Carla Ramdat

SLM 521

November, 2004

Here is a nice guide to use when shopping around on the Internet. Think about it, the Holiday Season is near and who wants to deal with those crowded malls.

Below, I’ve created a table format which includes 5 different methods of shopping via the internet, a description and the best websites to use for this type of shopping.

At the bottom, you will see some “Safety Tips” to follow when shopping online.

Method	Description	Websites found for this method of shopping using Google’s or Webcrawler’s Search  Engines
Browsing	This method allows you to browse certain sites when shopping on specific items before deciding to purchase. You can also do comparison shopping this way. Here are 2 of the best sites I used for this method.	and
Wish Lists	Here is another way to do comparison  shopping. With this method, this allows you to shop online and place items you would like to purchase on a “Wish List” for you to purchase or delete in the future. Here are 2 sites I used for this method.	and
Auctions	With this method, after you have found an item of interest to you, you place a bid against other shoppers. If you place the highest bid, you win the chance to buy the item.	and
Gift Certificates	This method enables you to purchase gift certificates to use at a later date or to give as gifts. You can purchase these for different amounts. Here are two sites I used for this shopping method.	And
Comparison Shopping	This method allows you to shop around and compare prices of different items. The sites listed here compared items of all kinds-household, mortagages and autos. Here are 2 sites I used for this shopping method.	And

Safety Tips and Security Warnings:

1. Malicious hackers and virus writers can take advantage of low security settings in your e-mail and Web browsing software to infect your computer.

There are four things you can do right now to increase your security. Click on the links below to see how to do these things.

1.	Set Internet Explorer security level to High
2.	Add Web sites you consider safe to Trusted Sites
3.	Use plain text to read the e-mail messages you receive
4.	Block pop-up windows in your browser

2. Look to make sure the site you’re using has a customer service number and e-mail address. This is just in case  you need to contact someone if something goes wrong.

3. Look to make sure you’re using a secure website. If you see a little lock on the site, this insures you are using a shopping site that is private.