Best Online Shopping websites are all over the place

Online Shopping Websites

Online shopping websites are all over the place. 
A quick search will list more than you can count, but 
which online stores are actually the best?

Below are our picks for some of the best online shopping websites. You can find all sorts of things between these seven, from books and clothes to movies, handmade items, jewelry, tech...you name it.

Ecommerce, or electronic commerce, is the buying and selling of products or services via the internet. For many Americans, ecommerce is something we participate in on a daily basis, like making an online bill payment or purchasing from an online seller. Ecommerce can take many forms and involve different transactions. For an in-depth look at the impact of ecommerce and the different types of online shopping, check out our article on the definition of ecommerce. 

When Was the First Online Transaction? 

The August 12, 1994 issue of New York Times, appropriately titled “Internet is Open” chronicled the sale between two friends of a Sting CD. The Times said, “The team of young cyberspace entrepreneurs celebrated what was apparently the first retail transaction on the Internet using a readily available version of powerful data encryption software designed to guarantee privacy.” 

Google Shopping

When it was released in 2002, Google Shopping was called Froogle. The service simply indexed product data based on certain search terms. In 2012, the service shifted to a paid advertising model where retailers had to pay to be featured in the Google Shopping search results.

Google Shopping also benefits retailers because, when a shopper clicks on a product link, they’re sent back to the retailer’s site to make the purchase.

If you’re not advertising your products on Google Shopping, you’re missing out, my friend. We compiled this guide to help you better understand Google Shopping and get started with your first Shopping campaign. Keep reading to get started, or use the chapter links to jump ahead.

What We Like

Perfect for quickly comparing prices across the entire crawlable web.


Extensive search filters tailored to individual products.


Track price changes to get the best deal.

What We Don't Like

Search rankings are determined by advertising dollars rather than your specific query.


Paying for a premium Google listing isn't an ideal way for small retailers to make money.

Amazon

Amazon.com is a vast Internet-based enterprise that sells books, music, movies, housewares, electronics, toys, and many other goods, either directly or as the middleman between other retailers and Amazon.com’s millions of customers. Its Web services business includes renting data storage and computing resources, so-called “cloud computing,” over the Internet. Its considerable online presence is such that, in 2012, 1 percent of all Internet traffic in North America traveled in and out of Amazon.com data centres.

In 2007, Amazon debuted its Kindle e-reader; four years later, the company announced it was selling more e-books than print books. Also in 2011, Amazon’s tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, was released. Among a variety of other ventures, Amazon launched a cloud computing and video on demand services in 2006; a studio that develops movies and TV series, in 2010; and an online marketplace for fine art, in 2013, which has featured original works by artists including Claude Monet and Norman Rockwell. 

What We Like

Dependable delivery and customer service.


Prime members qualify for free shipping and other perks.


Frequent deals.

What We Don't Like

The mobile website is especially tedious to navigate.


No bidding system for online sellers.

eBay

Originally called Auction web, eBay was founded by Omidyar on Labor Day weekend in 1995, when he listed his laser printer for $1. For a week, there were no takers, then bidders began weighing and driving the price of the battered printer up to $14.83. Immediately, Omidyar knew he was on to something big.

And 25 years later, history has proven Omidyar right. The company has a market capitalization of $29 billion at the end of 2019, and the company’s founder now has a net worth of $13.1 billion. That’s not a bad haul for a startup owner who sold his first product for $14.83.

While bidding is free, the seller was charged an immediate insertion fee and an additional promotions fee to sell products with bold fonts that allowed the item to stand out from competitors. Lastly, a final fee was attached at the close of a transaction, which ranged between 1.25% to 5% of the final sale price, depending on the item sold on eBay.

All eBay had to do to earn its fees was to list the item and notify sellers when their auction price level was met or exceeded. The buyer and seller took matters from there, closing the deal independent of eBay.

What We Like

Find some obscure items for cheap.


Great avenue for getting rid of unwanted stuff.

What We Don't Like

Delivery times depend on the reliability of the seller.


Selling items can be a time consuming process.

Wish

Wish was started by Piotr Szulczewski, a former Google engineer, as a software company called ContextLogic. In September 2010, ContextLogic received $1.7 million in investments and involved Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. In May 2011, Szulczewski invited college friend Danny Zhang to relaunch the company as Wish.

What We Like

Direct shipping from China allows for unbelievably low prices.


Set up custom notifications for certain products and deals.

What We Don't Like

Deliveries don't always arrive promptly.


Has been known to deliver the wrong item.


These are some of the best sites where you can buy online with cheap prices and great products.