Online Comparison Shopping Not Always Helpful

from the the-hidden-print dept

Some economists who have been studying online comparison shopping engines have found that many online retailers play tricks on the shopping engines to make them less reliable. So, using them, you might not find the best price. Many hide the shipping costs until you fill out more information. In some cases that makes sense, because delivery costs may differ depending on your location - but charging $40 shipping for a small item seems excessive. Also, plenty of merchants have bait-and-switch deals, or advertise a less-featured, much cheaper product to come up when someone does a search on a higher-end product.