What Gift?

Buying online isn’t a new thing, but there are still a lot of people who hesitate before shopping on the net. Really, there’s no reason to fear. Shopping online is usually cheaper, easier and even more secure than shopping in real life.

Online shopping allows you for a quick and easy price comparison, use of many coupons and saves you the need to walk or drive to a store. The variety of products and gifts you can buy online is incredible. With the click of a mouse, you can buy things from almost every point on the planet. You can also buy from young and aspiring designers and donate small sums of money to various charities – all without getting out of the house.

Here are some pointers for shopping online – to help you make your internet shopping more fun, secure and efficient.

5 Online Shopping Tips

1. Compare Prices: The internet offers many easy and great ways for a quick price comparison. You can save hundreds of dollars by making sure you are getting a fair price. Some good price comparison sites and engines are: Google Product Search, PriceGrabber, BizRate and Shopping.com.  It’s also a great way to discover cheap and interesting new vendors. Just remember – cheaper isn’t always better. Make sure the online shop of your choice has a good reputation before you buy anything.
2. Use Coupons: Coupons are the hottest trend on the net these days – because everyone is trying to save a bit while shopping. Almost every online vendor has coupons codes that give you a decent discount. The trick is to know about the coupons – which is why there are dozens of sites that are updated daily with the best coupons on the net. Before you complete a deal at an online shop, search for relevant coupons. Good coupon sites are: CouponCabine, SmartSource, RetailMeNot and more.
3. Use PayPal: The fear of credit card theft is one of the main reasons why people avoid shopping online. While it’s rather safe to entrust your credit card number with the big online vendors, there might  be times when you wish to buy at a smaller, unfamiliar online shop. This is where PayPal comes in – you give your credit card number to PayPal and you don’t have to reveal it again – you just type in the e-mail address you used to register with PayPal, confirm the transaction – and you’re done. Many small shops use PayPal as a checkout method, which makes it much easier and safer to buy online.
4. Snoop Around: If you stumble upon an unfamiliar shop, check its reputation before buying. Also, look around the online shop and see that everything looks right. If you see fuzzy images, read bad reviews about the shop and get no answers from the customer service – don’t buy there.
5. Read the Product Reviews: Many sites, such as Amazon, allow their customers to post reviews about the different products that are offered on the site. This way, you can read real-life opinions on the product you want to buy, and not just the fancy product description. If ninety people out of a hundred say the product sucks, then you might wanna go for something else. This is also true for eBay – carefully examine the sellers reputation and reviews before you buy a product from them.

PC Magazine has an interesting article about gifts you shouldn’t buy on Christmas.

Gadgets you shouldn’t buy include, according to the article, are DVD players, Nettops and Netbooks with too-small of a keyboard.

Just in case you need some more specific ideas – check out our list of gifts for Christmas.

Evian has one of the cutest commercials out there, and also one of the most viral ones as of late.

Check out Evian’s roller babies:

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Evian – Mineral Water Spray – Travel Trio – Evian’s delightful cool mist rehydrates skin suffering from overheated or dry office air. It also revives your makeup throughout the day, and keeps you looking fresh by replenishing that much needed moisture.

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Why don’t women play video games? Do you need to create special games for women, in order for them to become gamers? Someone thinks so. That’s why the Shii was invented – a Wii version for women. Here it is:

And after you’ve finished laughing, here are some ACTUAL Wii products you might enjoy:

EA Sports Active – Developed in collaboration with fitness expert Bob Greene, best known as Oprah’s personal trainer, EA SPORTS Active provides a fun, inexpensive and easy to maintain regimen designed to encourage physical fitness and healthy living.

Wii Riiser Aerobic Step for the Wii Fit Balance Board – The Riiser is a stand that you put under your Wii Fit balance board. It brings the top of the wii fit up to a full 4 inch height, which is the standard height for step aerobics. When you are performing step exercises on the Wii Fit minigames, you will get a much better workout.

PES 2009 Pro-Evolution Soccer – Pro Evolution Soccer is back for 2009! The terms PES and Winning Eleven have always been synonymous with realism and superior gameplay but this year PES will further narrow the gap between the game and the real thing!

Check out this cool Ray-Ban viral commercial, with the most colorful chameleon ever:

• Ray Ban Aviator Sunglasses RB 3025
• Ray Ban Wayfarer Sunglasses
• Ray-Ban Polarized Sunglasses with Case

This is for all you Star Trek: TNG fans (me included!) – THAT Jean-Luc Picard. Wonderful spoof.

Durex‘s ad, “Get it on”, is getting a lot of internet buzz. It’s funny and sort of SFW. Here it is:

Durex Condoms

This will be one of the coolest gifts ever – The Force Trainer. This toy is expected to be priced at $90 to $100, and it comes with a headset that uses brain waves. If you concentrate hard enough – the little ball in the clear tube will rise, and you just might become a Jedi.

Star Wars sound effects and audio clips emitted from the base unit cue you in to progress to the next level (from Padawan to Jedi) or when to move the sphere up or down to keep challenging yourself.

Are you ready to use the force? Do you have it in you? You’ll have to wait a few months to see.

In the mean time, you can work on your Lightsaber skills.