With the holidays right around the corner—especially if you are eyeing Black Friday deals—avoid buyer’s remorse by utilizing one of the library’s many resources and consulting Consumer Reports Online before you make a purchase.
Consumer Reports is known for its expert reviews, giving easy-to-understand explanations of product features and thorough product testing across a wide range of categories. Whether you’re looking for electronics, appliances or other expensive items, accessing these reports through the library ensures you’ll be well prepared to make an informed decision on any purchase.
Consider the following tips:
- Read the buying guides. As you review each product, you will notice there are buying guides for them as well. Read these. They provide information that’s not included in the rating or reviews as they’re a comprehensive look at a product and its features.
- Understand the ratings. While rating methods and categories will vary somewhat by product type, typically most items share key criteria such as: safety considerations, product performance, longer-term reliability and owner satisfaction data. View more on their rating resources here.
- Check out user reviews. While extremely varied, user reviews give a broader perspective on products in less controlled environments, and so are worth reading. Ultimately everyone’s experience is different, and Consumer Reports can help you wade through trends in review, like poor quality or user comfort.
The library provides free access to Consumer Reports both in a digital format and as a magazine that you can check out. If you’re in the building when accessing Consumer Reports Online, you will be automatically signed in. If you are outside of the library, you will be asked for your Patron ID, which is your Canton Public Library card number. To check any items out of the library, a library card is required.
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