Shopping “robots” search websites to find you the best deals on the products you specify. Up come the results and, boom, you’ve found the cheapest price out there, right?

Nope. I tested eight of the top bots Shopzilla, Shopping.com, DealTime, NexTag, MySimon, BizRate, Yahoo Shopping, and Google Product Search by searching for lowest prices on three popular products: Britax Marathon car seat, the EyeClops Bionic Eye, and the Fisher Price Elmo Live. Not one of the sites delivered the cheapest price on all three products.

All of the bots’ results required resorting according to lowest price. In fact, many of the sites accept payment from merchants to be placed high in the results list regardless of the price they’re selling the item for. Google Product Search is one that does not, but Google Product Search returns also contained some pretty obscure stores that I’d hesitate to shop without checking with the Better Business Bureau.

The results:

Britax Marathon:

Shopzilla:$186 at Amazon Marketplace ($9.99 shipping)
Nextag.com: $186 at Amazon Marketplace ($9.99 shipping)
Dealtime.com: $195 at Amazon Marketplace (includes shipping)
Shopping.com: $198 at A Dolce Baby (free shipping)
MySimon.com: $198 at A Dolce Baby (free shipping)
Google Product Search: $198 at A Dolce Baby (free shipping)
BizRate.com: $198 at Baby Catalog (free shipping)
Yahoo Shopping: $199.99 at Amazon (not accurate)

EyeClops Handheld Bionic Eye Multizoom:

Nextag.com: $33.74 at Amazon (free shipping)
Google Product Search: $38.99 at SuperSales (an Amazon Marketplace store)
BizRate.com: $39.76 at Walmart.com (.97 shipping)
Shopzilla:$39.88 at Amazon Marketplace ($7.72 shipping)
MySimon.com: $39.88 at Amazon Marketplace ($7.72 shipping)
Yahoo Shopping: $39.88 at Amazon ($7.72 shipping)
Dealtime.com: $46.90 at Amazon (not accurate. Was really $39.88 at Amazon)
Shopping.com: $46.90 at Amazon

Sesame Street Elmo Live:

Google Product Search: $49.99 at InterstateDeals.com
Dealtime.com: $64.87 at Amazon (free shipping)
Shopping.com: $64.87 at Amazon (free shipping)
MySimon.com: $59.99 at Meijer ($67.94 with shipping)
Nextag.com: $59.99 at Amazon Marketplace (plus shipping)
BizRate.com: $59.99 at Amazon Marketplace (plus shipping)
Shopzilla:$59.99 at Amazon Marketplace (plus shipping)
Yahoo Shopping: $69.99 at KBToys.com ($77.21 with shipping)
Note: Elmo Live is $59.88 at Walmart with free site-to-store shipping. None of the bots picked up this price (It’s $69.85 with shipping)

The lesson? When you do your holiday shopping, use a couple of shopping comprison sites to start your price research, but back it up by checking prices at discount retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Trusting one bot to give you the best price is a sure way to short circuit your savings.

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Angie blogs at BlogCoach.org and BabyCheapskate.com. She is also the founder of free-baby-stuff site Freepeats.org. Angie lives in Atlanta with her husband, young son, and very fluffy dog. This article is an update of one that appeared last year on BabyCheapskate.com.

photo by GeneWolf via Flickr

Online shopping is now the norm. From eBay auctions, Etsy, book stores, and more, just about everything under the moon is available for online purchase. Many people see the benefits of using PayPal to protect themselves and their money online.

Protect your money

PayPal protects your personal information, such as bank account and credit card information from the merchant, while giving you a piece of mind with their 100% guarantee of protection from unauthorized transactions. Data encryption protects your information, so you can buy with confidence while using your credit card online.

PayPal How-To

Signing up is simple. Enter your information as well as a secure password as you would for any online site. You then have the ability to add your credit card information and back account numbers.

Verify your bank account with PayPal by inputting your information, and PayPal will deposit to very small amounts into your account. When the deposits are complete, you will enter into the site and Voila! You’re set up to buy online straight from your account. Cash. Much better than credit cards piling up with impulse buys, no?

Some of the world’s top brands and stores are set up to accept PayPal, making checking out safer and so much faster. Click, click, click and you’re done!

If you’re buying or selling online protect yourself and always use this site’s services. Most components are free (like when you’re buying) but the piece of mind, for me, is priceless.

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Sam blogs regularly at her personal blog Temporarily Me and also accepts PayPal at her design site, Temptation Designs!

Photo by Konstantin Sutyagin

It’s really hard to find a good domain name these days because everything is taken. So when you find one, you better snatch it up fast, right? Well, yes you want to be speedy about it - but if you act without thinking, you could make a mistake.

