one hand, is not outdated, on the other hand, our world has changed beyond recognition, and a detailed analysis of the changes that have occurred is required. Therefore, I recommend reading that material, and here we will discuss issues that concern many. And they are applicable to the current situation in the Russian market, I hope that the text will be useful to you. For simplicity, I divided it into small chapters.
Table of Contents
Choosing a manufacturer’s brand – a well-known brand versus a stranger
Some brands have disappeared from the Russian market, some have become inaccessible, that is, they are prohibitively expensive. The rise in sales of brands unknown to the general public shows that people are ready to choose other products and are reconsidering their preferences. This is a global trend that has been strengthened in Russia by external factors; people are ready to try something new and are not shy regarding it. A person who recently bought exclusively TVs from Samsung, LG or Sony suddenly looks at manufacturers from a different echelon and buys them to try. A TV is a thing that will be with you for a long time, and by purchasing a brand unknown to you, you are taking some risks. But you convince yourself that you are not spending very much money on this experiment.
Last year I started renovating my mother’s apartment. I chose air conditioners, looked and selected several models, then turned to friends who specialize in installing air conditioners (it is important to note that they do not sell them). What followed was a remarkable conversation:
— Eldar, are you sure that you want to install exactly these inverter air conditioners? – They seem to be good, do you recommend them? — They are good, but their prices are inadequate in today’s times, are you really ready to pay 75-80 thousand for each? – But are they good? – Look, we are now installing General Climate for many people. Cool, warm. Perhaps the plastic will turn yellow in five years, we don’t know. But they cost twice as much.
I called a friend who owns a Samsung retail store to discuss the issue of air conditioners. In response, I heard that he also installed General Climate at his dacha, they work and work. My friend showed rationality, despite everything else and the fact that, it would seem, he should choose the Samsung brand. The price outweighed other considerations.
And this trend has very unpleasant consequences for A-brands. When the cost of approximately identical things differs by a factor of two, people begin to choose brands unknown to them until that moment. The game is clearly worth the candle. Many manufacturers have not yet realized that the crisis is with us for a long time, and it is impossible to consider air conditioning as something luxury. Price plays a big role in the choice; every day more and more brands will appear that offer an interesting price/quality ratio. An example of such a brand is Uwant, an interesting household appliance with reasonable prices. The brand is still little known to Russian consumers, but I think that following a while they will talk regarding it widely. By the way, this vacuum cleaner came to me for review, so I’ll tell you regarding it soon. But just recently I thought that I would not use anything other than Dyson and Samsung, but now my views on the issue have changed dramatically. I give way to new brands and try them in life.
Warranty service is the most important issue
When buying something, we almost never think regarding the device breaking down; we don’t want to think regarding the bad. In conditions of parallel import, responsibility for the goods, as a rule, lies not with the manufacturer, but with the seller. And sellers often do not have any tools to repair a broken item, because service is a separate and expensive business, impossible without the support of the manufacturer. And many manufacturers left Russia.
For example, it is impossible to repair a broken screen on an iPhone 14/15 of any model in Russia; there are no spare parts, and most importantly, Apple software to link the display to your device. As a result, it all feels like buying a disposable device that can’t be repaired if you accidentally drop and break the display.
For example, Samsung has not left Russia and supports the repair of any equipment. Moreover, if you bought a device intended for the Caucasus region, then it is covered by an official warranty in Russia and can be repaired under warranty (there are many such devices in large retail stores). I recently changed the screen on my Galaxy S23 Ultra, there are spare parts, the repair time is regarding two hours, that is, instantly. And at the same time, the number of service centers is huge, they are scattered throughout the country, plus there is an on-site service for premium smartphones, it operates in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
When choosing a product from a new brand, you need to go to the company’s website, find the “Service” section (sometimes there is no such section at all, this is an alarm bell). See where and what services are available, how satisfied you are. For example, if you live in Omsk, and the service center is only in Moscow, then this is not the best story. When choosing an unfamiliar brand, you need to spread straws for yourself so that later you don’t have many problems with warranty repairs or repairs as such.
The algorithm of actions here is simple – we look at where and what services are available. You can call the hotline and talk to the operator before purchasing, hear what they will offer you for repairs (deliver the equipment to another city, take it out at your own expense, and so on, there can be a lot of options here).
We had a separate article regarding services, I advise you to read it.
Place of purchase – price versus seller’s name
The market today is very diverse, it includes companies that supply goods officially, those who bring the same devices through parallel imports (and pay all taxes), and there is also a gray market (nobody pays taxes there). The price of the same device can vary dramatically, sometimes the difference reaches 25-30%. And then the temptation arises to buy where it is cheaper. A lot here depends on what exactly you are buying, how much the device costs and how likely problems are with it.
