Utilize the price lists at Hardwarezone

Just that day, I got a call from a friend asking me if the price she was offered for a thumbdrive was acceptable. Me: So how much does it cost? Her: It's about S$40+ but I think I can push it down to S$43. Is the price ok? Me: Hmm... like I told you before, when I bought my Imation 1GB thumbdrive, I paid S$55 for it. But I remember noticing in one of the subsequent IT exhibitions that the price had gone down to S$30+. And since it has been some time already, the price should in fact be lower. Where are you anyway? Her: Sim Lim Tower. Me: Huh? What are you doing there? You should be checking out Sim Lim Square instead! Her: So troublesome... need to walk. Me: (Repeated the above) It's up to you. Walk a short distance and likely get a better price, or just buy it at S$43. My friend was in luck as I was at my desk then. I whipped up Hardwarezone's website and zoomed in on the price list section. I tediously smsed her the prices at several shops and their unit numbers. Half an hour later, she smsed me back to say that she bought the 1GB thumbdrive I bought at S$20.90. For those whose minds have not yet made the connection, the price she was originally quoted was more than twice that of her final purchase price. If she had foolishly patronized the shop at Sim Lim Tower, she would have been crying her eyes puffed by now. She could have easily bought 2 thumbdrives and still kept some spare change. :P So the next time you want to buy some gadgets, remember to check out the prices first. If you are getting them at Sim Lim Square, Hardwarezone is the place to research. Granted that 20 bucks for my friend's case may be a relatively small amount, still, I don't think anyone would feel happy to be "cheated" this way. In my opinion, this is a matter of principles. Oh, in case I forgot to mention, Hardwarezone is currently serving only Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Australia. =)