Warranties

So you just got that spiffy new laptop or digital camera you've been wanting, and now you are thinking about protecting it with a warranty, right? The problem is that retail warranties are expensive. Very expensive. But that is the price of security, right?

Not exactly. You see, there is an online warranty company called Squaretrade. Squaretrade not only provide warranties for retail items and ebay items, but also new and refurbished items as well. If your new purchase comes with a retail warranty already included, the Squaretrade warranty doesn't take place until after the initial warranty has run out. Not good enough yet? The best part of Squaretrade is that they cost up to 70% less than retail warranties.

And not only that, but the warranties actually work. Years ago, I bought a refurbished laptop on ebay (note: refurbished is a good way to go, but be careful about ebay in general... know what you are getting before you get it) for about $250. I happened upon Squartrade and paid about $40 for two years of coverage. About nine months down the line, I notice that two of my keyboard keys wouldn't type. So I turned it over to Squaretrade, who sent a postage paid box to my home. A few days later, they said they could not fix it. So instead, they refunded me my entire purchase price. Just like that. No questions. I have since used Squaretrade for everything, and they recently fixed my laptop hdd that was malfunctioning.

Just to provide an example, let's say you did buy that $700 laptop from Best Buy. A three year warranty from Best Buy for this laptop would cost about $269.99. Expensive, but this is for security for an entire three years. However, the same coverage would only cost $129.99 at Squaretrade. That is half the price for the same amount of coverage.


But this wouldn't be a deal unless I had something else to add. How about a %30 off coupon code? When you get your warranty quote, type "THIRTY30" into the coupon box to save a third of the price. So that laptop warranty that costs $269.99 at Best Buy would only cost you $99.99 for three years of coverage after using the above coupon. That is $2.78 per month. I don't know when this will expire, but if it doesn't work, leave a comment and I'll get to finding a new one pronto.