Where Do I Start?

1.    Searching.  Searching or “browsing” on the Internet is fun, fast, informative and easy.  Whether you’re looking to buy something or doing research for a project, many search engines provide simple search functionality.  The top 2 search engines are www.Yahoo.com and www.Google.com.   Visit these sites, and look at all that can be viewed, reviewed, explored and searched.  You can find news, products, travel, jobs, stocks, finance – you name it, you can probably find it.

Effective searching is “the trick”.  If you have a specific product or service in mind, type that into the search field.  The more specific the description, the more specific the results.  If you search is too broad, your results will be way more than you ever wanted. 

For example, if you are looking for a “Speedo tankini swimsuit”, put that in your search field.  If you only use “Speedo swimsuit”, you’ll get any and all Speedo swimsuits (one piece, two piece, mens, boys, girls, womens, etc.).  Some merchants may have the word swimsuit as two words swim suit, so conduct your search with both and check the results.

Once you have a list of results, you can usually sort by price, by relevance, by location, etc.  Practice your searching on a variety of items and ideas and see how results come back.  Again, more specific the search, the more specific the results.  A broader search phrase or item description will result in more results.  Using parenthesis around your words will provide specific results relative to the words exactly!  Try this too and you'll understand this explanation.

2.    Comparing.  Once you’ve decided on an item, be sure to “compare” your results.  Assuming your search is for the “Speedo tankini swimsuit” discussed above, you most likely have numerous results.  If you have an urgent need, be sure to review the terms and conditions of the seller or merchant (discussed below in more detail).  Some merchants ship daily, others ship once or twice a week.  Aligning your expectations with the sellers’ terms and conditions will result in a positive transaction. 

If comparing costs on products or services, be sure to consider the “total cost” of the item vs. the item cost.  Total cost includes the product + the shipping & handling (and other fees discussed or passed along to the buyer).  A Speedo tankini swimsuit retailing for $40 in a department store may be a great find on the Internet for 50% or more savings!  But, if the item costs $5.00 and the shipping and handling is $20.00 (excessive), you may be better off with an item cost of $12.00 with shipping and handling of $4.00. 

Search engines often only include the item cost in results.  To actually compare the total cost, you’ll need to determine the shipping & handling fees on a merchant by merchant basis.

Better deals can often be found by exploring auctions and classified listings.  There are numerous auction sites as well as classified listing sites available on the Internet.  While eBay is the first auction site that comes to mind, items found on eBay can often be found on smaller auction sites for lower prices.  This is due to the fees eBay a charges seller, which are passed along to buyers either through higher starting prices or inflated shipping and handling fees.  This is true also of Overstock and Amazon (both of which have recently entered the auction arena).