Thinking up ideas on blog posts and one easy and obvious post is to let everyone know where I visit on a daily basis. You can all see some of the blogs I frequent on the right hand side, but I would like to dedicate this post to my favorite shopping related sites. Some will be obvious, but perhaps some will be new to you...
- Even though it has been a while since I've purchased from it, I usually check out http://www.woot.com/ once a day. This is sort of the granddaddy of the "one great deal a day" sites that are becoming more popular. The woot model is to make large volume purchases from suppliers at low cost and then offer 1 item per day at a price usually below what you will find anywhere else (and I will check the woot price against other vendors...more on that later). Sometimes the deal is so good or the inventory starts so low that the product will sell out in hours. There are folks who will log on every night at 12PM CST (when the deal changes) to make sure they can take advantage. Plus they always write up fun to read descriptions of the products they sell. Go visit!
- Perhaps you like the concept of woot, but you're not into the electronic products they often sell. Well, the woot concept has become so popular that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of knock-off sites doing the same thing (another one I freqent is http://www.tanga.com/ for toys and games). Rather than attempt to rattle them all of here, I have found a cool site that keeps you updated on what each site is currently offering. It is http://www.dealsucker.com/. They now have deal a day sites for clothing, "mother related" things, and really anything you can think of.
- Enough on the "deal a day" sites. I spoke about it before, but I have to give a shout to http://www.craigslist.org/. This is probably another obvious one to folks, but this is a *great* site for classified ads and since posting is free, people are willing to post anything for sale. What's the downside? If you post and somebody is interested, you made some money. If not, then you've only lost the 5 - 15 minutes it took to make the posting. I'll often go to the "For Sale" section and put in my hometown as a keyword to see what I can pick up locally. I've bought poker chips at 80% off new, baby swing @ 60% off new, and even posted for free firewood when I had to have a tree chopped down. The landscaper wanted to charge me $250 to remove the tree, but fellow Craigslisters hauled it away for free! I love Craigslist...
- Whenever I think I see a deal out there on the web, I always make sure to validate that the price is a steal. How do I do that? There are actually a few sites that can help if you have the right information. They are http://www.pricegrabber.com/, http://www.nextag.com/, http://www.froogle.com/. The key here is to have the manufacturer name and part number. Punch that into the search engines and see if any other merchant is selling the same product. Some of these sites will even estimate shipping & tax for a true total cost if you provide a zip code (always look at shipping and tax!). Don't always believe the hype that you will never find a better deal. If one merchant is willing to sell at a particular price, chances are that there are others...
- An off-beat, shopping related site that I like to visit is http://www.consumerist.com/. They mix in deals with general tips on shopping and avoiding scams. Great tips on how to shop for cell phone service and things to look out for when using services like Geek Squad at Best Buy.
- One last tip: If you like to get freebies in the mail, I recommend http://www.bargainist.com/. They also provide daily deals from major retailers, but I especially like the "Freebies" section here (Click on tab at top of site). Once a month, I'll stop on by and click through to all the freebies and sign up for whatever is still being offered. Perhaps I'm opening myself up to extra solicitations, but I like my free stuff (I think my wife wonders why so many freebies show up in the mail as well).
That's all for now. I hope some of these sites are new to you and that you get some benefit out of using them. Disclaimer: I get no $$$ out of recommending these sites. Just my personal wisdom that I thought I would share with everyone.
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