1.Do your research before you buy.  You should read up on the products you are looking to buy before you hit the stores, that way you already have a good idea about which products are good and which are suspect.  Researching online will also help you to narrow down which stores have the best deals - there is nothing worse than buying a product, finding out you could have gotten it cheaper somewhere else, and then trying to return the product to the store in order to get your money back so you can go buy the product somewhere else.  That is just a huge hassle that wastes everyone’s time.2.When you are in the store looking at a product, chances are no one in the store will be able to tell you anything more than what is on the box.  I would say that 95 percent of the time you ask an employee about a product, they will check the back of the box for the answer and if it isn’t there, they will take a wild guess and try to sound as confident as possible about it without having a clue as to what they are talking about.  That is just a simple fact of retail, you can’t get knowledgeable employees at 8 dollars an hour so don’t get upset when they can’t answer your questions.3.Read up on the return policies before you buy.  Many people assume that there is a 30 to 90 day return policy on just about everything they buy and that is simply not the case.  Many stores have 14 to 21 day return policies and some even add restocking fees to opened products if they are returned but not defective.  If you don’t want to deal with restocking fees or you want a longer return policy, find out which stores have the most lenient return policies and shop there.4.Be nice to the employees, the nicer you are to them, the more help you will get in return.  This is especially true in dealing with customer service.  If you walk up with a product that is just outside of the return policy and you start out angry and confrontational you will likely be leaving with your product and no refund.  If you are friendly and understanding, most places will usually work around the return policy to help you out.5.Try to avoid products with large numbers of rebates attached.  Many of the best deals you see advertised on computers and electronics have low prices because of rebates.  Those rebates can take up to six or eight weeks to materialize and the rebate company would rather deny your rebate for any reason rather than overlook any problems in your rebate form.  Some products can have as many as three or four separate rebate forms attached to them.  You are better off shopping somewhere that has lower prices to start with or advertises that the discounts are in the form of instant savings.