For example, when buying wireless headphones, you most likely will not receive any defects; they are minimal. But problems may arise with the phone, and not even at the very beginning, but following six months of use. I’ll give you the story of our reader who bought a Galaxy Fold4 from a certain individual entrepreneur. He looked for the minimum price, found one and bought a phone, and was happy with the model for six months. Then something happened to the screen, and it stopped opening completely, the mechanism jammed. The store, registered to the individual entrepreneur Vasya Pupkin and Sons, honestly said that the device was expensive and no one would repair it, there was no guarantee (the model was delivered to Romania, they offered to go there for repairs, of course, at their own expense). By law, this individual entrepreneur is obliged to repair the device, but they are not going to do this, which is easily explained. You can go to court, but it involves nerves, money and is not at all a guaranteed result.
In my opinion, here you need to clearly measure what you buy and where. The larger the retail player, the simpler and easier it will be to sell the equipment. Typically, large companies treat their customers loyally. Before our eyes are examples of how DNS accepted broken equipment and solved the problems of its clients. But the matter here is very subtle; for each company you can give a lot of examples once morest it, when a person was left with broken electronics and no one solved his problems painlessly. It is important to understand that this is always a possibility. And it directly depends on the size of the company and its policies. We hire individual entrepreneurs or sellers on Avito, they do not bear any responsibility. We take large gray trucks, there is a little more responsibility, but even then the issues are resolved arbitrarily. Large retail already provides more guarantees and solves problems. This is best done in our country by re:Store, but there the price of products is initially noticeably higher. The service costs money, and you need to be aware of this before purchasing the device.
For example, I never buy goods more expensive than 50 thousand rubles somewhere outside of retail; the benefits are not worth the risk that later I will not be able to do anything, repair the device. But everyone sets the bar for themselves independently.
Price is an important factor, but it must be assessed pragmatically; low prices often directly lead to problems.
When to buy, are there real discounts?
Situations in everyone’s life are different. If your computer breaks down, as happened to me, then you have no time to think regarding when and what discounts will be on this equipment, you go and buy a new computer, choosing from what is available now. But if you have time, you can win a little money, although this is not a guaranteed story. To avoid getting into trouble, you need to understand how the market works and how it works. Here I can advise you to read our materials, and even better, subscribe to the Telegram channel to always be aware of what is happening, find it you can here.
But still, I’ll give you some tips that can help you in choosing electronics. In the context of the global crisis, there is almost no reduction in the cost of equipment; tomorrow it will always cost more than today. This is the trend.
But there are price fluctuations that depend on external factors. For example, discrete video cards fell in price following changes in the cryptocurrency rate, used video cards saturated the secondary market, and the shortage for new models disappeared. This is the exception rather than the rule; usually prices only go up. And you can track such fluctuations only by tracking events in the world; there is no seasonality that will definitely say that video cards will become cheaper by such and such a date.
We are familiar with seasonality, for example, before the New Year or at the end of summer, companies offer discounts. And it seems that it is more profitable to buy devices at this moment. There’s just one problem – the ruble exchange rate is constantly fluctuating, and often the discount comes from the new, high cost. Therefore, at best, you get the same value as you had. It’s definitely not worth the wait, prices won’t change dramatically, and you won’t gain a significant amount.
It is possible that before the elections the ruble will be brought to an exchange rate of 80 rubles per dollar, then following 2-3 weeks prices on the market will go down; this parameter needs to be monitored separately. There is no immediate change in prices, not only downwards, but also upwards.
As conclusions
The Russian electronics market has changed a lot, and not only have retail chains and suppliers changed due to parallel imports, you and I have also changed. Now we are ready to consider unknown brands for purchase. But before you rush headlong into the pool, it’s still worth laying down some straws and finding out at least regarding the service of such brands.
It is difficult, if not almost impossible, to profit by waiting for the prices of a particular product to change. Most sellers and marketplaces have the opportunity to set up notifications regarding a decrease in the price of goods, you can do just that and catch the right price for yourself. There are also periodic sales where goods are given away with real discounts (for example, “Megamarket”, there is a cashback of up to 50% of the cost of the goods, and no one else has anything like this, this is the best option to catch discounts, this happens every few months) .
And, of course, you need to carefully choose equipment, read reviews and reviews of it. Very often it is marketing information that outweighs the actual views of users. Sometimes reviews cannot appear immediately for new equipment; there are very few of them. How ready are you to be a pioneer and be in the forefront of studying it from your own experience is a question for you.
I hope that we, as before, will help you in choosing equipment, just as you will talk regarding your experience. Happy shopping and good prices! The listed algorithms for choosing equipment during a crisis are simple, but they will help you avoid problems and save your time, and most importantly, money.
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#buy #electronics #worth #saving
