In past years, internet stocks have seen considerable price volatility as investors saw huge increases in revenues for online shopping sites during the holiday season then the reality of making profits sank in. Most of these revenues came at the expense of profitability as the Business to Consumer, B2C, internet sites were selling and delivering products below their actual costs. Many B2C sites have failed, but others remain and continue to give smart shoppers great bargains. With this article I will tell you, as a consumer, some ways I have found to save money by shopping online.
Comparison Shopping
The internet can save you the time of calling or driving to many stores and checking prices. I keep a list of comparison shopping sites that I find useful. I often shop there first even if I know I am going to buy at a brick-and-mortar store just for price information.
Here are a few I try to get a feel for price:
Warning!: Those sites don't search all the deals on the web. They often seem to first find places that they have accounts with so they get a fee for directing traffic. Still, I've found many good deals since I first published this site last year in my annual Shopping Online for Deals article. I use it as a starting place then I also check my favorite sites for comparison. This is far faster than going to many stores to find the best price on items like a new VCR, computer, camera, TV set, etc.
Many Ways to Save
There are many ways to save shopping online. Some are obvious such as an immediate discount. Others you discover after you have made a sale where you get selected offers for repeat business. Here is s short list:
Getting New Customers:
- Discounts for a first purchase. Web sites might give first time customers $10 off on a $30 purchase. I try to find these for good sites and list them on our Great Deals Thread.
Many sites offer Free shipping to first time customers. Shipping can run as high as $10 on some sites so this is a great way to save money and time since you skip the trip to the store, skip the cost of gas to drive and get the goods delivered right to your door for free!
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