Comparison Shopping

You do comparison shopping when you check around to different stores and shops to look for the best of what you are looking for, or the most economical price. It can be as simple as checking for the lowest price, or you can draw up a list of features to compare. As you check them off, you can see which product or item is what you really want. Usually, you end up shopping there. One of the best advantages of shopping online is this step of doing comparison shopping.

I've always been on a very tight budget, so I've done lots of comparison shopping, even though it meant driving around to different stores and malls over a number of days and even weeks. Sometimes I started my comparison shopping campaign long before I had the money, so I would not yield to impulse buying before I'd found the best bargain. The internet is a huge saver of time, gasoline, and wear and tear on your body when you do comparison shopping. You can even do it reclining in bed if you have a laptop!

What is more, there are sites on the internet known as price engines, or comparison shopping sites. You type in the kind of item you are looking for, and it will list the stores where you can find it, and at what prices. Then you click on those stores to have a closer look and watch for other details that are important to you.

Some people are always in a hurry, or they don't like to be slowed down with too much detail, so they do only a cursory check with these comparison shopping sites, and then they have made up their minds, and are off to buy in a matter of minutes. Others are far more meticulous and will draw up worksheets, to compare the product offered at several sites, and then weigh the benefits and disadvantages carefully before they decide. Fortunately, online shopping provides room for both extremes and everyone in between! The better you get at it the more you become a smart Power Shopper

Here's one place with thorough information on comparison shopping.

eBizMBA offers a list of the 20 most popular comparison shopping portals. They combine ranking methods from Alexa and Quantcast to create their own ranking method. This is the order in which they list them;
Next Tag
BizRate
shop Local - for USA residents only
SlickDeals - users post deals they find.
woot - only sells one deal at a time!
GroupOn - you can't explore it without signing up. Clever for them, but that rubs me the wrong way!
coupons print coupons (you will need to download software)
pronto
shopzilla (I like the simplicity of the layout)
ShopAtHome - another coupon site
smarter
PriceGrabber
fatwallet - offers coupons and 2% cash back if a member
DealTime (US) - a service of Shopping.com, which is owned by eBay
DealTime (UK)
become (owns several international sites, including discountbee where everything is at least 30% below suggested retail)
dealnews
CoolSavings - coupons and community, but if you click on Compare Prices you end up on a sub-domain of pricegrabber.com
couponcabin - also a service of PriceGrabber.com
Geeks (my kind'a prices!)
eBates
mySimon

No doubt there are more, and more will keep arriving online. It doesn't hurt to try out a number of these aides to your comparison shopping, but after a while you will find a favourite, or several favourites. Bookmark them and soon you'll have your own little comparison shopping routine all down pat.

For instance, I found a lot of helpful information on PricingCentral.com but it isn't even on that list. Just now, Froogle, and SortPrice come to mind as well. I have discovered one especially for Canadians with a very dynamic database. Washabi offers the best cross-border shopping deals, with all the exchange and shipping rates figured in already. Wow!

Most of the comparison shopping engines get a small commission from the merchants whenever you click to go look at their listing. This arrangement generally filters out some of the stores that are scams on the internet.

On the other hand, it means those merchants that pay the most will be on the top of the price charts. If you will click on the link to see the next... and then the next ... page of price comparisons, you may find better prices to suit you.

Comparison Shopping Tips:

• 1. Use the pricing sorting tabs to find the best deals. Don't settle for the first reasonable price you see.
• 2. The products with the most positive reviews are often good choices, but learn to read the reviews with a discerning eye. It happens sometimes that the owner or merchant for certain products will go around and write up false reviews to boost their product.
• 3. Look over the shopping site for the little extras like free or same-day shipping, refurbished items, or even whether the listed item is in stock. Sometimes there are coupon codes openly presented on the site, but you have to enter that code when going through the shopping cart to benefit.
• 4 Make sure you look into the shipping costs and taxes while you are doing your comparison work. The item may be next to free, but the shipping costs will make it worse than if you bought it near home at full price.

Read more tips at How to Shop Comparison Shopping Websites.

One more tip I'm trying out now. I've visited and bookmarked all of the above sites that I think I'll want to use again. All these bookmarks are in one folder, so when I want to do a serious comparison shopping campaign, I'll just open my Firefox browser, find that folder in my bookmarks (Favourites) and click on the tab at the bottom of the list that says, Open All in Tabs. With experience I'll find some favourite ones and some to get rid of, so my list will shorten. So will my comparison shopping time!

(My favourite online shops and stores end up in another folder, naturally).

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