Shopping online is easier than ever. Here, I'm going to talk about a few of my favorite ways to shop online for savings, convenience, the ability to find the right items. Just in time for the holidays, here are some of the tips and sites 3TG recommends:
Amazon
It's not much of a revelation that Amazon.com is a popular online shopping destination (at the moment it's the largest online retailer). But I have to mention it because it's the place where I purchase almost everything, from gadgets to cat litter (making sure to use CamelCamelCamel.com, discussed in this previous entry). I shop at Amazon because the prices are usually better, I'm able to find almost everything I'm looking for, and because Amazon Prime is such a compelling attractor.
Amazon Prime
With Amazon Prime, you're given the option to ship all eligible items in two days for free, or one day for $4 (most of the items on Amazon are eligible). Prime costs $79/year, so it might not be for you if you don't shop at Amazon very often. However, that subscription also gets you access to everything the Amazon Prime Instant Video library. This is a subset of their streaming video offerings and includes movies like Skyfall and The Exorcist, and TV like Downton Abbey and The Good Wife, all of which you can watch as often as you like. To be honest, Netflix has a better selection (especially their original shows), but Prime builds their service into their shipping benefits.
Woot!
There are few shopping experiences online that are as fun as Woot.com. Woot began with a simple premise: sell a single discount product for 24 hours until they run out, and spruce the sale up with a humorous description. The site has expanded far beyond that into various categories, but they still follow this general format and you can still find great bargains. Most of the products on Woot's site are clearance items or refurbished, but that means they have some deals. I've purchased a factory-refurbished Dyson vacuum there for at least $100 less than new, and it works like new.
My advice is to sign up for Woot's daily email digest, which shows you the items and prices on all their sites. If you missed out on those Best Buy black Friday deals for an inexpensive TV, you'll regularly find really good prices on TVs at Woot and the digest will let you know when one comes up.
Other tips
- Amazon has a really nice wishlist feature. There, you can create wishlists for yourself, and even better you can create lists for each of your loved ones. I find this extremely convenient because when a gift idea strikes I can add it to these gift idea lists, so when birthdays and holidays roll around I have a recorded idea of what to get.
- Sometimes the item you want to buy can only be found at an odd online store where you'll never shop again. Maybe you don't entirely trust the site but you really want to buy that item. Well if you use GMail, here's a neat trick to keep your spam down: simply give them your usual email address (bob@gmail.com) and add a '+' sign and something to distinguish it (like bob+nospam@gmail.com). This way, if you ever start seeing unwanted emails going to that address, you can filter them out. This way you get almost infinite email addresses. (this tip only works with GMail).
- Never buy an HDMI cable for that new home theater device at places like Best Buy (you'll get ripped off). Purchase it online or when you have 3TG come out to install that new device!
- Looking for a gift idea? Check out the 3TG product pages, which includes a fun gift idea section.
- Finally, check back with this blog and follow 3TG on Twitter and Facebook for future online shopping tips. You'll often see posts about particularly good deals on electronics.