2008 was the first year in the history of eCommerce when US customers said they preferred web over the store for holiday shopping. According to e-tailing group‘s third annual “Mindset of the Multi-Channel Shopper Holiday Survey,” the major reason (88% of respondents) for choosing the Internet for shopping is saving money.
Really, the Internet offers so many tools and resources for saving money that bargain shopping has become a new highly popular phenomenon of today’s web: 44% (nearly half) of shoppers who have made an online purchase in the past three months call themselves “bargain hunters” (The Conference Board – 2008).
This time I am listing resources that find the lowest product price even the geekiest and smartest online shoppers will find useful!
Promo Codes: this is a handy and well-organized site offering a wide range of money saving options.
Here’s a sample page listing Kohls promo codes:
- See new deals for any brand mark;
- See each deal details (amount and expiration date);
- See most reliable deals;
- See less reliable deals:
MobSaver lets you find the lowest price via SMS message! Just text UPC or ISBN number of an item to [email protected] and the system will send you a text message with the item prices on Amazon and eBay:
- The lowest prices for new and used items on Amazon.
- The current bid price on eBay. If there are more than one item available on eBay, you will be sent a price range.
Mobsaver is free and doesn’t require any signup. You will have to register only if you want to keep track and save the looked-up items to your mobsaver account.
BeatThat! is a community-driven website of deal hunters who share lowest prices they were able to locate throughout the Internet. Not only the site allows to easier find the best deal, it also offers you to earn money by being a bargain hunter: most active and reliable members are paid for finding great deals:
BeatThat! is run by its Deal-Finders – those hard-working people who scour the Internet for the very best deals on every single product on the site. Why do they do it? First of all, they love the “thrill of the hunt” – looking into all the nooks and crannies of the Internet where great deals reside. Second, they get a lot of attention and respect for their skill here at BeatThat!. And lastly, they get paid for it! If you think you’d like to become a BeatThat! Deal-Finder, just read on!
Here is how BeatThat! helps you shop online:
- Search for any product and choose the one you actually need;
- See the best deal right under the item description;
- Pay Attention to the store ratings (make sure you shop with “green” retailers, i.e. those that are “the best in terms of customer service and delivering what they promise.”)
- See the deal ratings and comments;
- Compare the deal with the prices offered by Amazon or Best Buy;
- If you still need a lower price, add the product to watch list: you can set the system to notify you by email when the product price drops below the amount you specify.
BeatMyPrice invites anyone to try to beat their price and even requires no registration: just submit the item name, deal URL and price and let the service beat your price.
The site does provide the huge list of prices for almost any item you submit. However the relevancy of the results returned leaves much to be desired: you’ll see prices for similar items rather than for the exact product you need.
PriceAdvance is a handy shopping companion for FireFox and Internet Explorer that will look for the lowest price offered by Amazon.com, BestBuy or WalMart. It will instantly alert you to current deals once you visit the merchant’s website.
While you shop for products at your favorite merchants, PriceAdvance will automatically search other retailers for better prices. When prices are found a small overlay window will appear in the top left of your browser window. To view a product in the overlay, click the price or company logo.
Image by Refracted Moments™
