BizRate.com - Compare&Review Online Products

If you are like me and you love to shop online, this site is for you. BizRate is an online comparison shopping site where you can search, find and compare almost any product in the United States, France, Germany and the UK. You simply enter a search for a product or a store, hit go, and and different offerings come up. Even easier, they have the most popular categories of products right on the homepage. You can read professional product reviews and compare prices, as well as view ratings of the stores that are selling them. They also offer tools such the "SmartChoice" in a given category, "Top Picks," large graphics of products and demonstration videos from the manufacturer. The site is incredibly comprehensive and valuable, and should be the first stop for any online shopper.

BizRate is operated by Shopzilla, a leading comparison shopping service founded in 1996. The company's mission is to enable shoppers to quickly and easily find compare and buy anything, sold by virtually anyone, anywhere. Each month, Shopzilla connects millions of consumers with thousands of stores. In June 2006, Shopzilla attracted over 18.9 million unique visitors according to ComScore. Shopzilla also operates the BizRate consumer feedback network that collects millions of consumer reviews of stores and products each year. In 2005, Shopzilla was acquired by The E. W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) and is now part of its interactive media division. Shopzilla operates websites serving consumers and retailers in the U.S., U.K., French and German markets.

This site should be the first place any online shopper goes before making a large purchase. The breadth of information on products and prices is incredible, and a consumer can feel confident after purchasing a product because of this site. There really is no downside to using this site.

The only weakness I could find was that sometimes the homepage of the manufacturer offers the same/better deal than the stores they index. For example, I was looking at a Mac laptop and Apple would have given me the same price as the big electronic store, with free shipping. The store would have charged me for shipping. That would have saved me a nice chunk of change. Is there any way to account for the promotions/sales/offerings on the manufacturers sites? Or at least inform this consumer of this possibility?