Buying DJ equipment online is a must for any frugal DJ. Online deals, classifieds listings and discount sales make purchasing DJ equipment online the smart choice, even for a beginning DJ. However, there are some risks to buying your equipment online, and you must take care to ensure that you are getting a good deal from a reputable seller. With a little bit of research and comparison, you can safely save a lot of money buying quality DJ equipment online.
Research
When buying DJ equipment online, research your equipment to make sure it has all of the features you need. Check the input listings to make sure that the inputs and outputs are compatible with the equipment you already have. Then, research the seller. There are many small-time sellers of DJ equipment online which offer a low price, but some of them use shady business practices. Check online for reviews of your seller, including your local Better Business Bureau, to see if it has a record of good customer service.
Price Match
Many major DJ equipment sellers offer a price match program. If you would rather work with a major commercial company for your DJ equipment purchase, but a smaller company advertises a lower price, try going to the company you want to buy from with the advertisement from the other company. Commercial companies will often match the advertised price of other companies. This can benefit you if the commercial DJ equipment retailer has a better service plan.
New vs. Used
You can save a lot of money buying used equipment online from sites such as Ebay, Craigslist, Musicians Friend and many other online companies. But buying used DJ equipment comes with risks: there is usually no service plan or warranty on used equipment, so if something turns up broken or missing, you usually can't do much about it. Check the reputation of your seller and read the listing carefully to make sure that there is nothing damaged or broken. You should also take a good look at shipping charges, since the cost of shipping equipment can be high. If you can find a great deal on used equipment that you just can't pass up, go for it, but the discount should be significant enough to be worth the risk and hassle of dealing with a used equipment seller.
Security
Check out the reputation of any company to whom you give your personal information, including your credit cards. Many companies will take payment by PayPal, which is more secure than supplying your credit card number, but some do not. If you have PayPal, you may want to take advantage of their temporary credit card number service, which issues a one-time-use credit card number for online purchases.
Make sure the site you are on is secure. When you are on the site's check-out page, the form where you enter your information should be secure, and the URL in the address bar should begin with "https://," which indicates that your connection to the page is secure. Do not give your information to any company with an insecure website, or with an incomplete or poorly worded privacy policy.
Beginner Packages
If you are a beginner DJ and want a basic setup, there are packages that offer a complete beginner DJ package. The package DJ setups are a good starter gift, but they can often be more expensive than purchasing a custom setup piece by piece. If you don't know what the equipment does yet, rent or buy a package setup to figure out what you want.
