Shop Smart This 'Cyber Monday'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Online shopping will likely be at its peak today. Cyber Monday officially started at midnight, and a lot of stores are putting deep discounts on their websites.
The National Retail Federation is expecting around 107 million people to shop online today, which is up from around 96 million last year.
And experts say about 90 percent of online retailers are offering deals today.
We did some web surfing this morning and found a lot of retailers are offering free shipping.
Some of the best deals we found included an iPod docking station for around $50 at Radio Shack and kids' bikes at Walmart for around $40. Also, HDTVs are discounted at many of the big box stores like Best Buy and Target.
Regina Lewis, AOL's Consumer Advisor, warned that just because you see the term Cyber Monday doesn't mean it's a legitimate deal. She recommends you check it out and compare prices.
Lewis said there are some sites like Amazon that offering "lightning deals" that pop up every half-hour and are only available for a half-hour.
She said to get the best deals, you need to be prepared. Lewis suggested registering with the websites you plan to shop at and have your billing information already entered in.
Lewis wants to remind shoppers to be on the lookout for scams. If a site asks you for your credit card number or social security number in order to get a secret code for a discount, it's a scam.
She said if you get an e-mail asking you to provide this information for a discount, delete it. She said you should never have to give your credit card number or social security number to get a deal.
Many of the deals we found have time limits on them, but we've also found several websites that state the deals are going on all week.
If you want some help in tracking down the best deals or to do comparison shopping, check out Cyber Monday, Gotta Deal and Wallet Pop.
