online shopping tips: don’t give up

Ah, the spirit of Christmas.  It’s always better to give than to receive, and who deserves to receive a gift from me more than well, me?  No one, that’s who.  Which is why I decided to treat myself to Daft Punk’s “Alive 2007″ Limited Edition for Christmas.  I’ve had the torrent for a couple of weeks but not only wanted to support my favorite french robots (by paying for it), but was also excited to check out the 50 page photobook that accompanies the limited edition.

The problem?  As you can see from the above Amazon.com screenshot taken today, the limited edition seems to be well, rather scarce at the moment.

Luckily, my obsession for all things pyramid people drove me all over the net looking for it.  And finding it.  For $18.41 (slightly better than $150, no?)

My first stop after Amazon was Walmart.com.  I figured, most of Wamart’s, eh, ‘target market’ wouldn’t be hip to the Daft Punk tip.  I was right.  Monday, around noon, Walmart was showing it in stock.

Racing home that night, firing up the computer, I was equal parts amused (maybe I underestimated Wal Mart shoppers’ taste in music??) and horrified to see it had sold out during the day.

I continued my frantic search at Overstock.com.. and then Insound.com.  Both of these ‘reputable’ establishments showed it on “pre-order, not yet released”.  WTF?

A few dozen sites were perused, including eBay, where a Canadian seller with questionable feedback seemed to have my fix.  I was nervous, but determined.  On a whim, I made one more stop before jumping into the auction fray.

Tower.com.  My savior.  They had it, but were showing a ‘3-7 day delay’ on orders.  That was better than nothing.  I quickly placed my order and fell fast asleep.

The next day, I received an email from Tower.com.   My precious 2-disc set had shipped.

All hail Tower.com and the value of shopping around, even online.