Archive for the ‘Save Money on Halloween Costumes’ Category
Save Money on Halloween Costumes
Tip No. 2:
5 Tips to Get the Best Price on a Halloween Costume
- Comparison Shop Online
- Calculate Shipping Costs
- Factor in Coupon Codes and Promotional Codes
- Price Guarantees are Not All Created Equal
- Remember Sales Tax!
Comparison Shop Online
There are a couple of reasons why its better to shop online for your Halloween costume. There are more costumes available to choose from, and lots more costume retailers competing for your business. The more competition, the better your chances of getting the best deal. But let’s assume that you’ve decided this Halloween you’re going to transform into the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, and here’s the costume you’ve chosen:
Great choice – should be lots of fun! But if you think there’s no difference between Halloween costume store prices, think again. They can vary widely. This isn’t an exhaustive list of costume retailers, but here are four examples:
| Vendor | Price | Plus Size Halloween Costume |
| Costume Discounters | $89.97 | Womens Plus Wicked Witch Elite Costume |
| Buy Costume | $94.99 | Wicked Witch Plus Elite Collection Adult |
| Costume Craze | $99.95 | Adult Plus Size Premier Wicked Witch Costume – Witch Costumes |
| Half Price Costumes | $115.99 | Wicked Witch of the West Plus Size Costume |
That’s a $25 dollar difference between the lowest priced costume and the highest, courtesy of a little price research. But wait – there’s more. Let’s go to Tip No. 2.
Calculate Shipping Costs
Before deciding which costume retailer to purchase from, you should also find out what their shipping costs will be, it can vary widely as well. Amongst these particular Halloween stores, one charges a nominal shipping fee, the other three offer free shipping if we meet the minimum purchase (which we do on this costume). Since Costume Discounters currently offers free shipping on orders over $70, its still the lowest price. But let’s move on to Tip No. 3.
Factor in Coupon Codes and Promotional Codes
I checked my Halloween Coupon Codes and Promotional Codes page, and found the following promotional links for two of these four costume retailers:
So BuyCostume is offering a 10% discount until September 21, 2009 on purchases over $65, and Costume Craze is offering a 5% discount on all orders, regardless of size. Of the two, BuyCostume had the better original price, plus a free shipping offer, so if you apply the 10% discount to the original price of $94.99 – 9.49 = $85.50, which is actually a better deal than Costume Discounters’ price. So assuming you can take advantage of the 10% discount by 09/21/09, BuyCostume actually has the better offer, if not, Costume Discounters still has the best price.
Price Guarantees Are Not All Created Equal
One other factor to consider is any price guarantees which any of the Halloween costume retailers may offer. Usually they will offer a 110% or 115% price difference guarantee. But be sure and read the details of the fine print, and think carefully, before taking this route.
Remember, they are only offering you 110% or 115% of the difference, not of the overall price. Assuming that we have a $25 price differential, that would be $28.75, it doesn’t actually end up being that much extra money off, even when there is a large price difference. Also, all of the programs I have seen require you to purchase at the full price and then contact the retailer *after* the purchase to request the refund of the difference. There are additional restrictions, no auctions, no clearance merchandise, and ultimately the vendor will decide if you qualify for the refund. And at least one of the vendors offers the “refund” not as cash back, but as a store credit.
I’m not suggesting that the vendors won’t honor most of their price guarantees, in fact, they have every incentive to do so. They get your business instead of the competition, and for a few dollars off the purchase price, they get to find out what their competitors are charging for the same merchandise, they find out which of their competitors you are finding and looking at, and they don’t have to do any work to find all this out. It’s a win win for them. To me, it seems like quite a bit of hassle for the customer and not a whole lot of return. I would personally contact them *in advance* of making the purchase, see if they voluntarily reduce the price on their website in a day or two, or offer you a special deal, and if they do, great, if they don’t, I’d personally buy from the vendor who has the better deal up front, all other things being equal.
Remember Sales Tax!
If you live in Oregon, Delaware or New Hampshire, or other states where there is no state sales tax, this won’t impact you. If you live in states like California, where the sales tax rate is over 9%, and other states like Washington, New Jersey, Rhode Island, etc. where it is quite high, before completing your purchase, check and see if you are being charged sales tax. The Halloween vendor is generally required to charge you sales tax if they have a physical presence (administrative offices, warehouses, etc.) in your state, and if your state sales tax is high, it can change your calculation of where you can get the best price. If a couple of Halloween retailers have similarly priced merchandise and shipping rates, and there’s nothing else that distinguishes one from another, and your state sales tax rate is substantial, the deciding factor between vendors might be whether you will be charged state sales tax.
