Zeus of the ‘NetReviews of the Coolest Sites on the Net

Do you enjoy waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday and driving around your neighborhood looking for yard sales?  I would totally be one of these people if it wasn’t for the waking up early part.  Me and mornings don’t get along.  For those of you who are like me, there’s a website that can help take care of this aversion to the AM.  The site is called Yardsellr.  The genius of this site is the social aspect and the deep integration with Facebook (and Twitter, but the focus is more on FB).  Once logged in (through Facebook Connect) you can begin buying and selling things online in a little as 60 seconds.  It’s that easy.  No more getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, or showering…at least before 9am on a weekend.

One of the other things I like about this site is what they call “blocks”.  They have over 4,000+ blocks that range from Jewelry, to Star Wars, to Baseball Cards and everything in between.  Also when you put something up for sale they will not only spread the word on your block, but also in the news feeds of millions of Yardsellr fans on Facebook.

There are tons of items just waiting to be bought (and if your closet, garage, storage room, etc. is like most there’s probably tons to sell too!).  So what are you waiting for?

If you’re like me and love to travel then I’m sure you can’t wait to take your next vacation either.  But the thing that always gets me (other than having the $$) is making all the arrangements.  It’s such a hassle.  Now I know there are some people who probably enjoy this, but I’m definitely not one of them.  So if there’s any way to make the process quicker and more efficient, I’m all for it.  With this in mind I happened to come across Oyster.com.  Right from the get-go I knew that the site just had “it”.  What exactly “it” is can be hard to pinpoint, and it can also vary from site to site.  However with Oyster (so named after the Shakespeare quote “the world is your oyster”) I believe it’s a combination of the new approach they’ve taken with hotel reviews and booking, combined with an excellent website.

What I like most about this site is the photos they take of the hotels they review.  They’re high-quality and haven’t been retouched.  The only drawback I can see is that as of right now the site only covers 14 destinations (within the U.S. and around the globe) but I’m guessing as they get more exposure, visits, and bookings, that this number will increase.

So next time you sit down and start making those travel arrangements, be sure to look up Oyster and check out some photos of that hotel you were thinking of staying at.

There are a ton of sites out there dedicated to searching for the best deals on flights (read my previous post on Kayak) but what sets Hipmunk.com apart is the fact that it’s quick and easy to use.  Unlike some of the others where you have to input a bunch of info and click through multiple pages, Hipmunk shows all of the results of your search on one page.  You can also filter the results by: price, stops, departure time, arrival time, duration, and ‘agony’.  I thought the last one was interesting.  According to their FAQ page, ‘agony’ is “our way of sorting flights to take into account price, duration, and number of stops. There’s more to a flight than its price, so we provide this sort to give you better all-around results.”

I like that the site is easy to use and that you only have to enter in where you want to depart from and arrive at, and the dates.  This makes the whole process quick, and a lot easier than the other bigger more well known sites.  So next time you’re searching for a flight, remember to check out Hipmunk.

If you’re like the 99.9% of people in the world who like saving money and getting a great deal, then I think you’ll like this site.  ZingSale.com is a free service that finds great deals on products that are sold all across the web and will track the price and then alert you when it goes down by more than 10%.  From CDs and DVDs, to Toys, Apparel, Shoes, Jewelry and more, you name it and they will track it for you and send you an email if the price drops.

I really like the design of the site, it’s very clean and intuitive which makes it that much more of a pleasurable experience (on top of saving money!).  Also thought I’d mention, with Black Friday coming up, that they have a Black Friday Deals section where you can avoid the crowds and instead add a price alert for any gifts you are planning on buying.

ZingSale currently tracks the prices of over 350,000 products and on average saves users of the site 43% on their purchases.  Now that’s what I’m talkin about!

If you’re like me when you need a greeting card you probably head to your local bargain retail/drug store to pick one out.  You probably spend a good 10-15 minutes looking through the small selection of extremely cheesy cards, each one worse than the last.  Defeated, you finally pick the least lame card of the bunch.  Luckily now there’s a new alternative: enGreet.com.  To me this site is pure genius.  Users can order anywhere from 1 greeting card ($1.99 for blank, $2.99 for custom) up to 1,000 and with a wide selection to choose from, you’re sure to find one you like.

