 "Flipkart Diwali sale begins, discounts on electronics not so hot")
Dussehra usually marks the beginning of the Indian festive season. We will now see a proliferating number of discounts and sales at every nook and corner – online and offline. Flipkart has already started with one of its biggest festival sales called Diwali Cyber sale which begins today and will go on till October 20.
We took a quick look at their Electronics and Gadgets section, to check out if the deals are really worth the hype. The first thing that caught our attention was the Tablets section that is offering a lucrative Nexus 7 deal. We’ve earlier seen Flipkart offer Nexus 7 at a discounted price for a limited period. The 16GB Wi-Fi Nexus 7 (2012) is being sold at Rs 8,999 and one can choose to add one year damage protection warranty by paying an additional Rs 2500. The 32GB Wi-Fi Nexus 7 model is being sold for Rs 12,999 while the 32GB Wi-Fi+3G model for Rs 15,999. Quite a deal!
As usual there will be some number game as the general tendency among people is to check the ’number’ attached with the discount. Moreover, it’s the time of the year when retailers tend to push out some stagnant or older stock. We felt the same when we ran through Flipkart’s sale on mobile phones. The renowned e-retailer has put up on sale smartphones like Galaxy Young, Galaxy Pocket Neo and HTC 8X, from known global brands, and a handful of phones from Karbonn and Xolo.
Nexus 7 on sale for Rs 8,999
All through the year, we’ve seen Samsung and Apple trying to woo users with some trade-in offers, and Flipkart plans to do the same with a twist. In trade-in offers, you’ll finally find some current crop of smartphones. Flipkart has a preset list of devices that can be exchanged to buy a new smartphone and avail of discount up to a certain amount only. Phew! For example, Flipkart has listed S3 priced at Rs 24,899, and you can exchange your old phone (provided it’s a preset list of phones that are eligible to be exchanged) and avail of a discount of up to Rs 5,400. So, with a maximum discount, you can take home the S3 for Rs 19,499. The Galaxy Nexus I9250 wasn’t eligible for exchange but one can exchange the S2. However, here the catch is, you might end up getting a raw deal for your older phone. Similarly, one can buy the 8GB iPhone 4 at Rs 18,899 after availing a maximum discount of Rs 3000.
While the mobile section was a complete disappointment, the camera section looked slightly hopeful. Most of the camera deals are kept to the minimum, and we found the pricing to be slightly cheaper than their pricing elsewhere. The Canon EOS 600D SLR which Flipkart is selling with roughly 3 percent discount for Rs 33,945, is Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 cheaper than other online stores. Flipkart has managed to sell the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W710 point and shoot for around Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 cheaper than some other sites. It offers an additional 10 percent off if the amount exceeds Rs 15,000.
The laptop section talks about some exclusive offers on Lenovo Essentials and HP tablets. To begin with, Lenovo essentials are older models. The Pavillion models are priced well, but with the exchange offer with a preset list of laptops eligible for the trade-in. For example, the HP Pavilion 15-e026AX Laptop (APU Quad Core A10/ 8GB/ 1TB/ DOS/ 1.5GB Graph) can be bought with a maximum discount of Rs 5,500 at Rs 31,490 by trading an older laptop.
Flipkart’s mobile exchange sale
The site has put up a decent “deal of the day” with a timer ticking away as it is available for a few hours now. For example, at 50 percent off, Flipkart is selling the Skullcandy 2XL Phase Headphone for Rs 1,249, which is almost similar or cheaper than most of the other online sites.
Besides, users can avail of a flat 15 percent discount on all deals if the amount exceeds Rs 10,000, provided you are purchasing the goodies using a Standard Chartered debit/credit card. This discount is valid from October 14 to October 19. The site states that, “this offer will be applicable over and above all the other on-going Diwali Cyber Sale deals listed below.”
A few things to keep in mind are, most of the discounts are on the MRP and not on the market operating price. So, never get wooed when you see huge discount figures. You may get the same device for a similar price online as well as in the local market. The only comfort that online buying adds is the comfort to browse through products right from your couch and the product will be conveniently delivered at your doorstep. You can benefit from sites like CompareIndia, which let you compare prices across e-commerce sites as well as local retailers to get the best deal.
Disclaimer: CompareIndia.com and tech2.com are properties owned by the Network18 group.
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