Consumer Reports Puts 'Shopping Bots' To The Test

For those shopping online who want to search far and wide for the absolute best prices, special sites called "shopping bots" can help sift through millions of online companies.

Consumer Reports recently sized up the best bots for bargain hunters. The organization looked at the Elura 50 camcorder by Canon, which is selling online at Best Buy for $599.

To see if there was a better deal, Consumer Reports' Helen Popkin checked out six shopping "bots," including BizRate, mySimon, NexTag, PriceGrabber.com, PriceScan.com and Shopping.com.

"They all work about the same way. You type in the name of a product you're looking for, in this case, the Canon Elura 50. And you get back a list of sites where that product is available," Popkin said.

A shopping "bot" can sort the results by price.

"At Shopping.com, the camcorder is available at prices ranging from $419 to $699," Popkin said.

But Popkin says to be aware that the way to find the best deal is to sort by total price, which includes shipping, handling and any taxes.

"When you include shipping, handling and taxes, $419 becomes $479, and it's no longer the lowest price," Popkin said.

the cheapest price is actually $459 at another site, according to Popkin. Shopping "bots" can also tell consumers about other shoppers' experiences. Consumers will want to avoid sites with comments like "very poor customer service" and "I would not shop here again," according to Popkin.

Consumer Reports money adviser found that some shopping "bots" are better than others. Top ratings went to BizRate.com and Shopping.com.

Before buying anything online, consumers may want to check the sites privacy policy and find out if personal information will be shared.