PriceSmart.com Review

Like many other people yesterday, I received an email from PriceSmart about their new site - PriceSmart.com. So I poked around their site and also did some price comparisons. We'll start with the price comparisons since most people will be interested in that. The technical review of the site will be at the bottom for those interested.

The Boomerang Test

For the review, I created the 'Boomerang Test'. It's rather simple - the Boomerang Test compares the cost of the item on the PriceSmart.com site with other international sites. If the difference between the PriceSmart.com price and the foreign retail price are large enough to purchase a plane ticket to Miami, the price fails the Boomerang Test.

Prices, PriceSmart, Prices

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II SLR Digital Camera with 24-105mm Lens Kit : $35,999 TT ($5714 US) compares to Amazon.com's Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens for $3299 U.S. plus shipping. Difference: $2,415 U.S. Epic Fail.
• Sony HT-CT100 Surround Sound Speakers: $2,299TT ( $364 U.S.) compares to BestBuy.com's same model of speakers for $284.99. Boomerang Test Passed.
• Samsung 55" 1080p 240Hz LED HDTV: $24,999 TT ($3968 U.S) has a price of $2499 U.S. on BestBuy with a difference of $1469 US. Boomerang Test Fail, but reasonable considering VAT and shipping expenses.

It becomes apparent that after a certain price - somewhere between $10,000 TT and $20,000 TT, more than likely - that PriceSmart prices fail the boomerang test. It's actually cheaper to fly to the United States and buy some of the higher priced items.

To be fair, though, the items I chose - aside from the HDTV - are items that can fit in ones luggage. And this is why people still fly to the U.S. to pick up items - the money spent on the camera, as an example, can pay for a week at a cheap hotel, a rental car and meals. And it is actually cheaper for them to ship since it's smaller! And a camera is more expensive than a television? Since when?

 Overall, I'd say that PriceSmart.com's prices are competitive - but if you're on the Internet, be price smart and shop around. You might pay for your vacation with the difference in price.

Buying From PriceSmart.com

Purchases are done with credit cards on the site - but you have to go pick up your items at a PriceSmart location of your choice. The only reason to do that is because the items on sale on the site are only available on the Internet. There's no real convenience if you have to pick up your items - and one would think that you could order it and pay with cash or Linx at an outlet when you pick it up.

In this regard, PriceSmart.com's site only works if you're willing to pay for something and then go pick it up yourself. If they had the items on the shelves at their stores, you could just go and buy the things yourself. So... what's the point?

Tech Review Of PriceSmart.com

I was mildly annoyed when the first time I loaded the site it loaded in Spanish. While the Internet is multilingual, it isn't too hard to check an IP address and set the language according to the country the IP address is from. If you're stuck in Spanish, look for the inverted tabs on the right and choose English.

From there, I logged in with my PriceSmart ID (Follow along here). Doing that was strange since the tab order to log in had me putting my membership number (on your card), first name, phone number and last name. The devil is in the details, and these particular details are annoying - it interrupts the flow of the user instead of being intuitive. And the email address and password fields also have the same problem - you enter the email address, then the password, then verify the email address (!) , then verify the password. Again, non-intuitive.

Aside from those annoyances, the site is fairly well organized.