Amazon.com
- The one and only and original Amazon.com. It was the first great online
retailer and still one of the best for reviews, ease of use and look and feel.
For books and music it is still one of the best places, but now other places
are better on pricing and shipping charges, unless you get their free shipping
deal. We usually try to buy $25 worth of stuff to get the Free Shipping deals.
It's a great place to purchase DRM free MP3 files of songs too.
NewEgg
- The online place to buy computer parts cheap, fast and with good customer
support. There selection is fantastic, and you can almost always find what you
want at a very good price. Check your computer magazines for special codes to
get free shipping on certain items too.
Cyberguys
- Another online place to buy computer parts cheap, they are cheaper than
NewEgg on some items (typically low priced generic items like cables and mice,
especially in bulk), but they cost more on larger, more expensive products
(routers, video cards, etc). Typically if you are spending less than $50 on
bulk items like cables or keyboards go to CyberGuys, but for name brand
computer peripherals go to NewEgg. CyberGuys is especially good at more unique
components, parts and gadgets that NewEgg would not even carry. Their shipping
rates on multiple items are more reasonable than NewEgg as well. They are THE
place to buy bulk USB cables.
Geeks.com
-They often carry some very interesting, obscure "geeky" items you
will not find elsewhere. Another place to compare with NewEgg and CyberGuys
when buying components. Their shipping prices can be a bit high too, so make
sure the deal you are getting more than covers the shipping cost (which it
often can, but other times does not.) Usually it cost $7 for one small item, $8
for two or more small items, so if you are getting multiple mice or USB flash
drives, their total price will beat NewEgg (where you do not get much discount
on shipping for multiple items). Getting three or four small items here for $8
or $9 shipping is a good deal. Sometimes they even offer special free shipping
or $2.99 shipping for any order for one day, and then their good deals turn into
great deals!
eBay
- Hey, eBay is the online Wal-Mart/flea market of the world. You just cannot
beat it. Just watch out who you are buying from when the deals sound just too
good to be true. Many eBay retailers simply gouge you on shipping and handling,
but others are extremely reasonable. If you are willing to wait on really slow
shipping from China you can get cables and accessories at a steal.
BestBuy.com
- Their prices along with free shipping often beat Amazon for music and movies,
and they can come in close to newegg on computer stuff, but their selection is
not very large. Plus many of their computer "deals" involve large
rebates, which I prefer not to use when you could get those same low prices
from day one somewhere like NewEgg, Geeks.com or CyberGuys.
DeepDiscount.com
- A super low price place to purchase CD's and movies, with fast response. I
have used them a couple times and they were fast with new releases, with prices
after shipping that beat Amazon or BestBuy. Sometimes BestBuy can beat them,
some times they cannot. You have to go and check both places.
ChristianBook.com
- The biggest and (sometimes) cheapest place to buy Christian music online.
Sometimes their special prices beat DeepDiscount, Amazon or BestBuy but
sometimes they do not. You should check them along with DeepDiscount and
BestBuy to see who has the best deal at any given time. This Christian dealer
often gets special deals (bonus DVD's, autographed covers, free albums, etc.)
that the secular dealers do not have. They also have sheet music and
accompaniment tracks for sale which you can either download or have sent to
you.
InkSell
- A low price e-tailer who sells quality replacement ink products. We actually
purchased once from someone who was cheaper, and we regretted it. InkSell is
inexpensive, but their products are very good. Use coupon code fastship to get
free 2-day shipping with no minimum order size.
SimpleMicro
- We have bought from them a few times and they always have the best pricing on
laptop batteries and power adaptors. Try using cnet.com to search for your
battery and you will likely get a hit on their site. The strange thing is the
price is often better going through cnet.com than directly from their own site
so make sure you go that way to get the best deal.
FastFloors
- The online place to buy flooring. We bought about 500 square feet of laminate
from them and it came in flawlessly (and our installation work was impeccable,
of course!). A good place to deal with, with good pricing and shipping.
NoBrainerBlinds.com
- The online place to buy blinds and window coverings. We have purchased 14
blinds from them now, and they were very good with pricing and shipping. We
actually had to return one blind they sent in the wrong color, and the return
was painless.
Sears
Parts Online - Like everyone else we have a few
Sears/Kenmore products and every now and then we need parts for them so we can
fix them ourselves. Here is the direct link to the Sears Parts Store. Their
prices are not wonderful, but compared to having Sears or some repair place fix
it, they are cheap! It seems like the quality and reliability of the
"Kenmore" brand appliances has taken a huge tumble recently, which is
very sad indeed.
RPS
Products - A low priced place to buy replacement humidifier
wicks and HEPA filters. Yes, these last retailers are getting obscure and very
specific, but that's why I have this list!
Filter
Now
- A good, fast and inexpensive retailer who sells Filter and other stock
furnace filters in bulk. If you buy 6 or more you get free shipping and a 5%
discount. You cannot beat that!
Virgin
Mobile - Another pre-paid phone service which is actually
cheaper now than TracFone (~$60/year compared to $99.99), but you must pay $15
every 90 days instead of being able to just plunk it all down once a year. They
also have cooler phones, so that is what my kids use. They used to have this
deal called "Sugar Mamma" where you could earn free minutes by
watching corny video ads, but they got rid of it!
Have a wonderful shopping!