Shopping online is awesome. You can save money and get products that aren’t available offline in your area. And you can also can read reviews from other customers that help you make smarter purchases.
You can leave reviews of your own and get feedback and solutions from other customers. Oddly, this digital shopping age is a bit of a return to when communities were tighter-knit and everyone knew everyone else and businesses needed good reputations to survive.
The best known online shopper’s paradise is, of course, Amazon.com. I do love Amazon, but a couple of months ago I asked you, the readers: where else? What other sites offer something wonderful? Savings? Freebies? 100% free shipping?
I’ve compiled the results into this post, which I will update as you (or I) discover and report more wonderful sites out there for online shoppers.
Great online bargain sites
- Zenni Optical sells prescription eyeglasses from $6.95 – and that includes frames and lenses. They also sell specialty lenses on the very, very cheap.
- EyeBuyDirect also saves you money on prescription glasses by shipping direct from the factory to you. They offer lots of great deals, even on premium designer frames.
- Zappos is pretty well-known, but worth a mention. They’re a internet shoe seller with a great selection, and a brilliant solution to the problem of not being sure what size will fit if you can’t try them on: they offer free shipping on both purchases and returns, so you can actually buy two sizes and return the one that didn’t fit, easy-peasy.
- The Travel Team has great prices on travel and related services. They can make all the arrangements for an entire trip, and get rave reviews from customers who can’t imagine how they managed things so smoothly.
- Woot.com sells one product per day, often at an exceptionally great price. Make sure you know what you’re getting before buying, because they won’t generally accept returns. There are some exceptions if your item is damaged in shipping, but you’re usually advised to use the manufacturer’s warranty to return it if it’s defective. If it’s not defective, you may have to keep it.
- BargainJill and BargainJack are a pair of websites founded on the sexist notion that men and women always want different stuff, but they do have good deals. Supposedly, BargainJack caters to men and BargainJill to women, but for example, all the cool computer deals are at BargainJack. I personally don’t know any women who aren’t into having cool computers, so be sure to check out both sites, whatever your gender.
Reward, Coupon and Freebie Sites
- MyPoints is a reward website – your online shopping earns you points, which you can redeem on goods or services from their partners. If you’re going to shop anyway, why not earn some rewards for doing it?
- Giveaway of the Day gives you a free software download every day. The download is often a real, fully-functioning bit of software that will cost you decent money if you miss it. Check the site daily, because the deals change that often.
- MySavings gives you free samples, printable and online coupons and other freebies.
- Free Stuff Channel is another provider of freebies.
- And Go Freebies.