Online shoppers’ have more tools than ever to find the best value for their money. Value being the highest quality item for the best price. These are a few of the tools that I use on a regular basis whether shopping online, or occasionally actually "driving to a store." If you have some of your own that you love, feel free to share them in the comments.

Shop for the best

One of the best features of online shopping is that you can find out a lot about the product before ever touching it. You have access to just as much information as the salespeople at traditional stores. You can find out what customers who were purchasing the same item bought and what they liked and didn’t like. Whenever I am going to be purchasing a product that costs me more than a few bucks I check out these places to find out what brand and model I should buy.

ConsumerReports.org - They are a not-for-profit company that reviews thousands of products and have no advertising in their magazine - therefore eliminating any potential conflicts of interest. They have an online subscription for $26 a year or $6 for a month of access. If you are buying a car or any other sizeable purchase, I highly recommend signing up. I have had very good results from their reviews so far.

Amazon.com- The customer reviews are just another thing I love about Amazon. Look for reviewers with the "top reviewer" badge. These guys are less likely to be sellers posing as reviewers. They tend to get a lot of consumer reviews, the law of averages will help on most products. I look for common trends (e.g. the light bulb on the vacuum burnt out after a couple months). By looking for recurring issues, you can get a good feel for what the problem areas with the product may be.

ePinions.com - I really don’t like ePinions that much. I check them occasionally just to get additional opinions on an item if I need it.

Circuitcity.com - Most times they don’t have as many reviews as Amazon does, but for electronics purchases I will often check them.

Buy the cheapest

I have been very pleased with the free shipping with Amazon Prime thus far, but even with the free shipping, there are occasionally better deals to be found.

eBay.com - eBay is often a great place to find a rock-bottom price on any given product. If you are willing to get a USED item, of course you will be able to save even more.

Pricegrabber.com -  This is a service that does comparison shopping for you. They look at hundreds of sites that sell the same products and list them by price for you.

Find bargains online

If you are ever buying from a retail store you can always Google "brand name or store name" + "coupon" or "promo code." This will often yield some coupons that you may be eligible for. Most of the Google results you will find will come from Retailmenot.com or one of 1,000 other coupon websites.

Slickdeals.net - Look for hot deals here and also at FatWallet.com

Woot.com - A cool and clever site that features one closeout product each day. Once they are gone, they are gone. So, if it is a hot item, it will be gone before you wake up in the morning.

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