That's $225 savings, just from a little smart shopping and some pretty simple planning ahead.
The Shopping list:
Nope, not Black Friday (or Black November.. Since that's how things have been rolling this year...) sales.
The PS4, PSN+ Membership Card and Killzone: Shadowfall (one game of the 3 PS4 games that make up the 179.97) were bundled together for a grand total of $499.99. Thats $10 off what should be a $510 purchase outside the bundle.
The DS4, PS Camera, Power A DS4 Controller Dock and the HDMI Splitter would have come out to be $154.97. "Would," if I didn't manage to get this all for free. How'd I manage that? It's a funny answer considering my console choice:
Bing Rewards Points.
Yep, Microsoft actually paid for a large portion of my Sony-centric purchase because I spend just a little bit of time every day appeasing them and gaining their digital favor.
Seeing as how you can't buy currency to use on Xbox Live any more with the points, since phasing out Microsoft Points, $5 Amazon gift cards are the way to go -and get arguably better games, no matter which system you choose, from it. That's just a better base value.
But what about those other 2 games. I mean, we've got Killzone accounted for, but what about Assassin's Creed IV and Lego Marvel Super Heroes? Well, because Amazon does as Amazon does do, I got one of those games free, because having Killzone pre-ordered opened me up to get buy one, get one, on another 2 games. 2 already well reviewed games for the price of 1? Yes please!
Well what about that splitter and the Cat6, did you really need them?
For me, the short answer is yes.
The long of it is that our TV has 3 HDMI ports; 2 in the back, 1 on the side. We have a DVD player that upscales to HD and our 360 taking up the two back ports. The side port goes unused because.. Who really likes having growths poking out of the side of their TV? This isn't a prison yard, we don't like things shanked in the side. I much rather do it like a rogue, from the back. It would drive me nuts to have the wire sticking out of the side, it'll just catch my eye every time I look at the TV (which is pretty much all night). If this will stave off my personal OCD frustration, it'll be well worth the $10. Now the 360 and the DVD player can share a port while the PS4 will sit pretty in it's own.
Subsequently, we've been having some wi-fi issues in the house lately, and have had certain.. Problems.. In the past with the 360/XBL that have been nothing but frustrating. So I decided to wire the console this time around for both faster downloads and to keep one more device off our wi-fi signal. Now if the wi-fi goes down like it has been lately, I'll be able to keep playing (because it's only been the signal, I think the transmitter is dying on our router).
I also couldn't go without a 50ft cord, but if I could, I would have saved a few dollars. In fact, I have a few 25ft cords I tried to use, but couldn't get them to reach. They go up in 5ft increments til you hit 30ft, then it jumps up to 50ft.
I could have also have gotten a coupler and connected two of the 25ft cords I have together, for around $2, but I couldn't find one locally, and buying one from the internet would have run me around the same price (after shipping) as the Cat6. And I feared that I'd lose bandwidth in the coupler.
I could have also just went with Cat5e, it would have been a buck or two cheaper as well, and a lot of people will tell me that it's not a huge difference; I knew this going in, but sacrificed the pocket change any way. Figured why not, even for a marginal speed boost. I've noticed things have been downloading super fast on the PS4, and I'd like to think there is some extra boost coming from the cord.
So I didn't see why I should waste 2 cords and a coupler, for the same price, and lose speed/data when I could buy 1 cord and gain a little more.
Economics.
All of Monoprice's cords are high quality (I've also used their HDMI cables for years, they're awesome) and just as importantly: whole sale prices. A cord like this, at this length, from a retail store would have run me over $35, for no extra gains. Why waste the money? Even with their lack of free shipping options (which to be fair the cord got to me in 2 days, which was helpful since I didn't know the cords I had wouldn't reach -because I suck with a tape measure), this cord still came at a small fraction of the price I could have paid.
Over all else, spending around $20 to make sure I'm not going to be super frustrated when I'm already holding my breath waiting for anything to happen to the PS4 (because: early adopter blues) just makes sense to me from a piece of mind standpoint. Sometimes that's more valuable then saving a little extra. In a way, it's saving in the long term.
Most people could, and will, leave things like this off and save even more. The first rule of saving is: If you don't need it, don't buy it!
The Experience:
Almost all of this has had free shipping. Because I'm buying right from Amazon on nearly every purchase, the only exception was the HDMI splitter, being the only thing I'm getting on Amazon from a secondary source. All my orders were approved for Super Saver Shipping. Yeah, this means I'll have to wait 5-8 days, but I'm patient, and usually Amazon and UPS only manage to take 3 days to do the job. I could have paid out the ass to have it either day 1 or a day or two later, but why do that when plenty of people will be slamming the servers first thing, trying to get the day 1 update? Waiting a few days will actually save me some more frustration, and sometimes that's currency in and of itself. And I've already mentioned the small, but not game breaking, fee for Monoprice's shipping.
