Despite my best intentions, I’ve done this: At a store, looking at a range of gizmos I’ve occasionally succumbed to impulse buying. “That one looks good—I’ll take it!” Then, once I unboxed it, I discovered it lacked certain basic features. To quote the Beatles, I should’ve known better.
Had I done a bit of research, I would have walked into the same store, looked at the same range of gizmos, but I would have looked at them more critically. Since I knew what to look for because I’d prepared in advance, I would have zeroed in on a couple of products, compared their features, and made a decision that I wouldn’t have regretted once I got the product back home.
And that’s the point of the many buying guides that we’ve posted on the Adorama Learning Center in recent days. We don’t want you to do impulsive purchases, because chances are you won’t be happy with what you bought, and then, you wouldn’t be happy with us! Before you buy (hopefully at Adorama), it’s essential to do your research so you can make informed decisions. At the end of the day, you’ll be happier with your purchase and will come back again. Adorama isn’t in the business of selling boxes with products in them—we truly want to build a relationship with you based on trust, and that includes giving you good information to help you buy smart.
And so we’ve put together a series of over two dozen buying guides to help you learn before you buy.
Our photography-related guides include: 25 Photo-tastic Gifts for Under $100, 15 Gifts Photographers Will Really Appreciate, 12 Camera Bag Essentials, as current updated versions of our guides to the best digital cameras: Bargain digital cameras, Starter DSLRs, Mid-Range DSLRs, System Compact Digital Cameras, Underwater Digital Cameras, Fashion Compact Digital Cameras, Prosumer DSLRs, and Film Cameras.
Our team of experts has been busy writing buying guides covering a wider range of products that reflects the widening range of products that Adorama sells. That’s why we have guides to cell phones, home theater systems, netbook computers, optics (telescopes, binoculars and spotting scopes), MP3 players and home office equipment. We’ve recently added guides to photo-quality printers, computer monitors, and portable image storage/players.
There are many more guides, and a couple more are coming this week. For a complete list, go to our Buying Guides homepage.
It was a lot of work, but the writers and I wanted to make your buying process easier and quicker, so we did the research steps for you.
I hope you’ll explore these guides before you buy for yourself or a loved one this holiday season and beyond, whenever you need to buy a product you’re not familiar with. Also, if there’s a topic we haven’t covered yet that you’re interested in, please email me.
Happy Cyber Monday and remember: Learn before you buy!
