When you’re shopping online, you probably perform a cursory search online to find out whether the e-retailer you’re about to buy from has any coupons available online. Sites for sharing coupon codes like RetailMeNot are great to check quickly. What should you do if your search comes up empty? Don’t despair. Like brick-and-mortar retailers, online stores might have your back when you don’t bring your own coupons. [More]
online shopping
Overstock.com Faces $6.8 Million Penalty for Fraudulent Pricing Practices
By 1.8.14
You know that guy in the Overstock.com commercial who buys an engagement ring for a steal? He may want to double-check how great that deal really was after a California judge ruled the company’s price comparison techniques are a bit shady. [More]
Ann Taylor Figures Out How My Order Went On Friend’s Credit Card, Celebrates With Free Clothes
By 5.29.13 — Updated: 5.30.13
You may remember last week, when reader Patty wrote to us about having her friend’s credit card data somehow on her Ann Taylor Loft online ordering account. Since then, Patty heard back from someone at Ann Taylor, and while we don’t have the specifics of how her order went through on her friend’s credit card, the company is definitely trying to make things right with her. [More]
Hey Best Buy, If You Want Us To Shop There, Try Selling People Stuff
By 5.7.13
Michael is buying his mother a new computer for Mother’s Day, because he’s a good son and she’s moving away soon. As long as he was buying a computer, he wanted to get some reward points from Best Buy on his credit card. Only he couldn’t. While the product page bragged of “free shipping,” Best Buy was not willing to ship the item. At all. [More]
Staples.com & Others Charge You Different Prices Based On Where You Live
By 12.28.12
Most of us know that prices at a retail chain can vary from location to location. Conversely, many people assume shopping online means they’re getting the same price as everyone else in the country. Not always. [More]
How Not Price-Matching Your Own Website Is Kind Of Inefficient
By 12.20.12
We understand why very few retailers will price-match their own websites. Online and meatspace retail are different markets, and the current system rewards people who are smart enough to order items online for in-store pickup. We guess. You have to admit, though, that the current system is kind of inefficient. That was Brian’s experience at Finish Line, anyway. He wanted a specific jacket, which was $69 online, but a higher sale price, $100, in the store. Only the store couldn’t give him the online price, because That’s Just Not Done. What did he do? He went home and ordered the jacket online. With free shipping. How efficient. [More]
Thieves Get Grinchy By Following Delivery Trucks & Stealing Gifts From Doorsteps
By 12.5.12
While some of us are busy shopping online like Santa’s elves or buying gifts to celebrate Hanukkah, it’s also the time of the year when others get their Grinch on. But cops say three suspects in Massachusetts skipped going down chimneys to steal, and have instead been pulling a reverse St. Nick by swiping gifts from doorsteps moments after delivery trucks drop them off. [More]
Study: Amazon Has Cheapest Toys Online [Cue Other Retailers Scrambling To Cut Prices]
By 11.14.12
In the retail world, it’s all about beating out the competition. And if you can offer the lowest prices and thus lure the most customers, well then you’re the winningest of all. A new analysis of retailers has come up with a big old carrot of motivation by saying Amazon has cheaper online prices for toys than major chains like Walmart and Target. Let the price wars begin, just in time for the holiday season. [More]
3 Things Not To Buy Online
By 2.27.12
In many cases it’s prudent not to buy things at retail, because you can usually find them cheaper online. But due to quirks inherent with online shopping, there are some things you’re still better off heading out to a physical store to buy yourself. [More]
Things Online Shoppers Shouldn't Do
By 2.1.12
You can shop online for years without ever having your information compromised, but not everyone can be so lucky. There are ways to guard yourself against thieves looking to swipe your money and personal information. [More]
Retail Websites Admit They Sort Of Encourage Drunk-Buying
By 12.28.11
Alcohol doesn’t make you do anything. But a few glasses of wine sure can quiet that voice in the back of your head that tries to tell you, “We don’t actually need that Tim Tebow Fathead wall sticker,” or whatever regrettable impulse buy you might be on the verge of making. And online retailers admit that those occasional after-work happy hours or the extra couple of drops of vodka in your homemade Bloody Mary that sometimes work out to their benefit. [More]
Research Shows Holiday Online Shopping Up 15% This Year
By 12.20.11
If they could make a noise, digital cash registers would have been busy ringing this year, as new research shows consumers are online shopping to the tune of 15% more than last year, up from $26.9 billion to $30.9 billion. [More]
Which Online Retailers Have The Fastest & Slowest Delivery Times?
By 12.16.11
Today is Free Shipping Day, which is pretty self-explanatory, but free shipping doesn’t mean good shipping. That’s why the folks at STELLAservice wanted to know which of the top 25 online retailers were able to get you your order in a timely manner. [More]
A Simple Money-Saving Step For Online Purchases
By 12.5.11
No matter how great a price you find for whatever you’re buying online, there’s a chance you can make it even cheaper before you complete the order. A quick search for discount codes can provide blanket discounts or eliminate shipping charges. Such codes are the not-so-secret handshakes of online commerce. [More]
Reasons Not To Fear Buying Engagement Rings Online
By 12.5.11
Christmas is a popular time to pop the question, and many of those who go through with it will have to suffer agonizing trips to the jewelry store to pick out a rock that will cost so much it could make them rethink the entire endeavor. One way to save time is to buy it online, but there’s still a stigma about buying jewelry that way. [More]
How To Make Sure Your "Free" Shipping Doesn't Cost Too Much
By 11.30.11
Online sellers don’t offer free shipping with minimum spending amounts just to be nice. They’re trying to squeeze enough extra purchases out of customers to justify the expense of eating their shipping costs. Savvy shoppers can use such offers to their advantage, but they’ll have to out-smart the rigged system. [More]
Crate & Barrel Will E-Stalk You To Close A Sale
By 11.17.11
David was poking around the Crate & Barrel website, without actually signing in. Or so he thought. He had put something in his cart, then closed his browser and wandered off. He was a little surprised when the site emailed him to remind him that he had forgotten a few things in his cart. [More]
Jos. A. Bank Puts Item On 'Clearance' By Raising Price
By 8.15.11
Sharon followed a link from our daily “Morning Deals” post to clothing retailer Jos. A. Bank to check out the “clearance” section. There was a coupon code for an additional 25% off clearance items, but apparently not all clearance sales are created equal. [More]
