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Web Deals: 5 Cool Online Shopping Tools
By Jamila White, “The E-Commerce
Diva”
 Whether
you’re shopping online or hitting the malls, make your holiday
gift-giving easier, quicker, and cheaper this year with these five
cool Web tools!
1. Online Coupons
Shopping online?
You may be surprised to find out you can get up to 25% off your
order or free shipping at your favorite retailer – if you know the
right code. Before you submit your online order, do a quick search
to see if any discount coupon codes exist for the retailer you’re
shopping with. My two favorites are:
-
Wow Coupons:
They offer online coupons for many web stores – including
1-800-Flowers, Amazon.com, Dell Computers, Gap, Lillian Vernon,
Nordstrom, Red Envelope, Spiegel, Wine.com and many others. The
list is updated daily, so check the site before you complete your
order. Or better yet, get on their mailing list for automatic
updates:
http://www.wow-coupons.com/online-coupons.php
-
Google.com: Try a search for [retailer name] coupon discount
code.
Bargain Bonus:
This tactic also works for discounts on monthly membership sites
like AOL,
Match.com and eHarmony.com.
2. Offline Coupons
Smart shoppers
use the web not just for online purchases, but to get good deals on
offline purchases as well.
Wow Coupons
offers printable coupons for popular retailers like Ann Taylor, Best
Buy, Hallmark, Macy’s, Sharper Image, Toys R Us and others. Be sure
to pull up this site before you head out to the mall:
http://www.wow-coupons.com/index.php (click “Retail” on the
left)
Also, sign up
for your favorite store’s e-mail newsletter – retailers often send
unadvertised coupons and specials to customers their mailing lists.
3. Find Local Sales
Serious bargain
hunters often check the newspaper advertising circulars to find out
about local sales, or hop from store to store to find the best
price. But one great web tool,
Cairo
(http://www.cairo.com),
lets you skip all that nonsense and search online for the best deals
at stores in your area. Simply enter your zip code, and BAM! You
have a comparison list of retail or grocery store sales in your
area, and you can even search for a specific item.
Bargain Bonus:
Cairo
also helps you get refunds from stores who offer a lowest price
guarantee. Simply enter an item you’ve already bought and they’ll
e-mail you if it’s being sold for less by another store.
4. Compare Prices Online
Shopping
comparison web sites
PriceGrabber.com,
MySimon.com and
Froogle.com let you type in a specific item, and see who’s
selling it the cheapest online. MySimon.com also has great buying
guides if you aren’t sure which product to get. This is super handy
if your teenage niece wants “that new iPod” and you don’t know which
one.
5. Skip the Post Office
Take the hassle
out of sending greeting cards this holiday season. Hallmark (http://www.hallmark.com)
lets you customize your own personal or business greeting cards for
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years. You can even upload your
address list, and Hallmark will label, stamp, and mail them for you
– and you don’t have to set one foot in the post office! Fully
customized cards start at $1.15 each, plus postage.
For an extra
special touch on your greeting cards or party invitations, add a
photo image of yourself, your business logo, your kids, or even your
dog Charlie to your postage stamps. At Stamps.com, you can have your
own personalized stamps in as little as two business days; a sheet
of 20 stamps costs $16.99 (you can save more when you buy multiple
sheets).
http://photo.stamps.com
© Copyright Jamila White. All rights reserved.
About the
Author:
Jamila White, "The E-Commerce Diva™", helps small business owners
attract new customers and sell more products on the Web. Get her
free “Sell More Online” newsletter at
http://www.ecommercediva.com/newsletter.html.
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