Decide what to buy | the Reevoo.com blog, featuring news on TVs, cameras, laptops, mp3 players & other gadgets, shopping tips and deals, reviews and more

The only problem with buying yourself a great new gadget, or fitting out your kitchen with up-to-the minute appliances is what to do with the things they replace. Disposing of old electricals can be a bit of a headache and they often end up gathering dust at the back of a cupboard or in the attic.

At the moment, over 75% of old electricals end up in landfills, polluting the soil. Every year Britain produces enough electrical waste to fill Wembley Stadium 6 times over. And this mountain of junk is growing - Britain produces 5% more electrical waste every year.

The irony is that over 85% of the materials that make up electrical goods are recyclable, and recycling them has never been easier. Here’s our quick guide to the right way to get rid of old TVs, kitchen appliances, gadgets and mobile phones.

What can I recycle?

If your product has a plug or a battery it can probably be recycled.  Double check by looking for the crossed-out wheely bin symbol somewhere on the product case or manual.

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Need something to while away the days until the bank holiday? Well look no further than the Feel-Like-Love machine. It’s an interactive shopping list with a naughty twist.

Read reviews from shoppers who have found products that they absolutely Love, find out how they make them Feel and which bits they Like best. But also, what they Hate about poducts.

Get clever and find the hidden functionality and access to the secret vault of saucy reviews.

And best of all, you can embed it all on your own blog or website – even the naughty version…if you can find it. Just click “embed this” in the bottom right and copy the code to your blog or website. Here’s a sneak preview of the embedded versions…

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and now for some sauce…

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Jacqui Smith’s husband could have saved himself a whole heap of trouble. It’s not too late Richard…

**Please be warned that the saucy version does contain adult content.**

You’ve probably noticed a few shops on your high street, and indeed on the web, disappear in the last few months. But what happens if you’ve bought something that needs taking back or hasn’t been delivered? Find out what rights you have when a retailer goes into administration…

Refunds
If you want to return goods, after a retailer has gone into administration, you may hit a few problems. Previous returns policies will probably not apply so the best way to deal with the situation, whilst stores are still open, is to talk to staff to see if they will be able to refund or exchange the goods.

If they are unable to do this, your next port of call is with the administrators. Place a claim with them and send them all the receipts and other paperwork you have. Of course, you may still end up with nothing but you may be lucky and get at least some of your money back.

Undelivered or faulty goods
If you have placed and paid for an undelivered order, even if you’ve only paid a deposit, you have more rights but it does depend on how you’ve paid.

Funnily enough, these cases are always better when you pay by credit card. That doesn’t mean you should all go away and stack up debt on your credit cards! But, if you know that you’re able to pay the card back in full, they do offer a bit more security when things go wrong.

If you pay for something between £100 and £30,000 using your credit card for part or the whole purchase, you are protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This states that he credit provider is “jointly and severally liable” for your purchase:

75. — (1) If the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement falling within section 12(b) or (c) has, in relation to a transaction financed by the agreement, any claim against the supplier in respect of a misrepresentation or breach of contract, he shall have a like claim against the creditor, who, with the supplier, shall accordingly be jointly and severally liable to the debtor.

So they will be obliged to refund you if your goods are not delivered or if they arrive faulty.

If your purchase was under £100, you will not be protected and you will need to contact the administrators to make a claim instead.

If you’ve paid by debit card then you don’t have the same protection as you do with your credit card but you do have the option of the ChargeBack service - if you contact your bank within 120 days from the purchase date, they may be able to reclaim the cost of your purchase from the retailer’s bank and then charge this back to you. However, there is no guarantee that you will get your money back.

Another thing to think about is to make sure you’ve spent all your vouchers and any store credit you have remaining whilst the retailer is still trading.

On a positive note, when a retailer goes into administration, it’s usually a great time to pick up a bargain. They will try and sell off as much stock as possible so keep your eyes peeled for some price cuts. Just remember that once the retailer is gone for good, you may have a devil of a job taking it back if you don’t like it. Make sure you keep all the receipts, just in case you need to make a claim later and if you can, use your credit card, just in case the goods are faulty or undelivered.

In our newsletter last month, we asked you all to let us know how the credit crunch was affecting your shopping. The results are in and amazingly, all of you had the same attitudes towards shopping and money saving:

If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter, just go to the Reevoo homepage and put your email address in the box in the bottom right, then click “submit”:

There are only 49 days left until Christmas. That’s only 8 more weekends. If you’re the type of person that hates venturing into shops at Cristmas, save yourself some hassle and get your stuff online. Not only will youI be free from crowds and car parks but you’ll also save yourself some petrol.

There are a few things you should be careful of and watch out for when shopping online but follow our top tips and it should all be peachy:

Write a list - Write a list of the people you need to buy for and what you want to get them. This will not only ensure that you don’t forget anyone but you will then be able to work out what will be easy to buy online and what you will need to go into a store to buy. For example, a games console is a product that’s easy to choose online by reading reviews, whereas clothing is something that you might want to see and feel in-store.

Always read reviews - you wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive so why not read reviews from people that have test driven the product you’re about to buy? Reviews from people who have actually bought a product can give you a much better idea of what it will be like than journalist or ‘expert’ reviews - who might have only spent a few minutes looking at the product. And funnily enough, there’s over 400,000 real reviews from people like you and me on Reevoo : )

Read up about the retailer if you’re not familiar with the company - look for and check the phone number on the site so that you know you can get through to them if you have any problems. Also search for the company in a search engine to check other people’s experience with the company.

Check the returns policy - although reading reviews makes it less likely you’ll need to return products after Christmas, it’s worth checking out what it would entail if you had to return a gift to the retailer. You may have to pay a restocking fee or shipping costs or you may be able to return the item to a store.

Check all special offers - Christmas is the time all companies will be offering deals on their products but don’t just look at the product price when you’re comparing deals. Also check delivery costs, returns policies (see above) and make sure they are exactly the same products with all of the same features. Reevoo has prices from over a hundred retailers so it’s a good place to start, especially if you’re buying electricals.

Shop early and check delivery times - Companies will stock up on popular items before Christmas but it’s worth shopping as early as you can to avoid the “out of stock” nightmare. Also ensure that the company will be able to deliver your products in time for Christmas.

Payment and secure sites - Be safe online. Consumer Direct, the government-funded advisory service, recommends that before you enter any details into a seller’s site, make sure you can see the closed padlock in the status bar at the bottom of your browser. The web address should also change from http:// to shttp:// or https:// - this indicates a secure purchase. If you’re paying by credit card, this offers some security online from non-delivery and fraud although it’s usually only for transactions worth more than £100.  Offers are great ways to save some money but just beware of the ones that seem too good to be true, because they usually are. And if you don’t trust the company completely, it’s probably best if you don’t hand over your card details. Oh, and if you’re buying from an auction site such as ebay, be sure to use a service like PayPal which offers some purchase protection.

Ensure your computer is secure - you should have a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Read more about how to make your computer secure on http://www.getsafeonline.org. Also make sure you turn your computer off after use to keep it safe from scammers and malicious software.

Keep records - Keep receipts and any email exchanges. Alsodo a print out of the product you are buying and ensure it includes the price and description of the product.

Now you know all that, happy online shopping!