Product and service reviews, buying guides Clients in the market for just about anything can benefit from the Web's extensive research information to decide on brands, features, and price. The following sites feature (mostly) unbiased product and service reviews. Some also offer price comparisons, but a separate section below presents the additional sites for price comparisons. Go there after you've narrowed down your list. Most are free. Others charge a fee. - Angie's List. This site features consumer reviews on services and contractors in a variety of locales. You can search your city by vendor name or type of services provided. Membership fees range from free for cities recently added to $50, depending on the size of the city and the number of reviews available. Angie's List says it is adding about 20,000 consumer reviews a month to the site.
- ConsumerSearch. This is one of the best consumer sites on the Web. It features product reviews from multiple sources and rates the reviews on a variety of criteria, including credibility, timeliness, and qualifications of the reviewer. It also analyzes the reviews and selects the best products. Unfortunately, the "where to buy" links are limited to mostly large online retailers, so clients may want to go to one of the shopping sites listed below to find more choices once they've armed themselves with product and pricing information.
- Wize. Here you will find millions of reviews of millions of consumer products. You can search for products based on specific product names and your needs. For example, if you want a car seat, you can search based on comfort, durability, ease of use, and other factors. Wize aggregates reviews from sites such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, and CNET and reports the results as either a "Wize Choice" or an "Unwize Choice."
- Epinions. This site features product reviews by consumers who have bought and used the products. The site has advisors who are in charge of different categories, and top reviewers, whose opinions are valued by the category advisors. Users also rate reviewers based on the usefulness and completeness of the reviews. The site also offers price comparisons and rates the stores, although store selection is limited in some categories.
- ConsumerReports.org. You can find thorough, quality reviews in the print magazine and online with the added bonus of being able to search the magazine archives. A subscription to the site costs $26 per year or $19 for magazine subscribers. The $5.95 per month plan is convenient if you want to check reviews for a specific purchase.
- Wired.com. A highly regarded technology and lifestyle magazine, Wired offers editor's reviews of products ranging from technology to outdoors to cars on a one to 10 scale. You can sort categories by price, manufacturer, and other product-specific criteria. Technology-related reviews are the strongest feature of this site, reflecting its roots. Specific pricing data is sketchy or not available for many products.
- ConsumerReview. This site offers very comprehensive reviews, buying guides, and discussion forums on electronics, computers, golf, cars, food and wine, office equipment, and more.
Price comparisons The Web can also help you search through the universe of online and offline stores to help you find exactly what you want. Here are some of the top "shopbots," many of which also rate the stores on ease of ordering, on-time delivery, and customer support. Ratings are supposed to be based on customer feedback, but many sell preferential placement to outlets that pay them a fee, although such placements are usually marked. - Become. This site combines price comparisons and news about specific products you're researching, updated every 10 minutes. You can see your results displayed in two ways: a list that shows fewer products and more information, or a grid that shows more products with less information. Price information includes shipping charges and taxes and allows you to search nearby retailers. A search of treadmills found 385 treadmills at 30 different stores.
- FatWallet. This is a hybrid site that offers price comparisons, coupons, and busy, busy forums where community members discuss hot deals, maximizing rewards, and even financial services information like who's offering the best checking account, deals on credit cards, and insurance products.
- Bizrate. Here you will find price comparisons on thousands of products. For example, a search for treadmills turned up 1,203 treadmills—54 different brands—at 10 stores (you can narrow the search by price, brand, store, or type, and compare products to each other). The site features a store-rating guide that evaluates hundreds of stores based on ease of ordering, price, on-time delivery, and whether the product met expectations.
- PriceGrabber.com. This site covers products from tech to appliances to jewelry to clothing. Each seller is rated via thousands of consumer reviews and listings include links to pictures, discounts, ratings, and the bottom-line price. A search of treadmills turned up more than 1,400 products at more than 50 stores.
- Amazon.com. Amazon keeps adding products and categories. A treadmill search turned up 295 results, which you can filter by shipping option, brand, average customer review, price, discount, and seller.
- StreetPrices. When you know exactly what you're looking for in the electronics arena, StreetPrices will show you the best prices and e-mail you when the price drops below the lowest amount. You can also store notes about individual products. Stores are not rated, but an info link provides detailed information about each store, such as how long it's been in business, return policy, whether it's a member of the Better Business Bureau, and the toll-free customer service number.
Private shopping clubs A new trend in discount savings is the private shopping club. Here you join online sites, often for free, and receive a daily e-mail offering sales on luxury clothing, jewelry, vacations, home decor, and more. These are not overstock clubs; the members-only principle helps protect distribution channels, so premium brands—like Gucci, Prada, and Hugo Boss, among others—feel comfortable selling through these channels. The deals typically last only from two to six days and sell out quickly. Membership is by invitation only, but it's not too hard to find them and join. Here are a few clubs your clients will appreciate. - Gilt Groupe. This high-end fashion website operates seven days a week offering designer fashion, jewelry, vacations, and home decor at significant discounts. It's also turned into a million-dollar business model that is the envy of the fashion industry and enticing Wall Street.
- One Kings Lane. This club features top home decor brands at significant discounts.
- Ideeli. This site offers the gamut of luxury goods for children, men, and women, including accessories and beauty products.
- Totsy. Moms will love the deals on clothing, bedding, bath, educational materials, and more for kids 0-7.
Other ways to save The above sites focus on consumer goods, but there are many other ways you can use the Internet to help clients save money or find useful services. Check out the following sites. Wi-Fi hotspot finders Car lease trading Prescription drugs Recycling electronics Travel Credit card deals, home loans Miscellaneous savings Here are some other sites that may help clients save a dollar or two: Frugal living - Dollar Stretcher offers thousands of budgeting tips.
- Bankrate's Frugal Living Newsletter comes out on Tuesdays and is chock-full of tips on how to trim debt, save money, and use the Web to live more frugally.
Tax deductions - The Salvation Army lists the value of clothing, appliance, car, furniture, and household goods donations for tax purposes.
- Goodwill also offers a guide to resale values of items ranging from clothing to home appliances to electronics.
Unclaimed pension directory Relocation salary calculator - This calculator compares salaries in different U.S. cities based on cost of living.
Treasury hunt - Got any old savings bonds? The Bureau of the Public Debt provides information on savings bonds that have stopped earning interest.
Unclaimed assets - When you add up the unclaimed assets held in lost bank accounts, missing stocks, forgotten U.S. savings bonds, uncashed checks, unclaimed refunds and settlements, lost life insurance policies, and unpaid benefits, you're literally talking about billions of dollars. Find out from your state if you're entitled to anything.
- And check with other government agencies for more possible forgotten assets.
Calculators - A variety of calculators at Bankrate allows you to figure out everything from how much interest you'll earn on a CD to how long it will take to eliminate credit card debt.
- At Dinkytown, you can calculate all that plus how much money you can save by bringing your lunch to work every day.
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