A Benefit of Brain Drain

  • Posted by Rico
  • 5/30/2006

With the country facing the prospect of losing young, bright minds to foreign countries, we who remain are hard pressed to make do. Yet I always believe that there’s always a benefit in any situation, and I learned that when I got a laptop for graduation. Over here, notebooks easily cost 50% more. Thanks to relatives who are admittedly part of the brain drain and live in the US, I was able to avail of their cheaper prices over there.

Deals2Buy.com is just one of the many websites full of great deals for electronics, not just laptops. I ordered my graduation gift, a maxed-out Dell Insprion E1505 from Dell’s website, using the coupon codes found on Deals2buy. Instead of paying $2200 (Php 113,300), I got $750 off and my final price was almost “only” $1600 (Php 82,400), including taxes.

The only problem is that because of rampant credit card fraud, online US retailers only accept US-issued credit cards. A relative over there may buy, but international shipping costs lots of time and money. Luckily though, my tita was there for a wedding. It was a simple matter of a Tito ordering the laptop, having it shipped (for free) to him, and giving it to my tita before she went home.

And just last week, a friend of mine was getting a camera for her birthday. With her tita coming home for the summer, she was also able to get a great deal. A Sony Cybershot DSC-T5 costs around Php 23,000 here, but she was able to get for only $200 (Php 10,300).

So there is indeed a good thing coming out of this sad brain drain our country is suffering. With relatives all over the world, we can avail of the best electronics they have to offer, at their usually better prices. Just make sure that Tita Mharie or Tito Jhun will be able to bring it back to you, and that they don’t mind becoming a pack horse.

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May 30th, 2006
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
godie
Posted on:
5/31/2006 at 9:25 pm

Thats not good at all..

1. Only people with relatives outside the country can avail better priced products. How about the rest of the people who also needs access to such products?

2. Rather solving the fraud problem we just blind-sided it.

3. This encourages brain drain more.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Rico
Posted on:
6/2/2006 at 11:17 am

1. You have a point there. But keep in mind that I wrote this to present an opportunity, not to emphasize that not everyone can avail of it. We have enough reminders of that already…
2. Exactly how do I ignore the fraud problem? The reality is that US retailers like Dell simply won’t allow credit card purchases from other countries. I accept this fact, and seek to work with it. If I had a chance to change this situation, I would. Ordering directly from a US website means I don’t have to time my purchases with a balikbayan trip, and I would have enjoyed the reasonable shipping rates (via FedEx) offered when foreign purchases were allowed before.
3. I don’t see how using relatives already abroad to avail of electronics’ deals can contribute to brain drain. I for one, having did this, don’t want to leave. I think that people emigrate because they are looking for a better life, not cheap gadgets.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
PhilippMac
Posted on:
6/3/2006 at 8:26 pm

You should’ve just bought that Dell from me, may warranty pa. Im based in QC :-)

Have you seen the DELL XPS M1210? 1.66, 1GB, 100GB, SuperDrive, BT, nVidia Geforce 7400?

for only 88k, you can have it. ;-) 3yr warranty extension is only 9k.

Anyway, if you need anything Dell, feel free to email me: philippmac@gmail.com

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
PhilippMac
Posted on:
6/3/2006 at 8:28 pm

BTW, that E1505 starts @68,888 from me :-)

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Rico
Posted on:
6/5/2006 at 2:57 pm

Here are my specs:
Dell Inspiron E1505: 15.4″ (1680 x 1050) display, 2.0 Ghz (Intel Core Duo T2500), 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, Superdrive, BT and Wi-Fi (802.11g), ATI Mobility X1400 256MB. Can you offer these specs for 82k?

Also came with a free laptop knapsack.

And I was able to transfer the warranty from my tito to me via Dell’s website. So I guess local suppliers will honor it.

But your prices are not bad, not bad at all. And admittedly, I would have gotten an XPS instead of an Inspiron if Dell had promos for them, if only because of the better graphics pacakge. Do you own a computer shop? :-)

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Philippmac@gmail.com
Posted on:
6/8/2006 at 12:29 pm

You actually got a very good deal through those discounts :-)

I will reply to your email, sorry it’s been a super busy week. :-)

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Naveen Sharma
Posted on:
3/12/2008 at 9:16 pm

I like the strategy use websites like deals2buy, unodeals.com etc. to find the best deals and then have your relatives bring them to you. I will try this on the Sony LCD TV I have always wanted - they are more than double here than the US!