I get it.
It is confusing.
And in the technical vernacular of a 6th grader, I am going to try to explain it. As usual I have to try it myself, so I can learn. So this is what I know about these things and what each product means to me as a potential user or purchaser.
1. iPOD - a music machine. Great place to put all your old Aerosmith tunes or Sonny & Cher CD's that your kids burned. Or things you download from an online music store. Simply put, it plays the things you put on it. My brother has an iPOD shuffle which is a tiny thing, he isn't a techie, but I also know a lot of techies that have them. I also have an iPOD, it was the first thing I truly fell in love with as a lover of music and audiobooks. But I'm not a lover of having to haul CD cases around all the time, or to get some place only to find that I am missing the perfect CD because I neglected to bring it. iPODs come in all sizes and colors to satisfy whatever you want to carry around with you. And they are so convenient!
2. iPOD TOUCH- this is a music machine and more, here is a video you can watch by clicking here. It plays music you load on it like iPOD, and it also works through an open WIRELESS connection. So if you have wireless in your house you can get on the internet and look up your favorite recipes on line and and use it in the kitchen. It also can download and play video only I don't think my old eyes could watch a full movie on that small screen. The screen is a "touch screen," holds calendars that you can synch up with your laptop (through iTunes), and iTunes works with PC's too (watch this video.) Also holds contacts, email, as well as many other applications you can download wirelessly, most are free. My favorite one is pandora.com - it is an internet music station. (another day for that one!)
I particularly LOVE the iPOD Touch because as I mentioned it works by wireless and not cellular. As long as there is a wireless connection available, once we bought it, it was paid for, no surprise bills or monthly fees. I can use it all over the place. I know there are tons more applications, but so far I have focused on the ones important to me.
3. iPHONE is a music machine and internet machine along with being a cellular phone. This is the key here. It works through CELLULAR, so you will need a contract with AT&T. I have nothing against AT&T, except we have terrible coverage up here in Maine (and I have been told poor coverage in many rural areas) so roaming and all kinds of other things may apply. For me, my real concern is the lack of coverage. When cell phones are searching, searching, searching, searching for a signal the batteries drain quickly. Often times I know I am in an area where there is spotty coverage (like Kingfield, Maine- for example) and I just turn my cell phone off to save the battery for the time I get to a place that has coverage.
So which is better?
I think it all comes down to lifestyle and where you work and play. For me, since I play off the grid and often travel off the grid, I don't want to have a phone that is off the grid 50% of the time, or roaming when my current service provider (Central Maine Wireless- US Cellular) covers me 98% of the time. ALSO I can still use my iPOD TOUCH for many other things whether I have a wireless connection or not. It still works and my music is there, my photos are there, calendar, etc. So it is very effective even when I am in a place where wireless isn't available and in the meantime I still have battery power to use it!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More Identity Theft
This is a scam that originated in August of 2005, settled down for a while and now seems to be ignited again.
You are to do your civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. Most people don't like having rearrange their whole lives around sitting in a room awaiting for their to be name called. And more and more people are deciding to skip out on this responsibility. But arrest warrants can be issued for people that fail to appear for jury duty, so deciding not to or thinking you didn't report when called on, can create an intimidating situation.
Of course then enter the "opportunists." The phone rings at your house and the caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
If you tell them you never received a summons for jury duty, the caller asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so it can be verified.
Once they "verify your PERSONAL information" they tell you they can cancel the arrest warrant. What you don't know is they aren't verifying anything, they aren't canceling any warrant, they ARE stealing your identity, but in reality, you just gave it to them.
This all may sound silly to you, but do check in with your parents or other seniors in your life. They are particularly at risk for these schemes and the callers tend to be bullies.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Here is a link to the page on the FBI site, so you can read it for yourself. And like a previous post on this blog, snopes has it too.
You are to do your civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. Most people don't like having rearrange their whole lives around sitting in a room awaiting for their to be name called. And more and more people are deciding to skip out on this responsibility. But arrest warrants can be issued for people that fail to appear for jury duty, so deciding not to or thinking you didn't report when called on, can create an intimidating situation.
