Want the best price? You need a personal shopper -- and the Internet is full of them.
Price-comparison sites like FatWallet, CheapUncle, PriceGrabber.com and FindersCheapers exist to serve. Tell them what you want, and they'll tell you how to get it for the least amount of dough.
Some sites do more than that, offering services such as:
- A "price alert." You say what you want to pay and receive an e-mail when that price point is available.
- A "refund alert." At least one site, PricePlease, monitors the lowest-price guarantees of 160 retailers. If the price drops on something you just bought, PricePlease tells you how to get back the difference.
- An "eBay typos link." This one's on zooLert. When sellers misspell products such as "Zhu Zhu Pets," their auctions get less traffic, so you'll probably pay less.
- Best prices for local stores as well as online retailers. This is perfect for folks who want to see and handle their purchases (or for procrastinators who buy their Halloween costumes on the way to the party).
- Online discount codes and/or rebate offers. Several sites provide online discount codes with every search, and at least one, FatWallet, is also a cash-back site.
Price aggregators are superb holiday shopping tools. The National Retail Federation predicts a mere 2.3% growth in spending this year. If money is tight, a price aggregator can really stretch your buying power. Or suppose you want a debt-free holiday? Set your alerts and buy over the next eight weeks, as the best prices pop up.
They do the work for you
There's no such thing as a completely comprehensive search, but these sites often include plenty of lesser-known merchants that offer terrific deals that you might not find on your own.That's where price-comparison sites do their best work: If a specialty electronics retailer is remaindering items, you'll know about it.
"A lot of these smaller guys . . . operate only online, and they have some of the best deals," says Laura Conrad, the president of PriceGrabber.
A recent article at ConsumerReports.org named PriceGrabber the top comparison site and suggested that all searches begin there. The article also recommended searching with at least one additional site, mentioning Google, NexTag and Bing as best bets. (Bing is owned by Microsoft, which publishes MSN Money.)
But don't assume the top dogs will always fetch the best deals. For example, some prices found by FindersCheapers were better than any of the four sites touted by Consumer Reports.
One example was startling: For a certain gold and diamond women's watch, the best deal was $1,483 on FindersCheapers and $2,217 on PriceGrabber.
A low, low price . . . that's not?
Remember, that low, low price could be misleading if sales tax and shipping aren't figured in."You find this awesome price, (but) shipping is $150 on top of that if it's a big item like a TV," says Jeff Kenny of PricePlease.
Both PricePlease and CheapUncle are affiliated with Coupon Cabin, so naturally their search results include online discount codes. What looks like the third-best price might become the lowest price if you get 30% off plus free shipping, Kenny says.
Black Friday made better
But aren't the best prices of the year found on Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Yes and no. (See "Black Friday is highly overrated.")Besides, what looks like a smokin' deal might not be the lowest price out there. Use a couple of aggregators on the Black Friday ads as they leak out. Do the same with print, online or TV ads that show up on Thanksgiving.
Check MSN Money's Smart Spending blog for the best Black Friday deals as they leak. In addition, many aggregators have forums or blogs where up-to-the-minute deal, coupon and rebate information gets posted.
Not everyone waits for the price wars. Joanne H., a Washington state resident who asked that her full name not be used, had bought all her kids' Christmas gifts by mid-October.
First Joanne read the zooLert forum to determine this year's "buzz" toys. She tracked price, sales and availability for a week or so to figure out what toys might sell out closer to Christmas. She set some alerts, and when the toys went on sale, she pounced.
Buying online is "stress-free," says Joanne, a full-time student and mother of four. "I'm not running from store to store."
And if the toys are even cheaper later on? "I can always exchange," she says. (Check with stores about their exchange policies, and keep your receipts.)
Continued: How to set a price alert
