Savvy Shopping Online
ConsumerReports.com posted a new report in January about online shopping sites.
They shopped for 10 brand-name products on the biggest online outlets: Froogle, NexTag.com, PriceGrabber.com, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Yahoo Shopping and a new site, Become.com.
They analyzed prices, availability, ease of use and disclosure of relationships with advertisers.
What they found was Yahoo Shopping and Froogle had lower prices but got low marks for safeguarding consumer privacy. Shopping.com did a better job at that and came in third for pricing.
Consumer Reports offers these tips for shopping online:
• Shop around. No one site had the lowest prices on each item.
• Check the total price. Don’t forget you’re paying shipping and handling.
• Sort search results by price. Some merchants pay to appear at the top of the search lists, so resort the list by price.
• Check reviews. See what other consumers have to say about the product or brand name you’re considering purchasing.
• Read the fine print. Sometimes the best prices are for reconditioned or refurbished products. Buyer beware!