Of course then enter the "opportunists." The phone rings at your house and the caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
If you tell them you never received a summons for jury duty, the caller asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so it can be verified.
Once they "verify your PERSONAL information" they tell you they can cancel the arrest warrant. What you don't know is they aren't verifying anything, they aren't canceling any warrant, they ARE stealing your identity, but in reality, you just gave it to them.
This all may sound silly to you, but do check in with your parents or other seniors in your life. They are particularly at risk for these schemes and the callers tend to be bullies.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Here is a link to the page on the FBI site, so you can read it for yourself. And like a previous post on this blog, snopes has it too.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A funny thing happened while Social Media - "ing"
Most of the readers of this blog are new to, or trying to deal with, technology and how it effects their lives. I don't mind mentioning I am in that place too! That is the objective of this blog. I share as I learn and hope you will share what you learn with us too!
Many of you may have heard of FACEBOOK, MYSPACE & Linked-In and I have talked about them here and they are becoming bigger and bigger and there are more users using them every day. There is another tool, called a microblog named Twitter. I linked these all to descriptions on my website that explain them so if you have questions you can get answers there.
But here is the funny thing. I joined Twitter a little over a year ago (I think.) It was something I heard about people doing and at first I didnt understand it. There are countless blog entries "preaching to the choir" about how Twitter works and all us Twitter users read them, comment on them and we think it is great. But WE ALL READY know Twitter works, it is how you can use social networks to YOUR benefit, maybe the less - techy type that perhaps may think it only works for geeks. (I cannot blame you, really!)
Here are a couple of examples of my own experiences:
A week ago my girlfriend told me her sister was going to need a headcovering or hat for some cancer treatment that was going to wipe out her hair (again) and reveal some scary looking scars on her head and neck. I can knit a scarf - period. I put on my Facebook "wall" that I needed some help. I got 3 replies right away from people I do not normally interact with - and 2 got an emails yesterday that these hats were being mailed to me! That is a non-techy request to a very real situation that any of us could be in at anytime.
Another example: Along with my business, I teach Marketing at the New England School of Communications, I ask all students to "Friend Me" on Facebook and establish Twitter accounts. Paul Hilchey Chandler (twitter id: hilcheychandler) of Central Maine Wireless was a guest speaker in my class and talked about cell phones, marketing and social networking. One of my students revealed that she was in the 8,000+ of monthly text messages. (Makes my thumbs hurt just thinking about it.)
This morning, I was away from my computer and while I was away, one of our local newscasters Kara Matuszewski (twitter id: karamat) WLBZ2 had tweeted something about texting and Paul suggested she contact me (twitter id: ladyotrout) about this student I had. I also follow Kara, but do not know her personally and due to a very busy morning for me, I would probably have missed it, so thank you Paul! After a few direct messages and a phone call we have a "shout out" for high volume texters for a story she is interested in doing. I posted that on my Facebook wall and guess what? Two responses all ready! This is less than an hour and I am not kidding.
So what you may say?
These tools are very helpful in a busy life. I like to get alerts from media sources of what is going on, the weather, etc. but mainly I use Twitter as a bulletin board for articles and information that people that I feel like minded with (remember I know hardly ANY of them PERSONALLY) to share. I also share what I am reading & learning there. The internet and other media is so vast and there is so much information that these tools help me prioritize what I need to learn right now. And they cost me nothing out of pocket except the time to do it.
So I thought I would mention this to you, if you have a mother or father or know someone with a small business that is trying to do more with less (time and money) I cannot recommend these things highly enough! If you feel you dont have time to do the work yourself and you are a small business, give us a call and we can help.
And stay tuned for the WLBZ2 story...I am sure we all will be tweeting about it!
Many of you may have heard of FACEBOOK, MYSPACE & Linked-In and I have talked about them here and they are becoming bigger and bigger and there are more users using them every day. There is another tool, called a microblog named Twitter. I linked these all to descriptions on my website that explain them so if you have questions you can get answers there.
