Compare prices of just about anything through price comparison sites, but visit our other pages to find the best deals on books, phones, utilities and insurance
One of the best known price comparison sites. Part of the Yahoo group. Very easy to use and to find the thing you are looking for.
Compare prices for your grocery shopping between Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Ocado (Waitrose) There are product-specific comparisons on the following pages:
Books
Mobile phones
Motor insurance
Home insurance
Travel insurance
Van insurance
Utilities: Gas, electricity etc.
Is comparison site information accurate?
Are all shops listed?
Are prices up to date?
Do they compare like for like?
Kelkoo and BuyCentral give you a list of the prices charged by various internet shops for the things you want to buy.
To begin with, prices are usually listed with the 'most popular' sellers at the top, but you can change to order so that the cheapest come first.
Click one of the logos in the boxes on the right to go to your chosen price comparison web site. Enter the details of the product you want to buy and they will show you a list of shops that have that item and the prices they charge. You can then click to go direct to the sellers site.
Is it worth visiting a price comparison site?
Yes. By and large, these sites have a reasonably up-to-date directory of products and prices from a host of companies that sell things on the internet. If you like to compare prices before you buy, you will save a lot of time going to one or more price comparison sites and looking at their list of prices. This will give you a good idea of the going rate. But see below for accuracy.
Do the price comparison sites check every internet shop?
No. The price comparison sites download a list of the products and prices from the supplier. They can only do this if the supplier has a list in the right form to be downloaded. These lists are called 'data feeds' or 'product feeds'. Most of the bigger companies have a product feed that can be used by the price comparison sites, but a lot of the smaller and specialist companies do not. The price comparison sites cannot include those companies in the comparisons because they do not have access to the information.
Also, there has to be an agreement between the shop and the price comparison site. Some shops sign up to one comparison site but not another and different comparison sites will have access to different shops.
How accurate are the prices published by the comparison sites?
The sites do not deliberately mislead. However, you need to think about two things:
(a) are you comparing exactly the same products?
(b) how up to date is the price?
Are they the same products?
The list provided by the sites is based on the descriptions given by the supplier. Not all suppliers describe their products in the same way. Some suppliers may use the same words to describe different products. Even if you have a product number, such as a model number for an electrical item, some suppliers may price it with accessories and others without. For example, a TV listed by model number may include a mounting bracket or stand in one case and not in another.
Are the prices up to date?
Not always. The price comparison site does not visit all the shop sites at the moment you make your enquiry. They download a product price and description list from each supplier and hold that list on their own system. It will be up to date the moment they download it, but any changes in the price or the description that happen before they download the list again will not be reflected in the comparison information listed for you. Fresh downloads are not available every day, so the list (and therefore the information they list for you) may be several days, possibly a week, out of date before it is refreshed.
How can I overcome these problems?
First of all, make sure your list is in price order. You will almost certainly have to select this yourself, because the list is usually in 'popularity' order to start with. Once you have the list in the right order, the information given by the price comparison sites will be a good guide, but to make sure you are comparing like with like, and comparing up to date information, you really need to click on the 'visit store' or similar button and see the information on the supplier's own web site. Take a note of their price, delivery costs etc and of any variations from the basic product (such as accessories that come, or do not come, as part of the deal). Repeat this with the offers that appear to be the second and third cheapest. You may well find that one of the others is actually a better deal that the one that originally appeared at the top of the list.
How does MySupermarket work?
MySupermarket lets you compare the cost of your online shopping trolley between Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Ocado (Waitrose). You can then place your order online with the supplier that gives the best value for your selection. You still get the loyalty rewards that you would get from Tesco (Clubcard points) and Sainsburys (Nectar points) and you also get ipoints on top. Prices and special offers are all included and they are updated daily. This service does not cost you anything. You need to register if you want to send your order through to the supermarket, but you do not have to pay.