Hey, I'm Donald Bell for CNET.com here to give you a crash course on saving money when you're shopping online whether it's for a birthday or for the holidays.
if you wanna save some money without a lot of effort here are 5 simple tips that are easy to remember.
If you've already made up your mind and you're shopping for something specific like a Nexus 7 tablet there are 2 things you'll wanna know.
First,
is it a good time to buy?
Sites like Retrevo or Campbell Kamel Camel will show you where the price has been and what you should realistically expect to pay.
If you're at a price peak you may wanna hold off.
Second, who's offering the best price?
For that I like pricegrabber.com or Google Shopping; they do a great job too.
On either one you can quickly see who's offering the best price and whether or not you're paying tax or shipping.
Now what if you're not shopping for something specific.
It's your uncle's birthday.
You have no idea what to get him but you need to get him something.
For that I would try a Daily Deal site.
Places like Woot.com or Slickdeals will offer a range of interesting deeply discounted products, but to make it even easier check out DODTracker.com.
This site compiles all the offers from the deal of the day sites under one page.
If you still have no idea what to buy, one-time honored cop-out present is the gift card.
We've all done it before and honestly won't you rather get one of these than some salad shooter you can't return.
The only crime here is paying full price
for the gift card.
A site like Gift Card Granny allows you to buy cards at a discount from any name, brand, shop, or restaurant and buying a high-value card at a discount is also a good way to save money for yourself if you plan on buying a lot of holiday gifts at one retailer like an Amazon or a Target.
Finally no matter what you're buying don't pay for shipping if you can help it.
While you're shopping around on price, be sure to factor in whether the site will ship it for free.
If you found something you love and only one retailer has it and it comes with a shipping charge, check
freeshipping.org to see if you can find a promo code to knock out that shipping cost.
So there you go.
Those are some quick tips for finding a great deal online with a minimum of effort.
For CNET.com I'm Donald Bell.
I hope you find something cool.
