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Where to start your online shopping

Always shop through Cash Rebate sites. ALWAYS. However, there are going to be time when you have to shop for the best prices. The Cash Rebate sites, they aren’t going to give you the best prices from all over the internet. The main focus for rebate sites is to provide you amazing percentages of cash back for shopping through them, and providing you with amazing coupon codes that work WITH their sites.

It’s up to you to find the best PRICES for the items you wan to buy. So…….where to start your online shopping is probably your thought right now. Where to start your online shopping……..it’s easy, head to either one of these amazing sites I use every time I start my online shopping experiences!

If you’re new to strategically shopping online, start with Price Dumper. It’s basic, and to the point. Get your feet wet, and then move to Deal Catcher!

PriceDumper

Price Dumper

The basics of Price Dumper? It crawls the entire internet, and finds all the best prices for all the things you want to buy!

It’s organized extremely well. It’s easy to navigate. Let me paint a picture if I may……

  • Along the top of the site, you’ll see the multi-colored bar. It’s got tabs for shoes, clothing, bags, watches, jewellery (they’re not a US company, or they’d spell it jewelry,) toys, computer, electronics, kitchen tools, decoration furniture, sports, and beauty. Plus the KEYWORD SEARCH area.
  • On the main homepage, it has categories listed. They’re broken down by specific items, such as, Laptops in the computer & software area, and LCD TV’s in home electronics. It’s the best way to hunt for larger ticket items, where you aren’t sure what you’re looking for in a TV, or Microwave, or Camera. Those are “browsing fabulous categories” in my book!
  • You’ll also see a listing of POPULAR BRANDS. If you want a specific brand, look through the popular brands. At the bottom of the popular brands box, it says All Brands. If you click on that, it gets a little confusing. It’s going to bring up a blank page with a lot of Google ads on it. If there isn’t a brand you see that you like in the box, just do a search for it on the homepage’s Keyword Search on the navigation bar. Avoid the “all brands” button.
  • Avoid the whole “featured products” area you see on the homepage. It’s not going to be of much help to you, just start using the Keyword Search if you have a specific item you’re looking for. It’s the best way to search on there. Most of those things you see there, well, I’m sure they are paying to be there……JUST SAYIN’.

If you choose to click on the navigation bar tabs, awesome. Let’s say you’ve chosen to search all the toys. The page will display every toy for sale Price Dumper has located throughout the internet. Kind of not helpful in the grand scheme of things. HOWEVER, you can narrow the search results by toy category, age range, and my personal favorite, PRICE RANGE.

Each of the tabs at the top of the homepage has some way of filtering the searches, and lists, to make it easier if you’re shopping and not sure what you wish to purchase.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND hunting around the website looking for things to buy, unless you need to shop for a new TV, or something in one of those category boxes on the home page. When it comes to the smaller things in life, like shoes, clothing, and a pillow, KNOW what you want to buy, have your list before you get online.

Perhaps it’s a child’s birthday, he has asked for Batman toys. Excellent.

  • Head to KEYWORD SEARCH, put Batman in the search box.
  • When the search results pop up, narrow down the search by price. Then by category.  Most boys want action figures, right? Click on that, and go from there. Cater your search to you!
  • Once you find the best priced item, from the best priced store, keep your screen opened up to it with  Price Dumper. Then head to your favorite cash rebate site, click on the correct store, and find that toy!

You’ll get it for the best price, earn cash back, perhaps a coupon will be available, and use your cash earning credit card to complete the purchase.

TA-DA. You’ve got an amazing toy, your kid will love it, and you won’t be crying over the price of it when the credit card bill shows up!

Deal Catcher

Deal Catcher

Now, Deal Catcher is pure awesome. It’s a little more “intense” than Price Dumper. It’s got a lot more bells and whistles!

When you first happen upon Deal Catcher, where you catch the best deals online, it can be overwhelming. It’s got a lot going on, but it’s just because they are super organized!

