There are so many websites offering the items for lowest prices and beware of some sites that may be scamming consumers with bait and switch tactics. (First a low price is advertised then a sales person calls you to tell add-ons or accessories like batteries of worth $150, Chargers of worth $50 is not included)

Here are tips that I follow to avoid online scam websites.

> First and formeost select the online websites that you know or heard of from your friends – Here is my top five best store list for electronics – BHphotovideo.com, CrtutchField.com, amazon.com, Costco.com, Buydig.com [Source : ComsumerReports.Org]

> First research the “price” of the product from Google’s “Google Products Price” (previously Froogle)

Say I’m looking to buy latest Sony Hard Drive SR-12 camcorder then here is what I look from Google’s product prices. This way one will have price range for the product that is trusted from good online stores. Be cautious of all pricey add-ons that comes if the product has lowest price in a store.

> If you find a website that is offering a product at fire sale price then make sure you check the website in ResellerRatings.com, BBB.com and if possible do a website domain check for the number of years in business.

ResellerRatings.com is a user submitted ratings websites for 10,000 plus stores. Take for instance – crutchfield.com has rating 9 out of 10.

> If possible do a price match to lower the prices of a product. Check my previous post – Walmart Price Matching Black Friday 2008 other stores printed Ads

> Extended Warranties are just wast of money I feel.

> Have a handy and fast customer service reps numbers. Check my previous post – How to quickly reach customer service reps over phone?

Have a happy holiday shopping !!