Shopping
Tax-free Internet shopping in danger
The specter of the end of tax-free shopping on the Internet has been visible for a while now. All that commerce is just too tempting a target for tax-hungry legislators. CNET reports on the latest development:
If a little-known but influential alliance of state politicians, large retailers, and tax collectors have their way, the days of [...]
Amazon lives up to name- grows really big
Amazon’s share of online commerce has grown to almost one-third. Barron’s Tech Trader reports:
Amazon.com (AMZN) could be responsible for close to a third of all U.S. e-commerce transactions, RBC Capital analyst Stephen Ju asserted in a research note this morning. Ju notes that Amazon’s reported revenues consist of a mix of gross revenues from its [...]
States going to tax Amazon sales?
Ever since New York state targeted Amazon as a new source of sales tax revenue, I have been wondering when the other states would follow suit. According to TechFlash, that may be soon:
A growing number of states, facing revenue shortfalls, are looking at forcing Amazon.com and other e-commerce companies to collect sales tax on web [...]
Tools for watching prices
Prices of items offered on the Web often change. Sometimes a site may have a one-day special with loss-leaders at a low price or with rebates. If you are interested in an item but don’t want to pay the going price, there are software programs that will keep an eye on the pricing of the [...]
New site for deals and coupons
Search Engine Land reports:
In light of the current economy, Vertive, Inc., is banking on now being the right time to launch a new search engine for coupons and deals. It’s called Offers.com, and it enters an already crowded space of coupons/deals sites.
Offers.com provides coupons and deals from more than 1,000 merchants, and classifies them by [...]
Using middlemen on eBay
Selling things on eBay is a great way to get rid of things that you don’t want but that have value for someone else. However, there’s a certain amount of effort and expertise involved and not everybody wants the hassle of handling a sale themselves. A number of services exist that will handle all the [...]
Product reviews
I often mention sites where you can do price comparisons or get product reviews before you buy (see the topic called “Shopping”). Here’s another listing of sites for obtaining product reviews. This one is from MakeUseOf. It says:
One of the best advantages of shopping online is that you don’t have to drive from store to [...]
It’s getting harder to try out a PC
In her blog at ZDNet, Mary Jo Foley makes a good point. As the big box computer stores keep disappearing, where can you go for a hands-on tryout of PCs? With the demise of CompUSA and now Circuit City, the choices are getting narrower. BestBuy, Staples, Office Depot, etc. have only so much shelf space [...]
Who’s the most reliable?
Every year PC World polls its readers to find out their experience with the reliability of various products. The results from 44,000 readers are given at the article, Product Reliability and After-Sale Service, 2008. Six product categories are covered–laptop PCs, desktop PCs, printers, digital cameras, routers, and MP3 players.
In the desktop computer category, the report [...]
Compare products before buying
Being able to compare prices and features is one advantage of online shopping. A new service called Spectackler is described by AppScout:
You’re about to buy a digital camera, but you want an easy way to compare the manufacturer’s top-rated model with a different model recommended highly by your friend. Some shopping sites let you compare [...]
Watch out for 64-bit Vista on that new PC
If you are buying a new PC this holiday season, be aware that many systems are apparently being sold with the 64-bit version of Vista. I haven’t been out checking the stores to see if it is a widespread practice but PCMag says:
If you’re buying a computer this holiday season, you’re very likely to end [...]
