Real (i.e. not spam) sites that list the best online deals
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The money you could save with a little online research is NOT trivial!
Do a little research and save money
I'm one of those people who likes to find the best deal possible when shopping online. It really burns me to find out I could have saved $50-100 on something big had I done a little more research, or if I had known about the best sites to look at. Here are my picks for sites to check out before buying something online, broken into 3 categories:
- Temporary deals/specials
- Comparison of online merchants
- Coupon/promotion codes
Tips on hot deals
- Slickdeals.net
A coworker told me about this site. I found an unbelievably great deal on a Lenovo laptop, saved about $600 over what I would have spent otherwise. Includes submitters' tips, but completely random assortment of products. - FatWallet's Fat Deals
They list all sorts of deals, but like SlickDeals, it's a bit of a jumbled mess unless you pick a category, to the left. A bit of promotional spam creeps in from the site's sponsors, unlike on SlickDeals. - AnandTech RTPE. RealTime Pricing Engine
For tech stuff, this lists products that have shown a substantial drop in pricing. Really good for memory, cards, drives, etc.
Comparison Engines
- CNET Shopper.com
Full disclosure - I used to work at this site. But it's only gotten better. With your zip code, it will tell you the total price among a bunch of different online merchants. Be sure to sort by Total Price, and compare to the Local tab if you can't wa - Google Product Search
Formerly Froogle, Google Product Search is decent but unless you refine your search, you can get plagued with irrelevant matches. The best aspect is that it really covers all the possible non-scammy merchants out there. - mySimon
Actually owned by CNET now, but goes beyond Shopper's tech focus. It covers way more products, but does not have the shipping cost estimate to compare Total Price.
Coupons & Promotional Codes
- RetailMeNot.com
Besides the nice interface, this site is nice because it allows people to let the site know if the code really worked, and then reports a percentage success rate. Helps sift through invalid or expired codes. - CurrentCodes.com
Before you buy, check to see if there's a valid/non-expired code for the merchant you're buying from. You can often get a certain $ amount off, a percentage discount, or a free gift. - Google
Yep, just google "coupon code (merchant)". See what it comes up with for your specific merchant. Worth trying if the two sites above don't turn up anything.
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Comments
Have to admit that as much time as I spend online, most purchases are tech products. Still do most of my retail shopping the old fashioned way, and can't say I enjoy it! Thanks for the the shopping source suggestions.
If you want a deal site that aggregates the popular deal sites, you may go to http://www.votefordeals.com.
working
Lyricallor says:
12 months ago
I say two thumbs up for this one!