I like websites like this that fill a need that traditional brick and mortar stores simply can’t.  Since everyone has to buy greeting cards for all of the various occasions throughout the year, I think this was a great idea for a website.  What do you think, would you give enGreet a shot?

I’ve used this site several times myself and it’s been a nice little money saver.  Now to some RetailMeNot.com may seem slightly on the unethical side, but hey you have to figure that the big online retail stores take websites like this into account.  At least that’s how I rationalize it.  (Actually for those who need a clear conscience, it appears that they will remove the coupon and discount codes if the retailer requests it.)  However judging from the sites popularity, I’m guessing the people who have been using it so far shared my sentiments.

The site is very easy to use and navigate.  Just type in the URL of the site you are looking to make a purchase on and it will take you to that page with the list of all the coupon codes.  It’s that simple.  So next time you want to save some money pay a visit to RetailMeNot.

Alice.com Shopping Just Got Easier

I don’t know about you but shopping for things like toothpaste, trash bags, and laundry detergent isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.  In fact I don’t think it’s anybody’s idea of a good time.  Luckily now the tedious task of shopping for life’s little necessities just got easier.  Alice.com (still in beta) is a website devoted to selling smaller ticket items, like shampoo, toilet paper and contact lens solution.

If you’re like me the first thing you were probably thinking was, the shipping cost is going to make it just as expensive as if I went to the store and bought it.  But Alice has got you covered.  Shipping to your door is completely free!  So what are you waiting for, get your shop on!

When you think of online auction sites pretty much just one comes to mind: Ebay.  Well that might be about to change.  Founded in January 2007, Bonanzle is rapidly becoming a plausible alternative to Ebay and it’s big business ways.  If you’re a seller who’s tired of the seven pages you have to go through just to select a category for something you want to sell on Ebay, then you might want to check out Bonanzle’s quick and easy listing process.  No more high selling fees and poor customer service.

More interactive and user friendly, Bonanzle is poised to pounce on the thousands of disgruntled Ebay users (both sellers and buyers) and convert them to become one of the growing number of Fellow Bonanzlers.  So if you’re in the market to buy or sell, you might want to pay a visit to Bonanzle and see for yourself if they’ve got what it takes to tango with the 800-pound gorilla that is Ebay.

**Update** Bonanzle recently acquired Bonanza.com and it appears that they will be rebranding under the new name in the coming months.

The holiday season is quickly approaching, and that usually means two things: shopping and traveling. With shopping covered in the last post (Looking for a Good Deal…) that just leaves traveling. And that’s where Kayak.com steps in. Pulling from over 140 travel websites, and covering flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and more, Kayak is the place to start if you’re planning on traveling and are searching for cheap travel deals.

There are quite a few features that make this site stand out from the crowd. The first is the ability to filter the results of your initial search. Users can filter by price, star rating, hotel brand (i.e. Hilton, Marriott), amenities, or by miles away from certain landmarks or neighborhoods. The second is the different views in which the results can be displayed. There are three options, List View, Map View, and Photo View. The Map View can be particularly useful if you used the landmarks or neighborhoods filter, and are looking to stay in a very specific region of a city; and the Photo View helps to give you an idea of what the hotel and the rooms look like.

With so many websites out there selling or offering the same or similar services, it can be difficult to cut through the clutter to find a good deal. Traveling is no exception, but Kayak.com helps users to navigate through all the clutter to find the best deals.

If you happen to visit Woot.com and wonder where the rest of the products they sell are, you’re probably not alone.  Woot’s unique approach to offering great deals is what sets them apart.  You see, they only sell one product a day.  Yup that’s right just ONE.  So if you happen to be shopping for the particular product they are selling that day, then you’re in luck!  If not, then better luck tomorrow…

wine.woot.com

But there’s good news, if you absolutely can’t wait ‘til tomorrow there are two sub domains which can help to curb that shopping withdrawal: wine.woot.com and shirt.woot.com (incase you’re wondering, the same one product a day rule goes for them too).  This unique business model insures two things, number one: great deals on a wide variety of products, including 42” LCD TV’s, MP3 players, notebook computers, digital cameras, and more.  Number two: the anticipation of a new product, which entices visitors like you and me to pay a visit at least once every day.  Cause after all who knows, today might be your lucky day!