But here is the funny thing. I joined Twitter a little over a year ago (I think.) It was something I heard about people doing and at first I didnt understand it. There are countless blog entries "preaching to the choir" about how Twitter works and all us Twitter users read them, comment on them and we think it is great. But WE ALL READY know Twitter works, it is how you can use social networks to YOUR benefit, maybe the less - techy type that perhaps may think it only works for geeks. (I cannot blame you, really!)
Here are a couple of examples of my own experiences:
A week ago my girlfriend told me her sister was going to need a headcovering or hat for some cancer treatment that was going to wipe out her hair (again) and reveal some scary looking scars on her head and neck. I can knit a scarf - period. I put on my Facebook "wall" that I needed some help. I got 3 replies right away from people I do not normally interact with - and 2 got an emails yesterday that these hats were being mailed to me! That is a non-techy request to a very real situation that any of us could be in at anytime.
Another example: Along with my business, I teach Marketing at the New England School of Communications, I ask all students to "Friend Me" on Facebook and establish Twitter accounts. Paul Hilchey Chandler (twitter id: hilcheychandler) of Central Maine Wireless was a guest speaker in my class and talked about cell phones, marketing and social networking. One of my students revealed that she was in the 8,000+ of monthly text messages. (Makes my thumbs hurt just thinking about it.)
This morning, I was away from my computer and while I was away, one of our local newscasters Kara Matuszewski (twitter id: karamat) WLBZ2 had tweeted something about texting and Paul suggested she contact me (twitter id: ladyotrout) about this student I had. I also follow Kara, but do not know her personally and due to a very busy morning for me, I would probably have missed it, so thank you Paul! After a few direct messages and a phone call we have a "shout out" for high volume texters for a story she is interested in doing. I posted that on my Facebook wall and guess what? Two responses all ready! This is less than an hour and I am not kidding.
So what you may say?
These tools are very helpful in a busy life. I like to get alerts from media sources of what is going on, the weather, etc. but mainly I use Twitter as a bulletin board for articles and information that people that I feel like minded with (remember I know hardly ANY of them PERSONALLY) to share. I also share what I am reading & learning there. The internet and other media is so vast and there is so much information that these tools help me prioritize what I need to learn right now. And they cost me nothing out of pocket except the time to do it.
So I thought I would mention this to you, if you have a mother or father or know someone with a small business that is trying to do more with less (time and money) I cannot recommend these things highly enough! If you feel you dont have time to do the work yourself and you are a small business, give us a call and we can help.
And stay tuned for the WLBZ2 story...I am sure we all will be tweeting about it!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Email Scams, Urban Legends, etc.
How many of you have friends or relatives that constantly "forward" the latest and greatest news that they got forwarded to them, PLEASE READ, FIREFIGHTER NEEDS HELP, the lists go on. I have an "all time favorite" cousin that sends me this stuff and it drives me crazy! I love her, I want to stay in touch with her, but I don't want all this stuff stinking up my in-box that almost every time turns into being untrue. But how do you know?
For an example: She sent me this email about the Swiffer Wet Jet being poisonous to dogs and causing liver failure. Given the fact that Eukanuba had a massive recall in March of 2007 because of some ingredient from China that was causing liver failure, this concerned me. I am dog lover and dog owner. (here is a link to that story).
I definitely was going to read that email she sent me. I went to my cupboard and looked at the labels and because I am no chemistry whiz I didnt know what to think.
So how do you know if these emails are urban legend or as some of the guys in my office call it "FACT or CRAP?"
Here is a link to a source that can explain why this happens and why people spread these rumors, of course my first reaction is "GET A LIFE!"
And here is a web source called Snopes that allows you to check out the story yourself. Snopes is interesting because the format is such that you can see the year of origin these rumors start, a quick synopsis of what it is, as well as often they cite verbatim the text in the email you received. AND most importantly, there is a line right up front indicating TRUE or FALSE. In my cousin's email it indicated that this rumor was verified by snopes so at first I thought - "Oh, oh..." then once I logged into snopes.com myself, I learned it was a hoax all along. Not even to mention that I received this email in December of 2008 and the origin was 2004! If it were true wouldn't we have heard about a recall by now? I feel bad for the Swiffer Wet Jet people, how many people have stopped buying a product because of something they received on the internet?
