Tips and Tricks of Bargain Hunters, Savvy Shoppers and Coupon Lovers

The internet puts hundreds of thousands of bits of information right at your fingertips, something that was previously unknown to savvy shoppers, allowing them to find the best bargains in mere minutes of research. Bargain hunters are acutely aware of, and regularly use, every trick in the book, "freebie", and code on the internet to obtain the best "bang for their buck".

While a broad search of a product yields results, those results may be so diverse that shoppers waste precious time sorting through the information offered. A more specific place to obtain information about a product is the actual manufacturer's website.

Not only will you find basic information such as size, color and complete descriptions of the item, you will oftentimes find links as well to businesses that offer this item for sale. Manufacturer websites also often offer printer friendly, informational sheets to take with you when comparing items in brick and mortar stores.

And last, but certainly not least, you can access websites to find information on products, as well as reviews, written by regular people as opposed to ad agencies. It is the growing need for, and use of these sites, that make it important that reviewers be as complete in their reviews as possible, in order to offer the reader a review that will answer all questions they may have about the product.

Comparison shopping, for the savvy shopper, is the first step in finding the elusive bargain of the day. The key to comparison shopping is making the best use of sites in order to find and discover the bargains. Sites such as bizrate.com, link a site which claims to help you find the best prices around on virtually anything you want to purchase.

Listing the top rated stores and adding the ability to compare prices, features and even personal reviews of products aids them in laying claim to being able to get you "the best deal every time!"

Another site to help in finding, comparing and purchasing a hidden bargain is shopping.com,link which with it's "user friendly" graphics, large print and simple instructions, and "find, compare, buy", it's not surprising that this is fast becoming a favorite site to comparison shop, especially for those new to the internet and it's intricacies.

Say "Froogle", link to most anyone these days and you will hear...." Smart shopping through Google." And smart shopping is what you will find on this site easily accessible through GOOGLE. Part of the appeal of this site is the resemblance it has to GOOGLE which so many are comfortable using.

It is this comfort, that has caused FROOGLE link to grow in popularity with its areas described onsite as "smart search, local shopping, how to use Froogle, price shopping, merchant and product ratings and reviews and shopping lists"

And though Froogle does offer reviews of said products, I personally found the reviews to be sketchy at best, with most not really offering the information, I as a consumer need, when making a smart shopping choice.

One bit of advice I received when I first began to shop online, was to shop only from merchants that I knew well and trusted. In the words of a wise man..."if you have never heard of the brand offered, or the store offering it...it is most likely wise to back out of the site and go to one with a more well known name and good reputation". Of course this does not always apply to every purchase.

Sometimes you will be referred to a site from a friend who has used the site before and was satisfied with it or sometimes it will be a link from a reputable site with a good review attached. In those cases you will have to make your own intelligent decision as to whether or not you wish to give out personal and financial information to this relatively unknown (at least by you) site.

One of the best things you can be, while shopping online is "careful and somewhat skeptical". If an offer sounds too good to be true, beating the other competition by a huge margin, then again you must ask yourself if you believe what you are reading and are willing to take a chance on the site. Remember the old adage, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". The chances of actually getting that "big screen TV for shipping and handling only", are between slim and none, so let the buyer beware....Caveat Emptor!

Always search for additional discounts, free shipping and handling deals and coupon codes before completing a sale. This may seem like it is time consuming but it can literally save you hundreds of dollars a year, just in free shipping and handling alone!

One such site that offers quite a few free shipping/discount codes is fatwallet.com
link With its subcategories such as stores, forums, hot deal news and compare prices, fatwallet is one of the easiest sites I have found to get around on and one that keeps up with the latest deals quite well.

Not to be left out are sites such as bigbigforums.com,link which has many interesting and easy to access forums available including one called "vent/whine" which is simply a place where users go to get the hassles of the day as well as shopping off their chests. Sometimes reading about another's problems, makes yours so much easier to bear...definitely worth at least one "look see" to experience first hand the troubles of others onsite.

Another site to find codes, get advice and just learn about all the "goodies on the internet is slickdeals.comlink . This site is pretty well laid out with headers at the top of the page entitled: "Home, New Deals, New Coupons, Expiring Soon, Forums and Top Deals". Each of these areas is again divided into subsections which makes it fairly easy to get the information you need in a relatively short amount of time.

Checking the shipping costs and reviewing return and refund policies of a site can be life saving if you should have to return an item to the merchant. Many sites offer poor return policies and in fact state "no returns", so this is information that is imperative to be aware of when shopping online. Even when shopping in a brick and mortar store it is important to know the return policy. I found out the hard way with GADZOOKS that their return policy was not satisfactory and in fact fell short, as far as I was concerned.

One of the last points I would like to make, is when you are purchasing online make sure the order is "secure". That is to say that a secure merchant will have a tiny gold icon on the bottom of the screen that looks like a closed lock! This is very important to see, because if it is absent from the site, your personal information may be in jeopardy when you use it to make your purchase.

Keeping that in mind, always pay with plastic and when the order is shown on the screen, print out a hard copy of the order to show the merchant later if problems do arise. This recently was a stress reducer for me, as a book club sent me 2 copies of the same book, charging me for both copies. When I contacted them and included a scan of the page which stated I had ordered only one of said item, I was issued a refund for the second book immediately, something that could have taken weeks to accomplish had I not had that copy of which to refer.

In addition to online information on bargain hunting there are many books on the market about this subject available. Below are some of the books I found while researching this article and which may prove to be of help to readers.

Bargain Hunter's Secrets to Online Shopping (Paperback)
$13.57 Amazon.com
link
$19.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link

Bargain Beauty Secrets: Tips and Tricks for Looking Great and Feeling Fabulous
$14.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
$9.72 Amazon.com
link

Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture
$18.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
$18.95 Amazon.com
link

Clark's Big Book of Bargains
$14.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
$5.95 Amazon.com
link

The eBay Price Guide: What Sells for What (in Every Category!)
$29.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
$18.87 Amazon.com
link

Bargains to Bucks: A Simple Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms and Dads, Part-Time Workers, Bored Retirees or Anyone with a Desire to Make Some Extra Money, Just by Shopping!
$12.95 barnesandnoble,com
link
$18.87 Amazon.com
link

Bargain Hunter's Handbook: How to Buy Just about Anything for Next to Nothing
$6.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
amazon.com...prices vary according to seller
link

Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer
$26.95 Barnesandnoble.com
link
$16.95 Amazon.com
link

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to books promising to help you become a better bargain hunter. As is with all websites, advice and literature, be sure to check the source out before you purchase, as not all are as they seem at first glance. Like that van you have pamphlets and info about or that vacation you are gathering advice from others on...all that is offered is merely one persons opinion over another's and should not be considered the "only" or "best" information available without due consideration given to other sources as well.

That said....go on out there and find a bargain...discover a "killer code" or snag that "ultimate buy"...and then come back and tell us all about it! You KNOW how we all love to hear details!
:-) Happy shopping!