Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving when droves of online shoppers are expected to log online (even from work) and kick-off an online holiday buying frenzy. It's the cyber equivalent to Black Friday.
Early indicators suggest Cyber Monday is not just marketing hype from online retailers hoping to convince you to spend money online. Strong online holiday sales have already been reported. And as you might imagine there are some great bargains online to be had.
Here are some tips for finding the best bargains online today.
Start with sites that round up the bargains for you.
Remember when you actually had to search the Web for bargains by going from site to site? Those days are gone. Here are sites that aggregate the best deals from sites around the Web.
Ben's Bargains (www.bensbargains.net)
Black Friday 2007 (www.bfads.net)
Dealnews (www.dealnews.com)
DealTaker (www.dealtaker.com)
FatWallet (www.fatwallet.com)
FreshBargains (www.FreshBargains.net)
SlickDeals.net (www.slickdeals.net)
SearchAllDeals (www.searchalldeals.com)
Techbargains (www.techbargains.com)
Google and PayPal Offer Checkout Savings
Leading online payment companyPayPal is offering incentives for shoppers to pay using its PayPal system. For a limited time PayPal is offering a promotion where you can receive as much as 20 percent cash-back on orders at select merchants. The catch is the maximum total amount of cash back per PayPal account is $50. PayPal purchases must be made between 11/26/2007 and 12/10/2007.
Naturally you'll want to review the terms and conditions carefully first. Some of the participating merchants include Dell, Eastbay, Hewlett-Packard, Newegg, Overstock, Sierra Trading Post, and ToysRus.
Google, which is eager to muscle into the online payment business, is using the holiday online shopping frenzy to promote its PayPal alternative, Google Checkout. Google Checkout is offering frequent flier miles, cash discounts, and free shipping at select merchants when you shop at anyone of 100 merchants that use Google Checkout.
Google's airline rewards program include earning frequent flier miles with Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways, and United Airlines. You earn two frequent flier miles for every dollar spent through Google Checkout.
A breakdown of what deals each Google Checkout merchants are offering are listed at Google Checkout site.
Still Having Trouble Finding the Best Deal?
For many bargain hunters, comparison shopping engines have become the first port of call. Services such as Shopzilla.com, Shopping.com, NextTag.com, and Yahoo! Shopping have dedicated holiday gift categories. These sites are great letting you filter results by brand, price, or merchant user rating.
However, while these comparison engines are terrific way to save money, they don't always reflect the big short-term promotions offered today and this week. You'll also be advised to do your homework on how comparison shopping engines work to make sure you're always getting the best deal.
If you're lucky you'll save some money and have all your holiday shopping done before you know it and without battling for a parking spot at the mall.
