Shop Around!
"My momma told me, you better shop around." Wise words from a wise man with a beautiful voice, Mr. Smokey Robinson. Who wants to overpay for any purchase? Here are some cool sites that can help you find what you want for as cheap as possible!
Ever hear of a "shopbot"? They're a comparison shopper's best friend! Shopbots are programs that scan the 'net to find the prices at which different merchants sell the same product. They do all the legwork for you! Okay, not all of it but much of it.
Obviously one shopbot (call 'em a Comparison Shopping Site if that makes you feel better!) can't search every merchant on the internet. Some shopbots search merchants that others don't...so it's always a good idea to use several before you buy. Hey, it's still a timesaver to check two or three shopbots to find the lowest price on your desired purchase than to check hundreds of websites on your own!
There are lots of shopbots out there, but here are a few of my favorites:
AllBookStores.com -- This is a specialty shopbot that specializes in...you guessed it...bookstores! They scan prices at "over 2 dozen" bookstores to find the lowest price for you.
MagazinePriceSearch.com -- Yep, another specialty shopbot, it searches out the lowest price for your desired magazine among 24 merchants and it also gives coupon codes for those merchants.
DVDPriceSearch.com is a great shopbot specializing in DVDs and its sister site GamePriceZone.com is a great game shopbot. They also give you coupons and promotions for each merchant.
MySimon.com -- A wonderful general-purpose shopbot, MySimon will help you find the lowest prices on anything from electronics to home furnishings to sports equipment. They also have useful buying guides if you're not sure yet what exact model you want to buy.
PriceWatch.com -- This is an awesome shopbot for computer-related items like specific components, electronics like digital cameras, software, and video games. A geek's heaven!
Epinions.com -- Combining user reviews and price comparisons, this is a great general shopbot for a wide variety of products.
And last, but certainly not least, BestWebBuys.com, one of DealofDay's partners, is a nice shopbot for books, music, video, electronics, and bikes, and it includes coupons for some of their bigger merchants, too.
There are lots of shopbots out there, probably as many as there are actual MERCHANTS, but the trick is to find one or two favorites and to always check them out before making a purchase. Remember that if the shopbot doesn't do it itself, you need to combine coupons and add shipping to get your total cost before making a decision. It can be time-consuming, but it will save you money!
Becky Ford
CompareRewards.com
Posted by at April 11, 2005 10:48 AM
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