About Comparison Shopping: Does It Really Work?

There used to be an ad. (for a certain UK comparison shopping site) which featured 2 men - one tall, one short - each standing at a urinal. The men have their backs to us. The short man looks over (and down!) at the tall man, with a satisfied smile on his face. And the caption reads: "Comparing is only natural!"

How very true.

But how effective is comparing, when it comes to comparison shopping? Do comparison shopping sites really find the lowest price? And which comparison shopping site, if any, is the best?

Let's start at the beginning.

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How Does Comparison Shopping Work?
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Comparison shopping sites search a number of stores, at the same time, for the product that you're looking for. The results are then displayed, with links, allowing you to easily make a purchase. In theory, this process allows you to effortlessly find the best price for a given item.

Some comparison shopping sites only compare prices for specific items, like books, whilst other sites try to compare prices on anything and everything that can be purchased online. For example,

http://www.bookkoob.co.uk
- Compares prices on UK books by ISBN, title, author

http://www.addall.com
- Compares book prices worldwide

http://www.Pricerunner.com
- Compares prices on almost anything!

Comparison shopping is still limited, however, by the number of vendor stores that actually get searched.

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The Problem with Comparison Shopping!
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Whilst comparison shopping is no longer limited by the types of products it can compare prices for, it still comes with a few risks attached:

1. Are the prices up-to-date?
2. Are the vendor sites reputable?
3. And just which sites get included in the comparison tests?

For example, one year I tried to find the lowest price for the following items (using various UK comparison shopping sites):
* Olympus C-2020Z digital camera
* Beatles 1 CD
* Macromedia Flash 4 for PC/MAC

I managed to find the lowest prices online, but only a few of the comparison shopping sites actually returned the lowest price. And it wasn't the same comparison shopping site that performed the best each time, either!

The reasons for the unsatisfactory results are as follows:

1. Some sites compare prices against a database of prices updated at regular intervals; other sites compare prices in real time, against the latest price.
   
   
2. Some comparison shopping sites have a limited number of vendors in their database - probably because they charge vendors to be listed there. And no comparison shopping site includes every vendor site.
   
   
3. Lastly, some vendor sites are excluded because of customer complaints. Poor customer service, or even a rogue trader, could lurk behind that unbelievably low price; this could well be the reason a vendor only appears in the results of some, not all, comparison shopping sites.
   

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Comparison Shopping is Getting Better all the Time!
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New comparison shopping sites are being developed all the time.

Sites are now increasing the number of vendor sites included on their database; more and more prices can be accessed in real-time; and results are starting to include reputable and less-reputable vendor sites, with a clear guide to both. (Some comparison shopping sites can even compare prices at offline stores.)

A good example of how comparison shopping is developing and improving is Price Guide UK. The site can compare prices at both online and offline stores; prices are obtained in real time; and results come with vendor information - guide to store, comments, other shopper opinions - that help consumer decision-making. The service even includes a Price Alert - a notification, by e-mail, when an item reaches a price that you specify.

( Link to Price Guide UK )

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Conclusion
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So how effective is comparison shopping? Well, it's a great way to save money when shopping online (and offline), but the technology isn't perfect.

Do comparison shopping sites really find the lowest price? Yes... and no!

And which comparison shopping site, if any, is the best? It all depends what type of product you're trying to compare prices for. However, sites that are committed to comparison shopping and hence committed to continually improving their services include:

• Price Guide UK
• Kelkoo
• Pricerunner
• Dealtime
• Bookkoob

( Links available here! )

My advice is to use several comparison shopping services until you're happy with a particular one.

But do keep a watchful eye on comparison shopping guides just in case another, much better, service becomes available. And you may still want to ignore comparison shopping completely when it comes to your favourite sites, like Amazon, simply because of the superior customer service that these sites are likely to offer.

Comparing is only natural; just make sure you understand that comparing isn't perfect! And have fun hunting down the bargains.

PS All of the sites mentioned in this article, and many more, can be found at http://www.shoptour.co.uk/compare-prices-uk.shtml

And, in the spirit of making true comparisons, other comparison shopping guides can be found at: Lycos.co.uk & About.com