Snopes has all kinds of content on it, Political, Fauxtography and many more. You can even subscribe to updates if you want to know what is being posted. I am not willing to say Snopes is 100% accurate, because I don't know that it is, but it is an easy to use tool that provides evidence to back up its claims which is a lot better than I can say for these emails people send me that create fear and uncertainty. Happy Snoping... you wont be sorry!
For an example: She sent me this email about the Swiffer Wet Jet being poisonous to dogs and causing liver failure. Given the fact that Eukanuba had a massive recall in March of 2007 because of some ingredient from China that was causing liver failure, this concerned me. I am dog lover and dog owner. (here is a link to that story).
I definitely was going to read that email she sent me. I went to my cupboard and looked at the labels and because I am no chemistry whiz I didnt know what to think.
So how do you know if these emails are urban legend or as some of the guys in my office call it "FACT or CRAP?"
Here is a link to a source that can explain why this happens and why people spread these rumors, of course my first reaction is "GET A LIFE!"
And here is a web source called Snopes that allows you to check out the story yourself. Snopes is interesting because the format is such that you can see the year of origin these rumors start, a quick synopsis of what it is, as well as often they cite verbatim the text in the email you received. AND most importantly, there is a line right up front indicating TRUE or FALSE. In my cousin's email it indicated that this rumor was verified by snopes so at first I thought - "Oh, oh..." then once I logged into snopes.com myself, I learned it was a hoax all along. Not even to mention that I received this email in December of 2008 and the origin was 2004! If it were true wouldn't we have heard about a recall by now? I feel bad for the Swiffer Wet Jet people, how many people have stopped buying a product because of something they received on the internet?
Snopes has all kinds of content on it, Political, Fauxtography and many more. You can even subscribe to updates if you want to know what is being posted. I am not willing to say Snopes is 100% accurate, because I don't know that it is, but it is an easy to use tool that provides evidence to back up its claims which is a lot better than I can say for these emails people send me that create fear and uncertainty. Happy Snoping... you wont be sorry!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I Learned Something Yesterday - My Own Christmas Carol
Lately I have been feeling blue about the short days, the economy and I think I am watching too much NEWS! The stock market is down, unemployment and crime is up, the list goes on.
The holidays are to be such a joyful time, yet I always feel somewhat depressed about them. This year my brother and his family join us - the first time in 13 years and tho I am excited, I still am feeling the pressures around me. Recently, something changed my outlook... at least for a while.
I went to a funeral yesterday. 3 days before Christmas. It was for a woman, (58 years old). Her name is Deb and I knew her years ago. Her husband, brother-in-law and I trained dogs together. I went to the service specifically, because her sister is also a dear friend of mine. (Sounds all tangled up, one of those 6 degrees of separation things, I guess.)
For 29 years, this woman fought a battle with MS and even when she was admitted to a hospice facility, her body still wanted to fight the fight, but finally her tank was empty and she slipped away.
Now that part is the sad part, but here is the part where I learned something-perhaps "Ebeneezer" (and Deb) were watching over me!
The service was a Catholic Mass, to which I am unaccustomed and wasn't actually clear on what was coming next. During the service, a good friend of Deb's delivered thoughts and shared experiences from their long friendship. Of course it made us all cry, though none of us were there to share in those times, personally, I connected on my own.
I have a circle of friends and I could identify with her friends' feelings. I could place myself within her warm words of memory with one or many of my close friends & family. I could feel how very special those times experiences in my life that I have shared with my friends and are so grateful to them for being part of my life. If any of them are reading this, know that you have made a difference to me and my life would not have been as full without you in it. Thank you to all my dear friends & family, those far and wide for making my life a special journey with laughs, hugs and moments to grin about even when things can seem like they aren't going my way!
