Normally, you would think that the best thing to do would be to simply buy from the site that offers the printer for the least cost. However, you may not want to do that -- for example, you may want to buy from a site that you, or a friend, knows and trusts.
However, there is one thing that you do not want to do, and that is to pay more than the printer is worth. For that, you need to check the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price). This is the price that the product manufacturer usually gives as the most likely price that the printer will be sold for. It is also, incidentally, usually higher than most of the prices that you'll find.
How do you find the MSRP? The best way is to go to the manufacturer's Web site and find the information page for that particular printer or scanner. Most (although not all) manufacturers will list the MSRP there.
Inflated Pricing
Once you've got the MSRP, you can then check the prices online. And you may be surprised at what you find -- sometimes, Web stores try to sell printers, scanners, etc. for much more than the MSRP. For example, the Lexmark E120n monochrome laser printer can be found online for as little as $98 and as much as $208. If you check Lexmark's product page, however, the MSRP for the E120n is $149 -- over $50 less than the top price. Unless you have an extra $50 you want to burn, it's also more than you should be spending.
Why do they do that? To tell you the truth, I honestly don't know. Most vendors will sell products either at the MSRP or, more often, below it, so why some price their product that high is a real mystery. Most of the time, it is a mystery better left unsolved -- simply buy your printer from somebody who charges less.
But what do you do if you want to buy from a certain vendor, but their price is over the manufacturer's suggested price? Well, the first thing to do would be to call the vendor and check the price. As we all know, computers can make mistakes, and it's not unusual for the price that was put into the company's database (and therefore, onto its Web site) to be the wrong one.
If the vendor insists that this is the price they are selling it for, you may want to point out to them that they are selling it for more than the MSRP. Most sales people (at least, those that want to make a reasonable number of sales) will recognize that this is a real problem, and will back the price down.
If they don't, then you'll know that you probably don't want to give them your money, anyway. Find a vendor who you feel you can trust -- and that knows how to properly price a printer.
