Shopping on the Internet

Online Shopping Overview

The first topic to discuss about shopping online is security. Many students ask, "Is it safe to shop online?" You need to make sure you are shopping in a secure area. How do you know if it is secure? In the status bar of your browser (the bottom of the screen) you will see a closed lock if you are in a secure area. Another way is if the web address (url) starts with https instead of http.

Additionally, do not give more information than necessary for the transaction. Many sites have get your information to sell to telemarketers or email list companies.

There are various shopping bots. You say "What are shopping bots?" These are websites you can go to and shop for merchandise from many different merchants. Rather than searching each merchant yourself you can actually see the price. Some will include the price of shipping for you to see the total price. You can sort by merchant name or price. Below is a bot you might be interested in using.

I have used mySimon for some time now. Mainly I use it to search for books. This way I receive the best possible price. When you use the search feature, one option is Books - ISBN, allowing you to quickly find the book you are looking for.

If you are looking for Health and Beauty products, check out HealthandBeauty4u.

Want to get coupons at your local grocery store? At Supermarket Valupage I did a search for my zip code (38637) and found Kroger was the only one for my area. From there a valupage was created that I printed. Now I can earn web bucks on the products I purchase on the list. The next visit I can use the webbucks on any product (not prohibited by law).

Another great source for coupons is Coolsavings. You will need to download some software, but will be able to print out the coupons to use in the store.

If you want rebates for shopping, try ebates.