I ordered 3 of the SanDisk Cruzer 8GB USB Flash Drives because of the great sale price of $11.70 each.  However, the shipping cost of 17.85 raised my order total from 35.10 (the cost of the 3 drives) to the grand total of 52.95.  So the unit price for each drive came out to 17.65, quite a difference from the advertised sale price of 11.70.  Still a great deal, but if I had paid closer attention, I would have seen this in the shopping cart at the end of my order.  But I was in a holiday shopping rush and overlooked it.

Plus, my order finally arrived after waiting for two weeks, because there was a typo on my original package, so the post office returned it to the shipper.  The company did replace the order, and emailed a status update.

That’s why I say be careful when shopping online.  A good deal may not be so good, once you factor in shipping costs.  In the case of amazon.com, not only is the shipping cost higher for third-party sales, but tracking information is not available for your package.

As in my case, careful attention to each click to your final shopping cart at the end of the order should eliminate any chance of errors.  I should add that I’ve purchased many items through amazon.com, and their customer service has always been outstanding.  I will shop them again, but with a wary eye for third party vendors.

MP3 Albums currently listed on amazon.com as of this writing:
#1 “Viva La Vida”  Coldplay
#2 “We sing. We dance. We steal things.”  Jason Mraz
#3 “Narrow Stairs”  Death Cab For Cutie
#4 “Sleep Through The Static”  Jack Johnson
#5 “Paper Trail”  T.I.
#6 “Death Magnetic”  Metallica
#7 “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”  High School Musical Cast
#8 “Fleet Foxes”  Fleet Foxes
#9 “Flight Of The Conchords”  Flight Of The Conchords
#10 “Modern Guilt”  Beck

Love gadgets and games like Guitar Hero, PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360?  eBay is offering One Dollar Holiday Doorbusters until December 8th.  eBay also has other great deals on iPod nano, Garmin GPS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Fit and Nintendo DS Lite.  Check it often, their specials change constantly.

Browsing for a bargain?  Best Buy has great deals on CD & DVD, like the Beatles LOVE documentary “All Together Now” and “Chinese Democracy” the new album from Guns N’ Roses.  Best Buy is usually my choice if I’m buying a new album locally because they simply have the best prices on new release CDs and DVDs.