I know this the title of this blog is "Techno Trapped In my 40's" and this REALLY isn't advice about technology challenges, but in a way it is.
Don't let the "Technology Scrooge" get in the way of what is valuable. TURN OFF THE NOISE IN YOUR LIFE and look around - get real (sorry Dr. Phil), stop and think what is meaningful for the long haul.
Christmas (or whatever you own brand of holiday celebration may be) needs to remind us about family, friends and the real things that are important. Cherish these times, cherish each other.
And make a toast "To Absent Friends."
(Thanks Deb for the reminder.)
The holidays are to be such a joyful time, yet I always feel somewhat depressed about them. This year my brother and his family join us - the first time in 13 years and tho I am excited, I still am feeling the pressures around me. Recently, something changed my outlook... at least for a while.
I went to a funeral yesterday. 3 days before Christmas. It was for a woman, (58 years old). Her name is Deb and I knew her years ago. Her husband, brother-in-law and I trained dogs together. I went to the service specifically, because her sister is also a dear friend of mine. (Sounds all tangled up, one of those 6 degrees of separation things, I guess.)
For 29 years, this woman fought a battle with MS and even when she was admitted to a hospice facility, her body still wanted to fight the fight, but finally her tank was empty and she slipped away.
Now that part is the sad part, but here is the part where I learned something-perhaps "Ebeneezer" (and Deb) were watching over me!
The service was a Catholic Mass, to which I am unaccustomed and wasn't actually clear on what was coming next. During the service, a good friend of Deb's delivered thoughts and shared experiences from their long friendship. Of course it made us all cry, though none of us were there to share in those times, personally, I connected on my own.
I have a circle of friends and I could identify with her friends' feelings. I could place myself within her warm words of memory with one or many of my close friends & family. I could feel how very special those times experiences in my life that I have shared with my friends and are so grateful to them for being part of my life. If any of them are reading this, know that you have made a difference to me and my life would not have been as full without you in it. Thank you to all my dear friends & family, those far and wide for making my life a special journey with laughs, hugs and moments to grin about even when things can seem like they aren't going my way!
I know this the title of this blog is "Techno Trapped In my 40's" and this REALLY isn't advice about technology challenges, but in a way it is.
Don't let the "Technology Scrooge" get in the way of what is valuable. TURN OFF THE NOISE IN YOUR LIFE and look around - get real (sorry Dr. Phil), stop and think what is meaningful for the long haul.
Christmas (or whatever you own brand of holiday celebration may be) needs to remind us about family, friends and the real things that are important. Cherish these times, cherish each other.
And make a toast "To Absent Friends."
(Thanks Deb for the reminder.)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
"It's the economy, stupid!"
Is a quote uttered by Bill Clinton in 1992 in his presidential bid against Bush. (The first one!) Here it is 16 years later and we are in the soup again. We are all worried about unemployment and how our businesses will be effected. If you own your own, the sleepless nights become more frequent. Or the time lying awake is longer. (I have lots of experience and I am peri-menopausal !!)
So much we worry about we cannot control, and especially if you are in your 40's like me, your life is full of demands of work, family, dogs, school, whatever it is, it gets piled on the top of it all.
So let's think for just a moment of some things you can do to feel empowered rather than to feel helpless.
If you are currently employed and work for someone else, TAKE INVENTORY.
Taking Inventory of those items on the computer you work at in the office, phone numbers, contacts, passwords for any of YOUR OWN social networking sites like linked-in, etc. Often these passwords are saved in your company computer and you may not remember what they are, the computer there just remembers them for you.
DO NOT USE company email addresses as a sole contact mechanism for sites to "confirm password" back to - if you are "downsized" and lose that email address, cannot get into sites to update your profiles, the "password reset" message will go back to the email you provided and it may be that one at your work - in this case you don't work there anymore!
Make sure your resume is saved off and and deleted from the system and there are no traces of personal information on the company systems-period.
If you have all ready "fallen victim" to the economy ax, then hopefully you did this all ready.
