Here you will find links to many general sites that are not always computer specific sites but sites for general consumer purchasing.   Using these sites you can usually use price comparison searching to find the best deal offered on what you want to buy.   

Here you will also find information on how to not let some sites mis-quote you on your second visit.   You will also find info on my favorite sites too.   

                                   
  

  


Beware some sites may try to trick you:
Some sites will use tricks to change the prices you see the second time you visit the site.  Sites like this will not be listed here. 

Here is an example of what happened to me.  I was searching for the best air fair to a technical conference.  I found what I thought was a good deal however I still wanted to make sure, so I continued to check prices at other sites.  Now after a few minutes passed, I decided the price I found earlier was really a good deal.   So I went back to the original site and the price I found earlier for the same exact trip cost more. 

The site had stored maybe a cookie and/or temp file on my computer that allowed this to occur.   So the fix is I had to delete all the cookies and temporary internet files.  

Here is how you do this using Internet Explorer:  
In the menus at the top of the page go to....
  
Tools Internet Options Then in the Temporary Internet files area press Delete  
Cookies then say ok.

While in the Temporary Internet files area press Delete Files and check off the all off line content content, then say ok. 

Now close all open Internet Explorer windows, then re-open a new Internet Explorer window and go back to that original site.  Now search for that best price and you will find that it is now what you saw the first time around.      
  


ALL TIME FAVORITE SITES TO BUY ITEMS:
To search and compare prices on computers I always seem to come back to Pricewatch.com and eBay.com.  

Pricewatch.com is setup very good for buying computers, software, electronics, parts and more new items.  eBay.com differs in that the items may be used or new and has a very broad range of items.  On Ebay you can buy items for fixed prices using "Buy It Now" or you can bid on items as a auction.   

Pricewatch.com - Find the best deals on Computers, Computer Parts, MP3 Players, Tech and Electronics by comparing real-time prices 

Find What You Want on eBay - Buy and sell electronics, cars, clothing, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods, digital cameras, and everything else on eBay, the world's online marketplace. Sign up and begin to buy and sell - auction or buy it now - almost anything on eBay.com.
 
If you buy items on Ebay like software, it is best to get the item as a fully licensed retail boxed version.  If you buy items like computers, licensing is still a concern.  On computer purchases you should look to see that it has a license or license sticker included from the manufacturer for the Operating System, such as Windows XP, etc.   

By David Thiele