"E-Haggle" Your Way To Bargains

AOL's Regina Lewis On Hitting Web First To Get Better Deals In Stores, Car Dealerships, More

(CBS) 

You can use e-Haggling to save money shopping for a new or used vehicle, with autos.aol.com.

Old way: Show up at the lot on Saturday, spend half the day trying to talk down the salesguy.

New way: E-Haggling online. Getting price quotes before you hit the lot; you can even do it anonymously. Your best bet is to start out on a major autos site such as autos.aol.com.

The second biggest purchase most of us will make (after our home) is a new or used car. About 10 years ago, "no-haggle" pricing was the "it" thing. Now, though, armed with new information from the Internet, there's more negotiating room.

With the intelligence from our online research, you could now anonymously e-mail a dealer or individual and ask if that's their best offer. You could even use an initial as your first name if you don't want to reveal your gender. You might not want to haggle right out of the box; rather, say you looked at their inventory and noticed they have X available and wanted to get the best price quote before possibly heading to the lot this weekend. If their price seems high, you can then e-mail them back and let them know. You may also want to add that you are waiting on several other incoming dealer e-mails and feel you can do better. They want you to come to the lot. And now, you might be arriving with a discounted offer in-hand. You're already ahead of the curve, whether you're buying a new or used vehicle. You've already talked - or in this case TYPED - them down.

Car deals vary regionally, so be sure to type in multiple zip codes (from neighboring states) when doing your online search.

Shoppers who use the Web spend about an hour and 20 minutes less time circling the dealer lot and less time negotiating a sales price. Plus, they pay about five percent less for cars, says JD Powers.

For home improvement projects, try servicemagic.com.

Old way: Look in the paper, ask a neighbor, or respond to something hanging on a door.

New way: ServiceMagic.com has a database of 52,000 pre-screened contractors and other types of home service professionals, such as plumbers, electricians, landscapers, maids, etc. With a few clicks of the mouse, you have multiple (qualified/screened) contractors competing for your business.

It's the time of year when many are thinking about home improvement projects, but money is tight and the idea of renovations may only be in the cards if it can be done at the right price.

What does "pre-screened" mean? ServiceMagic has a 10-point contractor screening system. The site does things such as verifying the contractor is licensed, verifying the contractor has the appropriate liability insurance, running criminal background checks, and more.

Finding your contractor: It takes only two or three minutes to submit a request: Click on the type of job you're interested in, anything from room additions to landscape design or maid service; there are 500 services from which homeowners can choose. Successive screens narrow the specifics of a particular job request, working toward matching you with companies who are qualified to perform the work you need done.

Once you submit your request, the site uses proprietary technology to narrow the field down to a handful of local businesses (three or four) that best match your needs. Then, an alert goes out via e-mail or an automated telephone call to those qualified businesses in the ServiceMagic network. The businesses respond directly to the lead and can be patched through to the consumer immediately. From there, it's up to the homeowner to choose from among the responding businesses, but at least you know you're dealing with contractors who have all met certain criteria. Finally, it's up to the homeowner to haggle using the intelligence obtained from the Internet.

[forthepeopl1]

AMERICANS NEEDS TO JUST STOP IT AGAIN STOP BUYING JUNK FROM CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRYS.

ONLY BUY WHAT IS NESSESSERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TO SURVIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THINK BEFORE BUYING!!!!!!!!!! DO WE REALY NEED IT!!!!!!!!!.

IS IT A WANT OR NEED????????????????????

EVERY ONE SOULD ONLY BUY NEEDS PERIOD, THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET MUCH MUCH WORSE, AND IT WILL LAST FOR YEARS

[forthepeopl1]

In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday, Warren Buffett opined that the United States is already in recession, even if it''s not in the sense that economists would define it: two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Furthermore, Buffett argues the recession "will be deep and last longer than many think."

Sounds pretty ominous. After all, Buffett is now the world''s richest man %u2013 he recently surpassed Microsoft chairman Bill Gates %u2013 and is easily one of the planet''s most successful investors.

If Buffett himself thinks the economic outlook is lousy, the average punter thinks, maybe I should get out of the market.

If you have money in the stock market that you will need in the next few months ahead, you should. (Not because the market is about to go down %u2013 although it may %u2013 but because money earmarked for short-term expenditures shouldn''t be in the market in the first place.)

[fireceos]

I''m going to try this will my cell phone contract. I already got Comcast to cut my cable/internet bill in HALF!!!!

[hypnotoad72]

As long as it''s shipped with care, good deals often come by e-tailers.

I still prefer brick''n''mortar for many items; easier to make exchanges or returns too.