Online shopping rediscovered
I once found the perfect pair of black pants. They were long,
bootcut, with a little stretch, with a medium-low rise, and fit like a
second skin. AND they were $100 at the retail stores, and never went on
sale. I sighed, unwilling to pay so much.
One day, while browsing in the evening, I discovered the exact same pants
I'd been dreaming of, for $10 at eBay. I bid, and got them for $20. They
arrived in pristine condition, label still on, and everything I'd hoped
for.
Since then, online shopping and auctioning haven't been as
scary. New security standards have helped prevent someone from stealing
your credit card info, and everything you could want is available. You can
search at sites like ebay, ubid, yahoo, amazon.com, msn, auction universe,
and others. Find what you need, set your limit, sort, categorize, and pay
online.
That said, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). There ARE crooks and
quacks, and if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. I try to
stick to things for which pictures are available (although they can also
be doctored) and which offer some sort of guarantee of authenticity (money
back or a certificate or something).
So have fun and try your luck. You could find a great deal!