Online Shopping - Comments Page 1

What is your opinion on reverse auctions like Oltiby?

EDITOR'S NOTE: In an ordinary auction, buyers compete to obtain a good or service. In a reverse auction, sellers compete to obtain business. I think it may work better for big-ticket items, so perhaps that's why Priceline and LendingTree have succeeded.

Good ideas for web shopping. Have you tried Ebates.com? GREAT site! My daughter told me about it, and I've already racked up some nice savings....worth your taking a look.

Thanks for the great links. Here in Canada, the price comparisons are not as useful but they can give you a clue where to look. There are for example Canadian versions of Amazon, TigerDirect and some others. Some, like Consumer Reports, have more limited versions with Canadian pricing.

That said, the product reviews are just as valid. But some model numbers (for the same thing)are different in Canada, complicating the issue. There are also sites that compile lists of others reviews by category, like recent digital camera reviews by major magazines. A favorite:
http://windowssecrets.com/reviews/

There is a personal shopping price compare website,It works well, But still need increase: http://www.yoyep.com

I'm the author of "The Insider's Guide to Shopping Online" and your points are great but would like to add a bit.

First, be aware that comparison shopping sites (like Pricegrabber) do NOT compare all possible vendors, only those retailers which have chosen to be included. Also, some sites pay to rank higher in the results of comparison shopping sites. So I suggest those as just benchmark-type sites - they're good to get a range of what an item might sell for but you may be able to do better. I also recommend checking the price at Amazon.com.

Second, if you really want to save, try to combine a store with a low price AND a deal to get points, money back, or a promo code. Evreward.com is a favorite shop of mine for that.

Visit:
http://www.InsidersGuidetoShoppingOnline.com for more info.

Froogle (by Google) -- http://www.froogle.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: The URL still works, but Froogle is no longer. It has evolved into Google Product Search.

I'd like to recommend http://www.naughtycodes.com
Here are all the coupon codes the merchants send out to their registered users. Easy to use and very helpful--I always check here before placing my order.

An important consumer protection for Web shopping is the one-time credit card number. My SunTrust Visa allows me to get a one-time number for a specified $ limit and an expiration period as short as two months.

Here's a cool site where you can type in an ebay user ID to see all of their negative feedback. I've found this especially handy with higher volume sellers when you can see that negative feedback exists, but don't want to wade through pages and pages to find it. The site address is:

http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs

Google's product search and Pricegrabber are also good sources for price comparisons. After you have your prices, check the reputation of the store before you buy. A good site for this is resellerratings.com Click on the 'Store' tab, then search for comments.

Be aware that unscrupulous vendors may load many favorable comments. However, they cannot delete negative comments posted by others. So it is wise to look at the negative comments posted. While even great companies can have dissatisfied customers on occasion, if you see a pattern of questionable business dealings reported by multiple customers, you may want to re-think your purchase with this vendor.