A word of warning: if you’re a techno-geek and believe that the Going Out of Business sale at Circuit City (OTC CCTYQ) is like manna from heaven, it ain’t.

With its announcement last month that the competition was too steep, and their profits in the dumpster, Circuit City pulled the plug on 567 stores nationwide. In an effort to milk the last dollar from consumers they declared that they would have a “liquidation” sale.

They hired liquidators to staff each store, placed people holding placards announcing the sale on busy street corners, and put up Circuit City discount priced red signs throughout each store. The people poured in looking for untold bargains. After all, wasn’t a liquidation sale at Circuit City the equivalent to an open candy store for a kid?

I watched throngs of people stream into our local Circuit City. Parking was almost non-existent. Suddenly I was struck by something like a scene out of an old Twilight Zone television plot: almost as many people that went in empty handed were coming out empty handed.

Deciding to wait for a weekday in order to find a parking place, I drove off, returning on Monday. Sure enough, there was a parking place in front. And the throngs had dwindled down to only a few. As I made my way into the store, wallet in hand, I was met by big burly men in their liquidators uniforms.

Immediately, I went to see what kind of discount I could get on a new laptop. First thing I noticed was that throughout the store, there were red signs announcing 10% Discounts on almost everything. Oh sure, I came across a wayward 30% Discount sign every once in a while, but the discounts on the most popular items was 10%. Hell, I could get that at Wal-Mart (NYSE WMT).

If you ever need to have a liquidation sale, the first thing you should do is study buyer psychology. Circuit City certainly did. They arranged items in such a manner that it appeared that almost everything was already sold out. Empty spots on the shelves, only the most expensive items left for sale. The price leader laptops that are the bread and butter of the electronics industry were hidden away.

Sure, the uninformed were buying the “last” big screen TV or overpriced computers. But those who knew anything at all about current technology steered clear of Circuit City’s so-called “bargains.”

Pick up any Sunday electronics store circular out of your newspaper, and you’ll find better bargains than at Circuit City’s liquidation sale. Most of us should know that there is way more than a 10% markup in the goods Circuit City is selling.

Buyer beware. don’t get caught up in the discount mentality. Shop around. You may just find a better buy at Best Buy (NYSE:BBY).