Going forward, one of my new Compadres on Twitter just got downsized himself and one of his recent blog posts reminded me of something. Standard Classified Newspaper Help Wanted Ads are not the way to go. First off let me say, if you don't have a job, bookmark Dave's blog because he is very funny and will give you some comic relief, especially if you are in the same boat. If you do have a job, visit rhodester.net anyway. He has a unique perspective, even if he is a cat person!
Nationally, Monster.com is the most recognized website to look at. More locally in Maine, JobsInMaine.com is one we have as well as some of the newspapers have even decided to have their own (usually under a different name), but you can GOOGLE a term as simple as "Looking for a job in (my state)" and you will be surprised what you will find. For the employer, these sites are often more economical than traditional newspaper classifieds. So all the more reason they are more popular.
Finally, yesterday the Today Show had a segment on 7 Ways to Make Money, How To Give Yourself a Holiday Bonus. Some of the ideas I thought were silly, but some were really good. I thought I would pass on the link as well as a few of these, if anyone missed it. If you are interested in making money with Focus Groups and part of the Twitter community, look for FocusGroups and you will get a tweet everytime they update. If you dont participate in Twitter, here's another reason you should. Follow Me and I can help!
There is a blog that you can go to for Focus Groups, click here and you will go there, but you have to remember to do that on your own, with Twitter, it tells you automatically.
So take some stock in YOU and take control of what you can, it will give you piece of mind!
So much we worry about we cannot control, and especially if you are in your 40's like me, your life is full of demands of work, family, dogs, school, whatever it is, it gets piled on the top of it all.
So let's think for just a moment of some things you can do to feel empowered rather than to feel helpless.
If you are currently employed and work for someone else, TAKE INVENTORY.
Taking Inventory of those items on the computer you work at in the office, phone numbers, contacts, passwords for any of YOUR OWN social networking sites like linked-in, etc. Often these passwords are saved in your company computer and you may not remember what they are, the computer there just remembers them for you.
DO NOT USE company email addresses as a sole contact mechanism for sites to "confirm password" back to - if you are "downsized" and lose that email address, cannot get into sites to update your profiles, the "password reset" message will go back to the email you provided and it may be that one at your work - in this case you don't work there anymore!
Make sure your resume is saved off and and deleted from the system and there are no traces of personal information on the company systems-period.
If you have all ready "fallen victim" to the economy ax, then hopefully you did this all ready.
Going forward, one of my new Compadres on Twitter just got downsized himself and one of his recent blog posts reminded me of something. Standard Classified Newspaper Help Wanted Ads are not the way to go. First off let me say, if you don't have a job, bookmark Dave's blog because he is very funny and will give you some comic relief, especially if you are in the same boat. If you do have a job, visit rhodester.net anyway. He has a unique perspective, even if he is a cat person!
Nationally, Monster.com is the most recognized website to look at. More locally in Maine, JobsInMaine.com is one we have as well as some of the newspapers have even decided to have their own (usually under a different name), but you can GOOGLE a term as simple as "Looking for a job in (my state)" and you will be surprised what you will find. For the employer, these sites are often more economical than traditional newspaper classifieds. So all the more reason they are more popular.
Finally, yesterday the Today Show had a segment on 7 Ways to Make Money, How To Give Yourself a Holiday Bonus. Some of the ideas I thought were silly, but some were really good. I thought I would pass on the link as well as a few of these, if anyone missed it. If you are interested in making money with Focus Groups and part of the Twitter community, look for FocusGroups and you will get a tweet everytime they update. If you dont participate in Twitter, here's another reason you should. Follow Me and I can help!
There is a blog that you can go to for Focus Groups, click here and you will go there, but you have to remember to do that on your own, with Twitter, it tells you automatically.
So take some stock in YOU and take control of what you can, it will give you piece of mind!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Save money with "Comparison" shopping sites?
I got an email from a reader that asked me what I thought about comparison shopping websites and of course whenever I (or anyone else) can save money, my initial answer was, "I'm all for it!"
Since I really never used a comparison shopping website myself, I needed to look into some before blogging about the subject. After a bit of research my NEW answer is, "I'm for it, but for godsake be careful and pay attention."