Awhile back, I was looking for a new domain name for my future girly blog. (A blog where women come together and, well, talk about girly stuff!) After finally thinking of the title “A Chick’s Place” for the blog and matching it with the domain name (achicksplace.com), I purchased it. Then, I went to type the url in after my purchase just to see what the page displayed. My reaction was complete shock when I was directed to a porn site! Why was I directed there? Because I left off the “a” in achicksplace.com. BAD NEWS! What if my mom was going to my site and left out the “a” by accident?…I can only imagine her face when she would see what’s coming next.

1. Buy several versions of your domain name.

Make sure that common variations of the domain name don’t lead to bad sites. It’s also a good rule of thumb to purchase a domain name that is very similar, so that if someone typed it in slightly different, it would still lead to you.

Example: I own www.acowboyswife.com but some people tend to leave the “a” off, so I also purchased www.cowboyswife.com. I was lucky it was available. I’m sure I would’ve lost potential readers because that one little letter was left off.

Rules to remember when purchasing a domain name:

• Keep it simple.
• Keep it short.
• Avoid excessive dashes or other symbols within your main domain name.
• Choose a “.com” domain name if possible, if you plan to operate an online business. Or, choose “.org” for an organization, “.edu” for an educational site, and so on.

A few things to consider before deciding on a domain name:

• What’s your company’s name?
• What products or services are you promoting?
• Who’s your target audience?
• Are you planning to do heavy advertising and branding for your domain name, or small business marketing?

2. Know your keywords.

If you are looking at your domain name from an SEO perspective, you want to use keywords.

Example: My gal Kate started a new blog a long time ago called Blogging for the Money with the domain name bloggingforthemoney.com. This is great, because when someone does a search for “blogging for money”, her chances of getting her blog seen first increase.

3. Select your blog’s title well.

If you are looking for a domain name for a personal blog, you want to consider your title. The earlier you show up in the alphabet scale, the earlier you’ll show up in listings and blogrolls.

Example: For my new girly site, (that’s not ready for promotion but you can have a peek) I wanted my title to match the domain name AND I wanted it to start with an “a”. Why? Because when you submit your site to directories, obviously “A” comes first making it seen before the others. Get it? So I chose “All Chick Stuff” as the title of my blog with the domain of allchickstuff.com. As you can see, the title and domain match perfectly. The domain is short and simple, it starts with an “a”, and ends .com. It also targets women and what we like..’stuff’!

4. Use a reputable service.

If you are buying domains but don’t plan on setting them up anytime soon, I recommend you use Godaddy. If you are looking for a reliable web host, I recommend Hostgator but you can see my top 10 and make your own choice.

I hope these tips help you in your domain name decision making. These are just a few simple tips to get your blog started off right and one step closer to having a better blog.

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If you have any questions, feel free to start a discussion over at the Blissfully Domestic Living! Oh! and come pay me a visit too at A Cowboy’s Wife.

Everyone’s got an opinion whether Macs are worth the money and whether PCs are too unstable to be worth a buy. But what do you think about Apple’s overall ad campaign?

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Photo by Marco Wessel

Have a hard time finding new music? Wonder where everyone else gets their new fabulous stuff? Ever wonder if you’re wasting your money if you purchase an album, because you’re not sure if you’ll like all the songs? Then Last.fm is for you.

What is Last.fm?

Last.fm is an internet-based radio and online community where people can share music selections, meet other people who enjoy the same genres, as well as find new music. The site works by scrobbling (phrase referring to scanning and importing your favorites) your music media (Windows Media Player, iTunes, iPod, streamed radio stations, etc.), then adding them to your profile on the site.

Why is is fabulous?

Once the audioscrobber has developed your library of listened-to music, it creates charts to tell you your favorite artists and songs, and then recommends based on your pre-exisiting song choices.

The program creates a customized radio station of your library, which you can listen to our share with other users. You can add music from other people’s library’s to your own, create playlists to find new music, your favourite older tunes, and awesome new artists!

User Profile

Once you sign up (you can use the site for free or for as little as $3US a month for more options), the scrobbler gathers your musical preferences, you can add an avatar, share information about yourself, interact with other users, make friends, view artist pages, and see upcoming concerts.

Library

Your library is featured in your profile, showing others your musical taste and compatibility with theirs. You can choose to listen to your library on your computer, or you can stream it through your iPhone (though I’m sure it costs a pretty penny in internet roaming charges, so check with your service provider.)

Recommendations

On the recomendations station, you can find a ton of great artists that are similar to what you already listen to. You like them? Add them to your library or playlist. You really like them? Click the link which takes you to iTunes, where you can download the album or just the particular song!

I could really go on and on about how fabulous this site is and how much new music I’ve found through it - I’ve even realized my style was completely different than what I was listening to. Seriously, indie and folk are AMAZING genres!

Check out Last.fm and get to know your music!

Then you can become my friend!

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Sam is addicted to music and now finding more new songs and artists! Share your musical tastes with her or you can visit her at her personal blog, Temporaril Me or her design blog Temptation Designs!