As far as pre-ordering everything, that went smoothly all things considered. I didn't pre-order the console first thing, because I was originally going to wait a year, but I had the money put aside for it already and it was burning a hole in my side, so when I got an email from Amazon saying they had some pre-orders for the bundle I wanted open, I swooped in immediately.
As far as waiting actually goes, I will warn people that pre-ordering a launch console from Amazon was a... Interesting experience... It wasn't really Amazon's fault, but from a matter of personal perception, it was frustrating in a "wait, why am I waiting again?" sort of way.
The system with Killzone was supposed to get to me this past Friday (November 22) and no where was I warned that they'd ship it next day. I had picked Super Saver, I had no reason to believe I didn't have to wait. However, the package came the next day. Meanwhile, everything else I had pre-ordered was still around a week away.
To compound the insanity, Amazon didn't acknowledge having (or getting) the Power A Controller Dock till the day of its release, the same day as the PS4's release, where it almost immediately sold out. Somehow however, this got here before everything other then the PS4.
From there Amazon had sold out of Lego Marvel Superheroes, and I was told I would have to wait. Okay, that's fine, I have other things to play. However, somehow it still got shipped and received faster then all the other items (Assassin's Creed IV, the DS4 Controller and the PS Camera), which came almost a full two days later.
Given I didn't really want to set up the console just to tear it out again to plug in the Camera or the Cat6 when they came, I decided it best to just wait for opening and set up till everything got to me and make it 1 project instead of 3. After running the Cat6 through my house to the set up, the rest of the set up as easy peasy. Had everything gotten to me when I thought it would be (AKA:When I was told), this wouldn't have been an issue at all -I was ready to wait- but getting the PS4 a full week before I figured I would, cascaded into anxiety and frustration (frustration mostly from having a console just sitting there that I didn't know if I'd have to send back or get fixed, but didn't want to manhandle multiple times to get fully set up) that I'm pretty possessive I couldn't possibly be the only person who would have felt like this.
No big deal, nothing terribly bad seeing as it was mostly a matter of impatience, and I chalk up Amazon's end to having 2 consoles launching in 2 weeks, and then following that up with hardcore holiday shopping, but it's something people should know going into pre-ordering a console, I guess.
The End Game:
On top of the savings above, Sony's packaged a $10 PSN credit into all PS4 boxes, meaning extra savings. And we already have Vitas in the house, meaning, since we don't have PSN+ already, free games for those over the term of our tenure, as well. And I also have enough Gamestop points saved up to get a off $20 coupon, that I didn't even have to redeem points for yet -more savings waiting in the wings.
I also know people will also say, "Well, you could have saved more money not getting any of the crappy launch titles." Well.. Whatever, I'm not going to tell you what to like and not like, but I don't see a problem with the launch line-up, and really never have. I can't really help that people don't see things they want here, and those things they do will come eventually -I saved enough money for Infamous: Second Son, Watch_Dogs, and some. I may even pick up Knack with some of that money I saved; that game seems to be the stuff fond memories are made of.
Overall, the most important thing to remember is to shop where you want to and where you're most comfortable -which is especially important to remember during the holiday season.
Just because I had this experience doing what I did, doesn't mean someone couldn't have played Gamestops trade in offers and points system to get them good deals. Or played Target for the 5% off they give on everything, for having their credit card (which I had thought about using myself, since we have one). Or Sony's credit card offering a $100 credit after your first purchase. Or Best Buy for their rewards program (which hates me and thinks I live in Florida, when I don't). This is just a long form note to tell people that there are a lot savings out there day 1 and beyond, and with a little work and planning, you could also reap those rewards too. If this inspires even one person to try to dig a little deeper, and save just a few extra dollars, then I'll be extremely happy.
So, did any of you guys and gals pull some shenanigans to get your next gen experience for less? If so don't Bogart it! Go head and share the information wealth with us! I'm always looking for new ways to save, and so should everyone else. Knowledge, and the sharing of it, really is power in our hobby.
My impressions of the PS4 and the other things in this post are coming soon.
(P.S. It does occurs to me that this comes off as an advertisement for Amazon, Microsoft, and Monoprice.
It's not.
Technically I was paid in the form of bing points, but it wasn't without a lot of work, and it was just barely pennies a day, if you'd even call it a wage at all. Also, Microsoft doesn't know me from the next guy, even though they keep getting angry phone calls from me for other reasons (more on that eventually, because trust me, I've paid them far more then they've ever given me back).
Nothing was handed to me, no matter how easier it was to acquire points over the course of months. It all came with some work and careful planning, all on my end, but enough to make note of, so everyone could save. I've got no good reason to mention any of these places/companies aside from the fact that they've helped me save some cash during this busy season, and wanting to pass on the sentiment to others.)
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