Comparison shopping websites, I experimented MOST with pricegrabber.com and google.com/products, as well as these seem to be the most popular with those I have spoken to that comparison shop online often.
Here are a few guidelines I would use when using any of these types of portal shopping sites:
1. Take the time out to shop and read descriptions.
Getting a bargain has a price to it and that is TIME. Don't be in a rush, because it is likely you will be disappointed. How much money are you saving if you have to send the item back?
2. KNOW EXACTLY what you are “searching” for, aka the product you want to BUY.
Have all your specifics in hand, size, color, specifications whatever you can because any Portal shopping site, (this includes eBay) will serve you up whatever you ask for and MORE! If you choose to sort from lowest price to highest price, don’t get too excited! I was looking for a flat screen computer monitor and was extremely excited with one I saw for $59.95, the manufacturer was the right one and I was thrilled only to read on to see it was a glare screen for a flat screen monitor!
3. Understand WHO is actually SELLING the product. And WHO you are paying.
On some portal sites you jump right off that site and onto the sellers site and it is obvious. Some not so much! When you “check out” your confirmation as well as the confirmation on your credit card should read consistently with the online store you purchased it from. Unless you actually "CHECK OUT" on the portal site, it wont be the name of the portal site from where you started in the first place.
So keep track of where you are and who you are buying from – print the confirmation receipt for sure!
4. If you want FIRST quality, make sure it IS FIRST quality.
This goes back to the “make sure you have enough time to bargain shop.” Lots of bargains are easy to find if there is a “slight imperfection” and those are often difficult to “see” what that means through your computer screen.
5. User Comments are helpful.
Pricegrabber.com doesn’t have a feedback mechanism for user comments or experiences where google.com/products does. This objective feedback helps clarify the product as well as the experience of using the vendor.
I hope this helps and thanks for the question – again I don’t say “don’t do it.” I just say “do your homework” and you can save lots of money!
Since I really never used a comparison shopping website myself, I needed to look into some before blogging about the subject. After a bit of research my NEW answer is, "I'm for it, but for godsake be careful and pay attention."
Comparison shopping websites, I experimented MOST with pricegrabber.com and google.com/products, as well as these seem to be the most popular with those I have spoken to that comparison shop online often.
Here are a few guidelines I would use when using any of these types of portal shopping sites:
1. Take the time out to shop and read descriptions.
Getting a bargain has a price to it and that is TIME. Don't be in a rush, because it is likely you will be disappointed. How much money are you saving if you have to send the item back?
2. KNOW EXACTLY what you are “searching” for, aka the product you want to BUY.
Have all your specifics in hand, size, color, specifications whatever you can because any Portal shopping site, (this includes eBay) will serve you up whatever you ask for and MORE! If you choose to sort from lowest price to highest price, don’t get too excited! I was looking for a flat screen computer monitor and was extremely excited with one I saw for $59.95, the manufacturer was the right one and I was thrilled only to read on to see it was a glare screen for a flat screen monitor!
3. Understand WHO is actually SELLING the product. And WHO you are paying.
On some portal sites you jump right off that site and onto the sellers site and it is obvious. Some not so much! When you “check out” your confirmation as well as the confirmation on your credit card should read consistently with the online store you purchased it from. Unless you actually "CHECK OUT" on the portal site, it wont be the name of the portal site from where you started in the first place.
So keep track of where you are and who you are buying from – print the confirmation receipt for sure!
4. If you want FIRST quality, make sure it IS FIRST quality.
This goes back to the “make sure you have enough time to bargain shop.” Lots of bargains are easy to find if there is a “slight imperfection” and those are often difficult to “see” what that means through your computer screen.
5. User Comments are helpful.
Pricegrabber.com doesn’t have a feedback mechanism for user comments or experiences where google.com/products does. This objective feedback helps clarify the product as well as the experience of using the vendor.
I hope this helps and thanks for the question – again I don’t say “don’t do it.” I just say “do your homework” and you can save lots of money!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
