Friday, December 25, 2009

How to Shop Online During the Holiday Season

The months before Christmas are one of the most profitable times for businesses in North America. Millions are made every year from special shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There's almost no store that doesn't have a discount during this time of the year, as they're all trying to compete for your valuable dollars. One of the biggest methods that companies are using to sell their product is the use of the Internet. Companies are providing huge incentives to get costumers to shop on their websites. This includes free shipping deals, major discounts and future purchase discounts.

There are a few ways in which you can find deals on the Internet for online shopping. Blogs are a huge resource of coupon codes and discounts, as they offer the reader a cheaper product and provide the blogger an affiliate commission. For example, my blog has quite a few deals posted right now, ranging from Black Friday electronic sales to tea set discounts, all of which give me a commission and save my readers hundreds of dollars. There has been increasing debate recently over the legitimacy of deals that are provided by bloggers because of the fact that they receive a percentage of the money payed to the retailer. Critics have suggested that bloggers who post these coupon codes are spammers and are fraudulent. It's important for the costumer to realize though that this is not the case, that just because an affiliate link is posted on a blog doesn't mean that the blogger is trying to rip off the costumer. It's exactly the same way that salesman make money in electronics stores or a car dealership; by selling you the product and receiving commission for that particular sale.

Coupon search engines have become increasingly popular as of late. These search engines crawl through the Internet looking for discounts, then compile them into a nice orderly list for the costumer to browse through. These search engines can really save countless hours amounts of time when shopping, as you don't need to browse from site to site looking for the best deals. So if you're looking for coupons on a particular product using these search engines can minimize the hassle and time you waste browsing to different sites. A coupon search engine that I'd recommend is Tagjag.com. This search engine provides immediate and accurate results to some of the webs largest coupon code discounts.

One other way for finding deals is by using site that has been a huge hit with online shoppers called Amazon.com. Amazon is the biggest online retailer out there right now, which isn't a surprise considering all of the discounts you can find there. What makes Amazon so popular is the way the site is laid out. During specific celebrations throughout the year, like Christmas, Amazon sets up sales pages that break down the different types of deals they are currently having. For example, their navigation bar shows all the different categories of products, then gives you the option of breaking the results down into categories, then into discount percentages. You can then rearrange your search results into best selling, most expensive, least expensive, or highest rated. This provides the user with accurate and detailed information about whether the product their interested in purchasing is worth paying the money for.

With all of this said, it's still important to remember that there are significant dangers and security risks on the Internet when shopping online. Before typing in your credit card number make sure that you double check that the website you're giving it to isn't a fraud. Also, refrain from clicking on links in emails, as it's extremely easy for a hacker to hide a real URL with a fake one. Another tip that I often reiterate to people is to check with a friend about the legitimacy of a website. Ask them about their experiences and note any problems or difficulties they might have faced. There are millions of online shopping security tips that could be said, but the most important thing for a shopper to do is use common sense.

All in all, shopping online can be a great experience. There are so many resources available for costumers to use on the Internet, whether it be a blog or a coupon search engine. Additionally, shipping has become so much cheaper than previous years so taking advantage of that will safe you even more money. Remember to stay safe though and not give out your credit card to people you'd think aren't trustworthy.




Brad Roberts is an experienced blogger who's been writing for over five years. He specializes in finding discounts for online shopping. He also posts regularly about online self promotion and technology news. One of his biggest passions is for the development of technology and how it affects the regular user. To learn more about Brad check out his website.

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