'Tis the Season...

Knowing that Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. are coming up and that people will still be buying presents for each other whether the ACLU likes it or not, it seems appropriate to share a few websites which provide some real deals.

Before anything else though I must introduce the wonderful Firefox extension RUsure. This is a must-have for all serious internet shoppers. It allows you, before you buy anything online, to highlight it in your browser, right-click it, and a quick scan of thousands of internet bargain and retail sites is then performed for you automatically on that item. The results pop into a separate tab so that you can immediately make sure you are getting the best possible price on that product. (If you're not familiar with Firefox extensions, these are a series of add-ons for the Firefox browser created by third parties that give you numerous new capabilities and conveniences. More are being created daily. Read more here. If you haven't tried them yet, you're just missing out.)

Ok, now that you're assured of getting the best price possible, let's start with the Geek basics. PriceWatch is one of the oldest shopping comparison sites on the internet. If you want to buy a computer or electronics accessory, CompUSA isn't having a sale on it, and you want the very best price available today, you probably won't do better than what this site offers. I've bought an enormous number of computer parts off of this site over the years (they're an aggregator by the way, they don't actually sell anything) and had good luck with everything I bought. It's where I bought the 1-dollar USB wheeled mouse I'm using right now.

Along the same line, but more consumer oriented and user-friendly, is PriceGrabber. Froogle is also useful.

Now for the more exotic. Woot is like nothing else. "One day one deal." That's it. Every day they offer a very special deal on one single item. When it's gone, it's gone. At midnight the next day something else will appear. Good quality stuff so worth keeping an eye on. Magazine Bargains is exactly the same--but for magazines. One magazine on sale per day at an unbelievably low price.

I've saved the best for last. You know how CompUSA, Staples, Amazon, etc. are offering different incredible bargains every week but it's too much trouble to keep up on all of them? Good news: there's a website that does it for you. Updated hourly. Ben's Bargains has become a personal addiction during this shopping season. It's just incredible. Also very useful are NoBrainerDeals and Digg's Deals section.

That should be enough to get you started. If not, more advice and choices can be found here. Bon apetit!