Currys and PC World, or Currys/PC World or whatever they are called these days, are busy at this time of year. And they are expensive stores! Electricals and white goods don’t come cheap. Whether you are planning on venturing inside, or shopping online, here are my tried and tested tips for saving money every time.
1. Take your smartphone with you when you shop in-store. I have a couple of friends who do this, and they report it works a treat for swinging discounts. If you want to try this trick, make sure that you have when you are shopping in-store, you have a good connection and the PC World website loaded on your smartphone.
Now, there are a few things you will notice about this website. Like a lot of big retailers with a presence online, there are often online offers and discount codes. Moreover, you should also check for any additional vouchers or discount codes that are available (see below).
When you find the item you want in-store, check its price online. Can you get it for less if you shop online? If you can, why spend more in-store? Instead, show what’s on your phone to the salesperson and ask them to match the price (I hear they often do). If they won’t: stay online and arrange to Reserve Your Item For Collection, at the store you are standing in…
2. Check out the PC World page on Cyber Compare. This is a price comparison website specialising in digital services. It compares web hosting, cloud storage and so on, for nerdy types like me. However the site also has a small but useful section with all the latest vouchers and discount codes, for retailers including PC World and Maplin. What I like about Cyber Compare is that, at the time of writing, its discount code pages are updated frequently. Begone, annoying websites with out-of-date voucher codes!
Another good site for PC World discount codes is… PC World itself. If you go to this page, you can see all the website’s exclusive vouchers in one place.
3. Haggle haggle haggle! I have left the best until last, because this is my preferred way of getting money off at Currys and PC World. Rumours abound that at PC World, the salespeople are permitted to give you a discount of between 2% and 10% (the amount depends on who you hear it from). The retailers have officially denied this in the past, and I don’t know if it is true. I am sure someone on here can vouch for the truth of this, or otherwise…
What I do know is that a couple of years ago, a MoneySavingExpert survey found that when shoppers tried to haggle in Currys and PC World, they had a success rate of 71%! This makes Currys & PC World two of the best stores in the country to haggle in.
So then, what are you waiting for? That said, haggling isn’t for everyone. The MSE survey I have linked to above contains a useful guide to haggling but even so, if you feel silly or uncomfortable doing it, you don’t have to lose out. PC World was one of the first stores I started haggling at (out of skintness rather than any insider knowledge – ha!) and I discovered the following…
Even when I was backward about coming forward and asking for straight-up money off, the magic words were: “Could you throw something in with that?” Last time I did this, I ended up with £40 speakers for my new computer, which I was happy with. Obviously this works better with big-ticket items than it does with, say, a USB memory stick.
Do you have any other tips for getting money off at Currys or PC World? If so, please share them below. We can all save some money!
In the meantime, if you know people who may be planning to shop at Currys or PC World for Christmas gifts – or are planning to go in the January sales, like true Thrifties, for any white goods or electrical items they need, please share this post with them so they don’t miss out.