Discount Shopping Online

Submitted by Josh on Thu, 2006-01-26 21:01.

I'm cheap. Seriously. I refuse to pay retail price for virtually everything other than groceries, and I'd gladly do some serious comparison shopping on groceries if I had the time. Before I buy anything, I check a fairly extensive list of online bargain hunting sites in hopes of finding one that has a great deal on the item I'm looking for. Here is a quick guide so you can be cheap too.

Before you start looking for cheap stuff, remember that sometimes stuff if sold cheap because it is actually not worth buying at all.

Anyway, here is a list of the sites I frequently monitor for good deals. Keep them in mind the next time you want to buy something and the local big box store's price seems insane. (Hint: They almost always are)

Ben's Bargains
I check this site on a daily basis. It is basically a blog of fairly cheap deals from around the web and is a good place to start if you are looking for a good buy. Make sure you double check the items they link to, though, as Ben occasionally posts a "deal" that could use improvement.
DealMeIn.net
This site is ran by one Dr. Eldarion and his wife. They don't post as many deals as some, but they often go out of there way to find better deals and coupon combinations to beat the prices offered elsewhere. The greatest thing about this site is the forums. Dr. E or his wife are usually happy to point out a deal on a particular item if you just ask.
PriceGrabber
This comparison shopping site lets you compare the total cost (including shipping) of buying an item through any of their member retailers. One excellent strategy for getting a good deal is using pricegrabber to find a base price from a reputable retailer than use the other deal sites to find coupon codes, sales, or mail-in-rebates that beat that price.
FatWallet
This is the mother of all deal sites. Its not so much a blog as a large forum with thousands of dedicated members posting deals from around the web. Its strong userbase is both its best strength and its biggest weakness, however, as the deals posted here frequently get sold out very quickly due to the "fw effect." Also, the lack of a central organizer can make duplicate deal postings and finding a particular deal difficult, but this site's "Hot Deals" is a great place if you really want to save a few bucks.
w00t
w00t (or woot) isn't so much a deal site as it is a new and innovative retail store. They only carry 1 item a day and they don't announce what that item is going to be before it goes on sale. So, each night at midnight (CST), their page changes to reflect the item they are selling and it often sells out by 8 AM or so. The good part? They usually sell stuff absurdly cheap, have flat-rate S&H, and occassionally sell "bags of crap" for $1. A BOC is actually a random grab-brag of items that have failed to sell out in the previous weeks..so for just a few bucks you can get some great stuff. Be careful with this site because you just might find yourself waiting for midnight to see what the latest offer is, especially once you see a really good deal sell out in 15 minutes or so.
AnandTech Hot Deals Forum
This is another open forum like the one at FatWallet, but this one focuses almost entirely on computer components and related accessories. I check it from time to time when I can't find a good deal elsewhere.
SlickDeals.net
I don't check this site nearly as often as the others, but they sometimes have a deal or two that isn't posted elsewhere.