Price checking with Checkaprice! (Totally rewritten) (checkaprice.co.uk)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	checkaprice.co.uk
Date:	15/08/00 (571 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Saves time, Saves money

Disadvantages: Limited sites checked, Under construction, Covers wide range of products

Since I came online a few years ago, I have been buying more and more stuff from Internet based retailers because I'm lazy. Well, not only because I'm lazy but because, more often than not, it's cheaper – even with postage charges added on.

Just like real life, I don't simply buy what I want at the first shop I go to. From the start of my shopping to the end, it's exactly like I would do in real life (without the endless running around the shops) – I research the goods, make my decision and then find the cheapest price.

Of course, this is far easier on the 'net than it is in real life. All the information you could possibly want is at your fingertips, and in the case of consumer information, right on this very web site.

So, what now? You've decided what you want – where can you find out the cheapest place to go for your chosen purchase? Well, a handy web site to look at could be www.checkaprice.co.uk.

As the name suggests, it tries to find the best price for whatever you are looking to buy. I used it primarily for checking out the prices of computer hardware; although their product list is extensive and the departments for them include things like books, food & drink, holidays & travel, Sports & Leisure, telephone bills and gas & electricity bills. They also seem to have done a deal with W H Smith and as you surf, you are provided with links to cheap books relating to what you are looking to buy. Now, my experiences are down to using the site for computer accessories, as I've said above and I'm currently considering buying a CD Rewriter and a 19" monitor.

It's a rather plain looking site with lots of links. This is not a bad thing – indeed the pages load very quickly, and the search facility is quite fast. The main page, when you first surf to the site has a login facility. The only benefit from signing up as a member seem to be that you are entered in
to a monthly prize draw which, this month, is for a Samsung VP-M50 Camcorder. (It says Mays Prize draw, even though it's now the middle of June) and you don't get any other benefits like cheaper prices or a search of more retailers. You can still use the site even if you are not a member, although it would be nice if there were a page telling you about the benefits of signing up. I have looked around this site, searching for more reasons to become a member, but can't find any. If anyone knows of further benefits, please let me know.

So, from this main page, you can go to a sub category until you finally get to a search page for the product you are looking for prices on. In the case of a computer monitor this would be: Computer Hardware > Monitors. Now, on this page, I'm given a list of about 12 manufacturers - this will vary depending on the type of product you are looking for. You can either compare products of one manufacturer, or enter a maximum price (inc. VAT) you wish to spend, and the site will return a list of all products that fall under this price. Alternatively, you can use the advanced search, which is tailored for each individual product. For example, the monitor Advanced Search will include fields such as manufacturer, display type, screen size and price. In theory this means you can search for the cheapest 19" monitors etc.

Now, this all sounds fab 'n' groovy. "At last!" you're all shouting, "My wandering days are over!" Well, this is not strictly true. The web sites that checkaprice uses can be limited in number. You see, you don't actually buy from checkaprice; you simply use them as a virtual bargain hunter as it were. Your purchases are made from ordinary retailers. From what I can see, for computer peripherals, checkaprice uses buy.com and dabs.com which is slightly restrictive given the amount of online outlets that sell this type of good.

Anyway, the search fa
cility is not that great. Using the advanced search for a 19" Iiyama monitor with no price restriction produces no results, yet dabs.com offer 4 different ones, all in stock. This makes me wonder if the search facilities on the other product categories are as limiting and incomplete as this.

I've not used the site recently for anything other than computer equipment, although when I was in the market for a new camera a few months ago, I found it to be very helpful, and indeed, saved myself some cash on the RRP by using the site. I ahve also used the site to gain an idea of some prices opn other products, but have not bought useing the links that have suggested. I have browsed the site to investigate areas of interest to me to see if they are any better than the computer hardware one, and I have to say that this does appear to be the case.

The Video/DVD category, for example, has a checkaprice frame at the top with the bottom frame seemingly being a page on uk.shopsmart.com with reviews of online retailers from which you will be buying your chosen video/DVD. Already, this is more informative than the computer hardware section.

Another piece of the site I would be interested in is the travel bit – so, trying to price a flight to Manchester at the end of July, I clicked on the relevant links. What do I find? It's under construction, however, they do link to expedia.com. I'm really not having much luck here!

So, what about Food and Drink then? I've been looking for a particular drink that I had in a pub a few weeks ago, but the off licences here in Belfast don't seem to stock, so what about online retailers? Following the links from the main page: Food & Drink > Spirits I get to a page that says... "The price comparison facility for Spirits is under development." Aaaaargh! Again, links to other sites such as Waitrose Direct and Last Orders are provided.

Overall:
The idea is brillian
t – a one stop site for pricing lots of different types of good and service. The site is quite plain, but as this increases page-loading times, I'll not quibble about this. The searches are fast, if ultimately useless and unfortunately, all the categories I'm interested in are either poorly implemented or under construction.

Summary: