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Best Online Shopping Links(with a bow to the late, great Sarah Wernick) • Great online shopping, miscellaneous • Travel planning and bargains • Footwear and foot health (A rant about FootSmart and Paypal) • Clothing (not your ordinary catalogs) • Clothing (solid catalogs, more ordinary fare) • Bargain Center • Bargains (Sarah Wernick) • Shopping in person (Trader Joe's, etc.) (miscellaneous) Amazon.com Annual free credit report (as federally mandated) c/net reviews of tech products Book Club favorites and recommended titles Books for writers and editors Book Mooch Catalog Choice (a free service that lets you decline catalogs you no longer wish to receive) Comparison Shopping sites (Forbes links and evaluations) Consumer World (sign up for newsletter announcing bargains) Cool Tools (Kevin Kelly, The Technium) CouchSurfing (creating a better world, one couch at a time--connecting travelers with locals in many countries) Data Bazaar (printing supplies) Dave's Garden (Gardening by mail, for gardeners, by gardeners--where and where not to shop online, best gardening books, etc.) Demotivator posters (scroll down the page to see samples of these creative ironic posters) Etsy, an online community for crafters (buy and sell handmade arts and crafts, vintage items, crafting supplies) Favoritesof.com (Moon Pie, Abba Zabbas, and other regional and nostalgia candies) 4over.com (good price, quality, for printing special postcards, etc.) Freecycle (rather than send that old encyclopedia to the dump, advertise it and give it to someone who actually wants it! a green way to clean house) TheFreeSite.com (free product samples) Freeshipping.com (free shipping coupons and coupon codes for 850 online stores) Funny Times tee shorts (for example, "Well-behaved women seldom make history" (on dusty rose) and "Give Me That Old-Time Religion" with an image of Stone Henge) Hidalgo's sunglasses and eyewear(prescription and nonprescription sunglasses and eyewear for pilots, drivers, fishermen, cyclists, hikers, backpackers, mountain clibmers, boaters, skiers, people with Lyme Disease, golfers and others) Historic Preservation.com (the preservation marketplace) Luxe Shopping (Forbes Best of the Web links) NAUPA (unclaimed property, by state) Useful links for organizing yourself (OnlineOrganizing.com) Pondering Pool greeting cards (not your Hallmark card) ProFlowers.com SlickDeals.net (news of sales on the Web) Stacks and Stacks (stuff to organize with) Vermont Country Store (hard-to-find classic household, personal, and food products, items other stores no longer carry) TRAVEL PLANNING AND BARGAINS: FareCompare.com (find cheap flights fast). Rudy Maxa's Savvy Traveler News (MaxaBlog.com) SeatGuru (your guide to choosing seats on various airlines) Trip Advisor (find hotels, flights, restaurants, etc. that other travelers trust) Yapta.com ("your amazing personal travel assistant"), tags flights to let you know if you are entitled to a refund if a flight price drops after you book (under "guaranteed airfare rules") Airline baggage fees top $2.5 billion (Natalie Avon, CNN, 12-13-10, on which airlines are gouging most from baggage, change, and cancellation fees). A friend with a clotting disorder recommends Oroblu support hose. Endless (shoes and handbags) Footsmart.com. WARNING: Footsmart charged me $13.89 shipping for an $85 pair of shoes, although the website said "free shipping on orders of $60 or more." When I complained, they said nothing could be done about it because I paid on Paypal. Maybe Paypal is part of the problem, but this is very bad business practice followed by bad customer service." And it took ten days for the shoes to get here! I see now the same shoes are available at Zappo's for the same price, free shipping. Losing $13.89 and getting absolutely no apology from Footsmart, much less a refund, means I'll shop at FootSmart only if I can't find the same shoes elsewhere. Footwear etc. Harry's Shoes, carry hard-to-find sizes NuShoe.com (get your comfortable old shoes resoled, refurbished, rebuilt, etc. -- these are the people who re-soled my expensive but worth-every-penny Mephisto shoes) Zappos.com (shoes and more, huge selection, good prices) FeelGoodStore.com A rant about FootSmart and Paypal
--to be specific, a rant about dishonesty in advertising and poor customer service at FootSmart, and at least one reason not to use Paypal for online shopping. All over the Web I am seeing ads to buy Keen shoes, low prices at FootSmart, and free shipping! So not true, at least not if you use Paypal! I created this webpage as a positive guide to great places to shop, so I ask for your patience as I rant about a frustrating shopping experience with Footsmart. Footsmart charged me $13.89 shipping for an $85 pair of shoes, although the website said "free shipping on orders of $60 or more." When I complained, they said nothing could be done about it because I paid on Paypal. I know that Paypal accepts refunds. Very bad business practices and then very bad customer service. The same shoes are available at Zappo's for the same price, free shipping. And after disputing the claim at Paypal I get this totally illogical response: "Our investigation into your claim is complete. As stated in our User Agreement, the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods. It does not apply to complaints about the attributes or quality of goods received. Therefore, we are unable to reverse this transaction or issue a refund." So is the problem with Paypal or with FootSmart? It's hard to tell! What would you do? I am so put off a companies that charges me $13.98 when they say "free shipping on orders over $60," that refuses to refund the $13.98 because of some policy they or Paypal have. On top of that, it took ten days for my shoes to arrive. For $13.98 I would not have expected such slow service, and I am certain I got faster service from Zappo's. Morever, the shoes when they did arrive did not fit. I bought another pair of the same shoes from someone else, at a larger size, and those do fit. So now I am going to return the shoes to FootSmart, but I put off doing so, because I am so angry about their service already. I have looked at their refund policy and it says: "SmartLabels are not provided for cash/check orders or orders placed through Amazon, Skymall, PayPal, Bill Me Later, or Google Checkout." In this brave new world of online shopping, we have to read the fine print to know that the only safe purchase is with a credit card. What is wrong here? I compare this kind of service with service at, say, Trader Joe's, where if something is wrong with a product they simply take it back and give you a refund, no questions asked. I feel loyalty to Trader Joe's because of it. I did love FootSmart, but no more. Such dumb business practices.... Okay, I'm sorry. I am not a nut, but this made me mad! not your ordinary catalogs Despairwear (tee shirts that make the man smile, particularly the Demotivators) Deva Lifewear J. Peterman. The whimsical, back-in-another-era or from-another-culture catalog tempts me to buy things I'm not sure I'll ever wear, but they are definitely stylish and they are packed BEAUTIFULLY. Curious about Peterman? Read J. Peterman is back (Susan Fornoff, S.F. Chronicle 6-12-04) Kilted Nation, where men can buy everything from formal kilts to utilikilts, with wrap-around “Neo-Traditional” closure with 6-snaps, two deep, free-hanging side saddle cargo pockets (so that when you sit down the pockets fall to the side, instead of the whole kilt). For when you're tired of sweltering in pants and want the air-conditioning of skirts, without looking like a sissy. Washington Post article Pants are for wimps (Kris Coronado, 3-13-11) explains that Scottish tartans are based on family or clan, and Irish tartans are tied to home county. Long Tall Sally (tall women's clothing and large shoes, with an interesting size guide). Monterey Bay Clothing Company Moresca, medieval and historical costumes (dresses, bodices, jerkins, jackets, capes, etc.) Plus-size women's clothing that won't break the bank (Kate Harding's blog, Shapely Prose) Sweeney's Store (tee shirts to puzzle and amuse your friends) Snorg Tees (funny tee shirts) Soft Surroundings (friend Jane says clothing is "soft and squishy, but quality not always top-notch, probably Indian and Chinese") The Territory Ahead (beautiful, really well-made clothing for men and women--I've got a cotton shirt from them that I can wear repeatedly without ironing, the material is so good) Threadless (customized tee shirts and other novelty items) TravelSmith (travel clothing, gear) Village Hat Shop solid catalogs, more standard fare Chico’s (women’s clothing for women who never frequent “petite”) Coldwater Creek Land’s End (swimwear, outerwear, casual clothing) L.L. Bean (sturdy casual and outdoor clothing and gear )
Sarah Wernick left this world in 2007. These comments on bargains are reprinted from Sarah's site by permission of her husband, Willie Lockeretz:
Consumer World is the place to go before you shop for anything: www.consumerworld.org. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter to get tips on outstanding deals and links to useful articles. For nearly anything you can buy, eBay (www.ebay.com), the leading Internet auction site, is worth a look. It's more than the world's largest yard sale; many conventional stores have outlets on eBay. And some items are available at fixed prices, without bidding. When you bid, you offer a price that's a fixed amount above the current price (e.g. if the current high bid is $24.00, your bid must be $24.50). You can also enter a maximum; if you do, eBay will automatically submit a bid for you if anyone outbids you, until your limit is reached. If you're planning to bid on eBay, a service called Auction Sniper (www.auctionsniper.com) can help by entering your bid, including your maximum, in the last seconds of an auction. You won't beat anyone whose maximum is higher than yours. But many people bid emotionally in auctions. They get caught up in the competition and raise their offering price accordingly, rather than deciding ahead of time how much they're willing to spend. You can avoid this kind of bidding war – and avoid getting carried away yourself – by planning a last-second bid (called a snipe) via Auction Sniper. You get three free snipes when you join; thereafter, each successful snipe costs 1% of the purchase price, with a minimum of 25 cents and a maximum of $5. [That's old copy. CNET has a page on Auction software , showing starred ratings for various programs, and Auction Sniper rates well with users but has a couple competitors now. Telephone calls can be made for 2.5 cents per minute within the US and at low rates to other countries if you use a prepaid service called One Suite: www.onesuite.com. Get 20 minutes free if you join with this link. The service has no monthly charges and it's easy to use: When you're traveling, you can use access numbers within the US (there's an extensive list) or an 800 number (which costs 2.9 cents per minute). Your PIN is your home phone number plus four digits, so it's easy to remember. You can also set up your account so that when you dial from home you don't have to enter the PIN. Efax allows you to receive up to 20 fax pages per month free via email – very useful when you're traveling and have access to your email but not to a fax machine: www.efax.com. Note that you will be given a fax number that is not in your own area code; if you want a number in your area code, you must sign up for their for-pay service (currently $12.95/month) which has a 300/month page limit for receiving faxes and which also lets you send faxes via email for 10 cents/page (more outside the US). Send faxes by email via Faxaway: www.faxaway.com. You simply address the message to 12223334444@faxaway.com (where 222-333-444 is the recipient's fax number), attaching a file if you like. You'll get an email message from Faxaway when the fax is received; if the line is busy, they'll try again and if they can't get through they'll let you know. This is very convenient when the to-be-faxed document is generated by your computer (less so if you need to scan it first). Because the fax is generated digitally, the quality is excellent – usually better than with a regular fax machine. Faxaway is considerably less expensive than Efax for occasional users: $1 per month plus about 11 cents per page within the US, and more to numbers in other countries. With an account, you also get a free incoming fax/voicemail number; this number has a 206 area code no matter where you live. I sometimes use Faxaway to print short documents when I'm staying at a hotel: I simply fax the document to myself at the hotel's fax number. (Caution: If you do this, be sure to ask about any charges for incoming faxes; they're usually free, but some hotels charge as much as a dollar a page.)
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Books, articles, and moreWriting or telling life stories
A loving testament, or legacy letter, sharing your life experiences and lessons with the next generation
Read aloud at a memorial service decades later
Everyone has a story to tell. What's keeping you from telling yours? Become a storykeeper or personal historian or find one.
Learn to write articles, reports, ethical wills, or life stories (memoirs and beyond).
Mom — hardworking, sassy, and full of surprises
Mutual support and discussion
Social history through the life of an ordinary Midwestern businessman.
Medical mysteries, patient stories, and practical links
John Travolta played the boy in the movie. The real story ended far differently.
Thin little Marian had a cholesterol problem most people have never heard of.
You've probably never heard of this national research hospital and clinic. But someone you know may be able to benefit from it directly and all of us do, indirectly.
Prepare for skill-based slips and rule- and knowledge-based errors
Dancing, food, good books, and other diversions
Favorites of several book groups
What is the single lunch-bag item most hated by all children?
What heightens the caviar experience is the price of those little gray or black sturgeon eggs.
Links to dancing venues and calendars for the Washington, D.C. area.
Midlife "first dates"
Did she fall in love with the man or the waltz?
Also related: jive, hustle, hand-dancing.
All the dancing your feet can take
Choosing a school of dance
The big ones, with dirty stems
“A rich, varied, and highly rewarding collection,” says Joyce Carol Oates
Ceilis (Irish dancing)
Dying, mourning, and other inevitable events
“This remarkable collection, coming from personal experience and wide reading, will help many find the potential of growth through loss.” —Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the hospice movement
For those dying, for caregivers, and for the bereaved
Listen to samples of popular songs and music
Girls and science
Cool science sites
Attention: parents, teachers.
Best practices for teaching science--to strengthen the science workforce.
Some links and a selection
File under "things that worked."
Practical matters
Identify children's learning styles and improve their ability to learn.
Six weeks to hassle-free homework.
Why parents should be concerned.
Public speaking is a craft, not an art. It can be learned.
Can you wash it if it says "dry clean"?
Fact vs. fantasy
One woman's story.
Don't focus on the fabric.
Organizational histories
A frank history of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
The little lift truck that could — a story of brilliant marketing in America's heartland.
Online Shopping
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SHOPPING IN PERSON