Where Did All The Online Bargains Go?

cornflux writes: "There's something I've wondered recently -- 'Where did all the good deals go?' It seems I'm not the only one -- Business 2.0 has an article about the noticable lack of bargains available online, today. The author covers obvious reasons (dried up VC, need for real profit) and some others (pseudo-price fixing). The one thing that was missed is the ever-increasing number of morons who will pay full-retail price + 20% for things on eBay." Note that the piece is largely theoretical -- I've found consistently better prices on the web, even recently, than I have in-store for electronic goods, as well as obscure DVDs which I couldn't find locally anyhow.

Comments

Re:Why aren't there any bargains online?

[lanalyst]

pricewatch.com lists shipping with a product price search.

pricewatch.com has saved me hundreds!

[simetra]

I used pricewatch to find my digital camera online for $190 less than BestBuy's retail price. This was a few months ago, BestBuy still has the jacked up price. I also found a good deal on my printer. For big items like these, it's insane to buy retail before checking pricewatch. They're good for smaller-ticket items too, to get an idea of what prices things are going for. You can then decide whether it's worth the hassle of waiting for it to be shipped or just driving down to Radio Shack or Best Buy. This is especially true here in Montana, where geek supplies aren't terribly readily available.