Sprenzy Shopping Blog

I have spent the last several months writing blog posts on products that I thought were interesting, had a lot of buzz or on products I own and enjoy using. So I want to take this opportunity to find out what products you are interested in buying. If you need assistance looking for a gift or just conducting research on a new product, let me know and I’ll help out by conducting some research for you.

The more information you provide me, the more relevant my advice will be. For example, if you are looking for an HDTV, let me know your budget, screen size, brand or any other requirements you have. Pose your product advice question in a comment below and I’ll respond with a post.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your turkey day is filled with close friends, wonderful family and delicious food. I’m looking forward to a five spice rubbed deep fried turkey, great side dishes and dessert!

I leave you with two videos. The first is Adam Sandler singing his Thanksgiving song. The second video shows a Black Friday rush at Wal-Mart. The video is slightly disturbing and the reason why I avoid shopping at brick and mortar stores, especially during the holiday season.

Obviously, I recommend online shopping in the comfort of your home and PJs. But if you have to venture out to shop, have fun, be careful and stay safe! Again, Happy Thanksgiving.

Faster than you know it, Black Friday will be upon us. Or for us online shopping fanatics, Cyber Monday is quickly approaching. In preparation for the holiday shopping season, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss some online shopping tips to prevent holiday shopping headaches.

PC World posted a good article on how to “Avoid the Biggest Web Shopping Annoyances”. Let me highlight a few annoyances from the article.

• “Product cycles for tech gear have gotten shorter over the years as companies seek to stay competitive by quickly incorporating new features, says Jenny Pareti, spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association. Canon, for example, has cranked out more than 24 new digital camera models in the past 12 months.

  An unfortunate side effect of accelerated product rollouts is that they increase the odds of accessories not working with older gear. Apple, for example, has introduced on average a new iPod model every two months for the past year, and people who have bought older iPod accessories such as speakers or docks can’t always use them with the newer iPods.” Buying a product when the next generation is released a week later can be very frustrating. If you are caught up in the tech gear arms race, then I recommend reading Engadget or Gizmodo gadget blogs for the latest product news and rumors. Otherwise, check the manufacturer’s site to verify the product “freshness” you plan on buying.

• “In the hypercompetitive world of online commerce, sites for comparison shopping have unfortunately become popular destinations for rip-off artists seeking to lure customers with fake merchant and product reviews. The problem of bogus reviews has arisen even at well-known sites such as Amazon.com.” In the web world where user generated content rules the day, fake reviews are a major concern. On Sprenzy, we offer reviews through our partnerships with Epinions.com and Amazon.com, so you can read multiple sources of reviews. I would still caution you to be wary of new products or new stores with a glowing review from a single source, particularly if the source is new to the review community. Remember, there’s always strength in numbers, good or bad.

• “Depending on the merchant you’re dealing with, online overnight shipping can mean several things. Dell charges $109 for “next business day” delivery of new desktop computers. However, when I ordered a PC over the phone from Dell and added that I wanted to pay for next-business-day delivery, I learned that to Dell this means the system ships the day after it’s actually built–which might take up to a week.” Just because you picked next day shipping, don’t expect your new product to be there tomorrow. Most online merchants have a 24 or 48 hour processing time delay before shipping your package. So read the fine print or the merchants’ shipping FAQs to avoid unmet delivery expectations.

• “As for obtaining refunds from retailers, even when you regain your cash from reputable companies such as Best Buy, Sears, or Staples, you may get stuck with restocking fees of 10 to 15 percent of the purchase price.

  What can you do to avoid the money-back guarantee runaround? Ask retailers about (or check their Web site carefully for) their refund policy. And if a product comes with its own money-back guarantee, make sure you read it closely, too.” Don’t be fooled by money-back guarantees. Read the fine print on restocking fees, return shipping fees, money back or store credit.

• More annoyances from PC World.

Top 5 Online Shopping Tips

Now, let’s turn to the top 5 online shopping tips that will help prevent any holiday headaches. Here are my top tips:

1. Check the online store’s return and refund policy - I always prefer shopping at online stores with free shipping and free return policies, such as Zappos.com, Altrec.com and Amazon.com, or stores such as REI.com or LLBean.com with no hassle return policies. You may not get the lowest price at these stores, but the peace of mind of easy returns and a full refund is worth the extra money most of the times.

2. Purchase products from a trusted store - This is an obvious tip, but when can you trust a store? The easiest way is to check merchant or store reviews. When you are reading store reviews on Sprenzy or another comparison shopping site, be wary of glowing reviews from newly created user profiles for a new store. Additionally, each comparison shopping site has criteria for awarding a trusted or certified store rating. Make sure you read and understand the criteria. Just because a store receives the “trusted store” moniker, it doesn’t guarantee a good experience with the merchant. Read the store reviews and check for common issues, good and bad.

3. Buy early from a new store - If you have to buy a product from a store with which you have no experience or reviews, don’t wait until the last second, ship next day and expect a happy ending. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but I wouldn’t risk it. If you are going to purchase from a new store, do it early in case of any hiccups in service or delivery. If you can’t overcome your holiday gift buying procrastination, then buy from a trusted store or dare I say, pick it up from a brick and mortar store.

4. Use a credit card  - Never use a debit card to make online purchases. Debit cards and ATM cards are not protected by federal law as well as credit cards are. Find a credit card that offers fraud protection, extends the manufacturer’s warranty and allows you to generate a temporary card number with a set spending limit and expiration date. During transactions with a new online store, use a temporary card number to avoid giving away a real credit card number to the online store or during data transmission.

5. Create an online shopping email address - Get an email address and create a password that is used solely for online purchases. This allows you to keep a “paper” trail of order confirmation, invoices, shipping confirmation and product updates (if you sign up for them). And if someone violates your privacy policy and puts you on an unwanted newsletter or spam list, your personal email address won’t be compromised.  

Online shopping can save you precious time and money. But before you make a web purchase, do your due diligence and take the above precautions. I’m sure you’ll have a happy and rewarding online holiday shopping experience.

Additional Online Shopping Resources:

Online Shopping Tips - Privacy Rights Clearinghouse 

Better Business Bureau Online

A Guide for E-Consumers - FTC online shopping guide

Online Shopping - Federal government online shopping tips