  • Along the top of the “homepage”, you’ll find tabs for Coupons & Deals, a REGION SPECIFIC tab, meaning I’m from Long Island, so mine says Long Island, and will have goodies from Long Island on there. You’ll also see Printable Coupons, Black Friday, Compare Prices, Sunday Ads, and Forums.
  • The “homepage” is really just the first tab, Coupons & Deals. You’ll see below the tabs, another set of links: Popular Coupons, New Coupons, Expiring Coupons, List Stores, Deal Alerts, and Submit a Coupon. All self explanatory. Below all of that, you’ll see the Search box. Down the left side, you can browse categories, or Popular Stores. In the center of the page, you’ll see amazing deals, coupons, etc. These highlighted ones, I normally don’t care too much about. I’m on a mission, with my list.
  • The Region Specific tab, the one that says LONG ISLAND for me, has all the daily deals from the daily deal sites like Living Social, Double Take Deals, Groupon, etc. However, on the left side of the page, it also has the option to check out things in nearby cities, or popular cities. You can also hunt through restaurants in the area for some great deals.
  • Now, Printable Coupons, is all about providing fantastic coupons for your shopping needs when you shop IN STORES. However, these are posted by others, and they may not work in the stores when you go to use them. Be careful with these.
  • I would imagine you would know what goes on in the Black Friday tab. It’s not just Black Friday stuff, but also Cyber Monday. The tab will take you to another site, it’s legit. Don’t panic.
  • My favorite tab? It’s the Compare Prices tab. I love this section. You can shop for pretty much anything you can imagine, either within a category, or with a search. Let’s imagine for a second you’d like to get a new Laptop. Click on computers, then Laptops. A beautiful list of laptops will appear on your screen. View them as a list, or as a grid. I normally choose GRID.  You can narrow it down by price range, condition, manufacturer, type, screen size, processor type, processor speed, installed memory, hard drive size, interface type, included drives, networking, display type, and MORE. If you’re like me, you just want to COMPARE prices. Pick your favorites, and then click on the little compare button in green. Once you’ve clicked it, it’ll show up at the top of the grid, and it will also say Added to Compare. LOVE IT!!!
  • If you like to check out the Sunday ads for your favorite stores, the Sunday Ads tab is going to be your favorite place to hang out. You have every store known to man listed on this page, and you can click on any of them to see their Sunday Ads. If you don’t get a Sunday paper, it’s kind of “the place” to be! You can check out National ones, or ones specific to your state. There’s Sunday Ads for Department Stores, Electronics, Grocery, Home, Office, Online, Pharmacy, Restaurants, and Sports. It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen.
  • If you want to chat, and discuss, you can register for the FORUM. There’s all kinds of topics in there, like product reviews, and things like that. I’m not on there, but it seems to be popular.

Just remember, compare and check out pricing through the site, see if there are awesome coupons to use online, and then head to your favorite cash rebate site to SHOP. If the coupon code you find is awesome, and would save you more than the cash rebate will get you, ALWAYS see if that coupon is available on your cash rebate site at the store you need to make the purchase through. If not, that’s fine. I always recommend shopping through the cash rebate site, use the coupon code you found, and sometimes the cash rebate site works – but you won’t know unless you make sure to shop through the cash rebate site at your chosen store! It can’t hurt, right? If the coupon cancels out the rebate, so be it. Once in a while, though, it’ll all work TOGETHER, so always, always, always shop through those cash rebate sites!

Enjoy your comparison shopping, and finding the best prices all over the internet!!!!!!!!!

By | 2016-08-30T14:46:52-04:00 February 25, 2013|Shopping In-store & Online, Tutorials|Comments Off on Where to start your online shopping

About the Author:

Staci loves to write, and loves to share her "take" on everything thrown her way. Movies, entertainment, food, fashion, shopping, money, travel and family. There's nothing off limits at NovemberSunflower.com, and Staci's always telling it like it is: good, bad, and all that lies in between!