| As you're no doubt aware, online shopping offers | | | | page and found that Coupon Craze was offering |
| great selection and an easy way to compare | | | | several discount coupons for One of these was |
| prices on products. With gas prices being as high | | | | for 20% off on several popular models. That's not |
| as they are, who needs to be driving around | | | | too shabby.One of my pet peeves (pun intended) |
| trying the find the best deal? Not me.This article | | | | is that the vast majority of the discount coupon |
| provides some tips for finding the best price online | | | | sites lack a search tool. It would be nice if you |
| for a dog house. But before embarking on this | | | | could just enter "dog house" in a search box and |
| bargain hunting mission, make sure you've | | | | get results targeted to that query. Alas, that's not |
| narrowed down your dog house choice to one or | | | | the case. Instead, many sites just provide a link |
| two products. Do you want a traditional Snoopy | | | | to a Pets section and from there you have to |
| style wooden dog house or a plastic one? Do you | | | | browse for coupons. This works but the process |
| want cedar, pine, or some other kind of wood? | | | | is not as efficient as it could be.Many of the |
| Centered or off-set doorway? Insulated or not? | | | | discount coupon listings don't specifically mention |
| These are the kind of questions you have to | | | | dog houses. More commonly, they will provide the |
| answer.Ok, onto the good stuff. How much can | | | | name of the store and something like "20% off |
| you potentially save on a dog house by doing | | | | $75 purchase". So, you have to know which |
| your homework? Well, you might be surprised. | | | | stores carry dog houses for this info to be of |
| For a dog house in the $150 range, it's not | | | | any use. To help you out, here is a list of stores - |
| uncommon for prices to vary by as much as $30 | | | | that often show up in the discount coupon |
| to $40 from the low to high end.Don't believe it? | | | | offerings - that do carry dog houses and/or dog |
| Well, go to Froogle and search for "Tuff-n-rugged" | | | | containment systems: ActiveK9.com, Dog.com, |
| (a popular plastic dog house) and check out the | | | | DogDecor.com, DogHouses.com, Paws Up Pet |
| resulting prices. Just make sure you take shipping | | | | Supply, Petco, PETsMART, SitStay.comOf this list, |
| charges into consideration because some of the | | | | the stores that offer the largest selection of dog |
| listed prices include shipping and some don't. Once | | | | houses are DogHouses.com, Petco, and |
| you've "normalized" the prices, I think you'll find | | | | PETsMART.Tip Three - eBay itYou can save a |
| that some vendors offer much better deals than | | | | considerable chunk of change by buying a dog |
| others.One quick note: bargain hunting is most | | | | house through eBay. Being the largest online |
| effective when you're looking for a popular model | | | | auction service, it carries a fairly impressive |
| of dog house that is mass produced and available | | | | selection of dog houses and other dog stuff. But... |
| via multiple vendors. For the more expensive, | | | | one of the challenges is finding a dog house that |
| custom-built houses, comparison shopping is more | | | | suits you. If you go to eBay's search page and do |
| difficult because fewer vendors carry the product. | | | | a generic search on "dog house", you'll get well |
| For some houses, the only company selling it is | | | | over 1000 results, including dog beds, dog carriers, |
| the same one that built it.Tip One - compare the | | | | and dog tents -- in addition to actual dog houses. |
| price comparison enginesA number of online price | | | | Lots of junk to wade through.Here's a suggested |
| comparison engines are available to help you track | | | | plan of attack for winnowing down the results |
| down the best deal on products. Froogle (from | | | | using eBay's overly "generous" search engine.Do a |
| Google) was mentioned above. It is one of the | | | | search on "dog houses" with the quotes around |
| more comprehensive because it doesn't charge | | | | the phrase. This will cut the number of results in |
| merchants for inclusion in their listings. Some of | | | | half (I got 470). But there will still be lots of |
| the other popular price comparison sites are | | | | extraneous stuff in the results. To exclude things |
| Yahoo!Shopping, PriceGrabber, Dealtime | | | | like soft crates, miniature Snoopy dog house |
| Shopping.com, and Shopzilla.PriceGrabber has a | | | | models, pet beds, and mats, prefix these terms |
| nice feature in which you can enter your zip code | | | | with a minus sign in the search box. Your query |
| and get a bottom line price that includes shipping | | | | will then look something like this:dog house" -"pet |
| and taxes. However, the completeness of their | | | | bed" -snoopy -mat -"soft crate"If you perform |
| listings for some dog house models leaves | | | | the search again, the number of results will be |
| something to be desired.One drawback that I've | | | | further reduced but probably still not precise |
| come across with the comparison engines is that | | | | enough.So, click on the Advanced Search link and |
| they don't always adequately take dog house | | | | enter a value for the Min price. The idea here is |
| sizes into consideration. For example, if you do a | | | | to exclude things like miniature ceramic dog |
| search for "Extreme Outback dog house" in | | | | houses and books on house training a dog. Pick a |
| Froogle, one of the links provides a price | | | | value that you think makes sense for what dog |
| comparison from four different vendors. The only | | | | houses might sell for on the low end at auction.I |
| problem is that one you bring up the page, the | | | | picked a Min price of $40 and this time got only |
| houses range in size from small to large. So you | | | | 50 results. And most of them were actually dog |
| may end up with an apples to oranges | | | | houses. If you click on the Sort->lowest price |
| comparison if you're not careful.Something else to | | | | first, the listings will be reordered with the |
| keep in mind with the price comparison services is | | | | cheapest dog house at the top. It should be a |
| that some (most?) allow stores to bid for | | | | simple matter at this point to browse through the |
| enhanced placement in the results and pay on a | | | | results and make a bid if you find a house that |
| per-click basis. This means the results are not | | | | interests you. Note that eBay requires that you |
| necessarily ordered by price. Not that big of an | | | | register in order to place a bid. Fortunately, it's a |
| issue but something to be aware of...Tip Two - | | | | fairly simple and fast process.Of course, if you |
| Discount couponsThere is an almost overwhelming | | | | know the exact brand and model, you can save |
| number of sites offering discount coupons for | | | | lots of searching time by entering that info |
| every product imaginable, including dog houses and | | | | directly in the search box. If you've never used |
| related accessories. The trick is knowing which | | | | eBay, they provide a very comprehensive online |
| sites are worthwhile and which are a waste of | | | | Learning Center where you can learn all about |
| your time.Some of the more worthwhile ones are: | | | | buying, selling, not getting ripped off, etc.Last step: |
| All Online Coupons, Coupon Craze, OnlyCoupons, | | | | Go buy that bargain dog house so Fido can stay |
| and Wow-Coupons. You could also do a Google | | | | comfy and warm at night!Will Koval operates |
| search for "discount coupons dog houses" and see | | | | all-about-dog-houses.com, the authoritative site |
| what comes up at the top of the results. Usually, | | | | for learning about dog |
| the first 3-4 search results are relevant and | | | | houses. Check out the dog house buyer's guide. |
| worthwhile.I did a quick check when writing this | | | | |