What's Shakin'?

Tonight's blog post comes from our first guest blogger, Steve C. over at Dealoco.com!

With the economy in turmoil, we're all trying to get the most bang for our hard earned buck. Here are 7 money-saving tips for shopping online.

1) Deal Websites
Ask your friends which site they visit first when shopping online. Odds are Amazon.com will be the #1 response. The best source for online bargains is widely overlooked. Bargain hunting websites such as Dealoco.com exist solely to find the best deals on the web for you! And these sites do all the heavy lifting when it comes to sorting out the deals from the duds. Dealoco even goes so far as to provide product reviews, price comparisons, and a unique "Grief Factor" rating for each deal.

2) Clearance Sections
Another great source for bargain basement prices is the clearance section that can be found on many popular retailers' websites. For example,Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us are two great places to find killer deals on baby and kids items.

3) Amazon Gold Box
The Internet's #1 retailer provides "Gold Box" deals on a daily basis. These deals typically run for only a few hours each, so you may have to act fast if you see something you like. To find these deals just look for the little gold treasure chest on the top of the amazon.com homepage.

4) A Deal-a-Day
Deal-a-day sites have increased in popularity over the last few years, but the original - and by far most popular - deal-a-day site is Woot.com. Woot offers ridiculously low prices on a new product every night at midnight. Wine lovers should check out one of Woot's spin-offs, wine.woot.com.

5) Online Outlet Malls
There are some truly outstanding deals to be had in the online outlet stores. The items listed on these pages are often factory refurbished, so buyer beware if you're not the type to buy refurbished goods. Here are a few of the most popular online outlet stores:

• Apple.com
• Sonystyle.com
• Dell.com

6) Price Comparison Engines
If you have your mind set on a particular make or model product, a great starting point is a price comparison engine such as Pricegrabber.com. These engines will instantly find and compare prices on just about anything. Pricegrabber will even calculate shipping costs as well as provide product reviews and merchant ratings.

7) Price Protection Services
Did you know there's a way to save money even AFTER your purchase?? The PriceProtectr.com website says it best: "There are lots of stores out there that offer price protection policies -- when the price drops on an item you've purchased, they'll refund you the difference. But there's a catch... it's up to you to watch prices. Price Protectr makes it simple to keep track of your purchases, watch prices, and get your money back. It's free. It's easy. It's free and easy money." You can also set price targets, set price alerts when the price drops on something you want to buy, and create deal alerts at over 140 stores.

Labels: guest blogger, tips