Comparison shopping
The 10 Best Tools to Guarantee You're Getting the Very Best Price
Nobody wants to pay more than they have to for what they buy, and with all the deal-finding tools out there, there's no reason you should have to. From barcode-scanning apps to browser extensions that automatically seek out lower prices and coupon codes, here are a some of our favorites.
Bargain Shopping Simplified: Is This App the Answer?
When is a bargain not a bargain? When the hidden costs of finding it outweigh the lower price. Costs like shipping, or gas, or your extra time. NetPlenish aims to solve all that for the real best deal, and eliminate the biggest hassle of online shopping, too: the annoying checkout process.
3 Financial Resolutions That Are Easy to Keep
2012 may not be the year you strike it rich, but you can make it the year you start making smarter financial decisions using the technology at your fingertips. Start with these three small moves that can save you some serious money.
Is Amazon the New Walmart (in the 'Evil Empire' Sense)?
On Dec. 10, Amazon offered a special deal to shoppers who used its smartphone app in brick-and-mortar stores: Scan certain items, and the Web retailer would give them an extra 5% off. Critics cried foul. In one tactless move, has Amazon cast itself as the new mom-and-pop business killer?
Best Buy Still Doesn't Get It
The retailer's latest quarter was another disaster. Revenue rose by less than 2% to $12.1 billion. Earnings, adjusted for a one-time restructuring charge, fell to $0.47 a share, well below both last year's figure and analysts' target. Here's why Best Buy's future isn't going to be any easier than its recent past.
Women Don't Shop Enough -- for Their Mortgages
There's a surprising new finding that says women get lousier mortgage rates than men, but not because of gender discrimination. It's because instead of shopping around, they rely on friends' recommendations.
Always Low Prices? There's a Walmart iPad App for That
Bargain hunting just got a little easier for Walmart customers who are also Apple customers. The world's largest retailer has launched a new app for the iPad and updated its app for the iPhone to keep in step with its shoppers' growing use of the popular Apple products.
Black Friday Is Losing Its Luster As a Shopping Event
Here's the scoop on the holiday shopping season: Fewer people will camp out in front of stores before Black Friday this year in hopes of scoring hot deals on the "it" gifts. Instead, they'll use smart phones and tablets to comparison shop for the best prices, according to Accenture's latest survey.
Drugstore Markups Are Worse Than You'd Imagine
It's happened to all of us. You head into the drugstore to grab some aspirin or toothpaste and you walk out carrying a bag stuffed with impulse items -- even groceries. Those impulse buys will cost you -- a lot: A new report from finds drugstore prices average more than 36% higher than supermarket prices.
New Tool Helps Find Best Deals on College Textbooks
When it comes to buying textbooks, the options have been slim: Pay high prices at the campus bookstore, or search hither and yon to track down used books. Now, a new startup called SwoopThat is changing that with a robust comparison shopping tool that does for textbooks what sites like Kayak.com have done for air travel.
A New Way to Help Drivers Find Better Leases?
While car buyers have been able to comparison shop online for years, drivers who want to lease their cars mainly have had to do their own legwork -- until now. LeaseTrader.com this week launched a new service to help them comparison shop for leases.
Smartphones Give Back-to-School Shoppers an Edge
Back-to-school season is the second most lucrative period of the year for the nation's retailers, behind only the winter holidays. But this year, shoppers are armed to save as never before, with smartphones outfitted with price-comparison apps. Here are some ways retailers are responding.
7 Free Apps That Saved Us an Instant $68.14
You paid a lot for your iPhone, so why not use it to earn back some of that dough? Here are seven apps -- all free -- that can save you hundreds of dollars a year, on gas, groceries, and goods sold online. We took them for a test drive and slashed our shopping tab by nearly $70.
My 3 Cents: When and How to Haggle for Everyday Items
We all know not to pay sticker price for a new car or a house, but the prices for many of the things we buy regularly aren't set in stone either. And where there's wiggle room, there's haggling. So how can you haggle gracefully? Regina Lewis explains the two cardinal rules of haggling.