Mercata minidisc deal.. what am I missing?

[Justin42]

Purusing the deals page there was the item about the cheap minidisc player, but to wait to get the higher end one if possible when a new Mercata deal opened...

I just went through their (Mercata) site and they have the MDMS722 player for $199-- is this their buy cycle? How does one get it to the $137 on the front page? Did it mean Mobshop?

(sorry if this is a totally dumb question, I'm just very confused!!)

[Brendan]

It's not a dumb question. Mercata doesn't make this deal very evident. What you have to do is register with the site (link on the main page) which gets you $100 Mercata dollars (which now will expire July 31). This will get you 20% off anything providing the discount doesn't exceed $100 (you can use your Mercata dollars on a number of purchases, until they run out or expire). Then you wait until the 722 enters a "Powerbuy cycle" whereby the price, starting at 199.99, will drop as more people buy in. A powerbuy will usually last 2-3 days. Generally the 722 will drop to about $171-174 (maybe lower, who knows?), then taking 20% off will get you down around $137-138, no shipping, no taxes. This is easily the best minidisc deal on the net right now.

I bought a 722 from Mercata myself a couple weeks ago. Couldn't be happier.

So have I totally confused you? If you still have questions, ask away.

[Justin42]

Thanks for clarifying that! I guess I'll register with Mercata and wait for a cycle to start... I really don't know why I *need* an MD player/recorder, but it seems like it'd be great for occasionally recording concerts and such...

Now to wait for a while... is there a way to set it up so they email me when it enters a Powerbuy cycle? Or do I just keep checking?

Thanks again!

[Brendan]

Glad I could help. If you want to know when an item enters a cycle do this:

1. On the front page click Customer Service (on the top menu bar)
2. Page down and on the left side, under "Mercata Smart Shopper" choose Product Requests.
3. Type the product description in the lower box (Powerbuy Requests). I think it's something like Sharp MSMD722, but I'm not sure.
4. Then type in your email below that and they'll let you know.

I haven't tried it myself, but that's the way it's supposed to work.