| These days you'd be hard pressed to find a home or | | | | shopping is that your search won't be limited by |
| business that didn't rely on a computer in some fashion. | | | | location. It makes no difference if the company with |
| Homeowners pay their bills, do their banking, shop, do a | | | | the best price is two thousand miles away or only |
| budget report, do school work, create holiday and | | | | twenty, because the product will be shipped right to |
| greeting cards, manipulate and print photos, play | | | | your door. Just remember to factor in all applicable |
| games.. the list goes on and on. Businesses do billing | | | | shipping charges when you are trying to figure out |
| and invoicing, log inventories, do ordering and print | | | | who has the best deal for the program you are looking |
| invoices, manage their accounting, etc., etc. | | | | for. |
| In short, pretty much every phase of our lives is | | | | Go Right to the Source |
| controlled in some facet by a computer and | | | | A great place to find software for cheaper than retail |
| computers require certain software programs to be | | | | prices is by going directly to the manufacturer's |
| installed in order to perform the functions that we need | | | | website. Many manufacturers will offer direct |
| them to perform. This is where a problem can come in | | | | downloads of popular software programs from their |
| for the computer user who doesn't have a lot of | | | | sites, this often allows you to get the programs for |
| disposable income - computer software can be pretty | | | | less money because there is no box, no packing |
| expensive, if you need half a dozen programs or more | | | | materials, no shipping or handling, in fact very little if any |
| for your computer to do everything that you want it to | | | | overhead cost at all. You may also be able to get |
| do and you've got to pay full MSRP for those | | | | package software discounts if you buy more than one |
| programs the cost could really become an issue. | | | | program from the same manufacturer and you may |
| So where does the computer user go when they | | | | also be eligible for manufacturer rebates which will |
| need computer software, but don't have a whole lot of | | | | further lower an already discounted price. |
| money to spend on it? Here are a few ideas of how | | | | Don't be overly picky |
| you can get your hands on some cheap computer | | | | Purchasing software for a lesser known manufacturer |
| software that will have your PC performing all of the | | | | rather than from one of the industry's heavy hitters |
| functions that they desire, without putting too much of | | | | could save you a bundle, and if you compare the |
| a strain on their wallet. | | | | features you just might find a program you like better |
| Shop Around | | | | from one of the smaller companies. |
| It's no secret that retailers compete for your business; | | | | If you absolutely, positively need to have the software |
| there are advertisements in the newspaper every | | | | from the top manufacturer, see if you can get an older |
| weekend giving details of sales and specials. If you | | | | version of the program. New versions of computer |
| aren't in the biggest of hurries, you can shop the sale | | | | software are produced all the time, if you're willing to |
| papers for a little while to see who's got the best deal | | | | use 'last years' version when a retail store is trying to |
| on the software package you need. Some stores | | | | clear them out you could save quite a bit as well. |
| even do a price match with competitors, so even if | | | | It most certainly pays to do your research and |
| one store advertises a better price on one item and | | | | comparison shop when it comes to computer |
| one of their competitor's beats them on another you | | | | software, paying the full suggested retail price could |
| may be able to bring in an advertisement and get the | | | | end up costing you more than you paid for your |
| best possible prices on your software form the same | | | | computer (a lot more in some cases.), but if you shop |
| store. | | | | around as suggested above you could end up |
| Use the Internet | | | | spending a lot less while getting virtually the same |
| Just like retail establishments compete for your | | | | programs. |
| business, so do online retailers. The beauty of online | | | | |