December 1, 2008 Web tips: Making a big deal out of Cyber Monday Play video

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - Let's just say it. Cyber Monday is now just a marketing ploy, not a necessity. Once upon a time, people shopped at work because they had dialup at home, and broadband at work. Now they shop at work because, well, they can.

That said, retailers are trying to use the 'Cyber Monday' hype to give a second bit of juice to their sales. And you can certainly find deals out there.

The National Retail Federation says 84% of retailers will offer some kind of Cyber Monday discounts, and they have set up a site at cybermonday.com to help you track them. (Interestingly, the site does operate year-round.)

Another way to find great values on products without going to individual sites is to use one of the dozen or so comparison shopping sites. Kelli Grant of smartmoney.com reviewed nine of the top sites in October, and gave her nod to pricegrabber.com.

But here's the reality. Different comparison sites seem to be good with different products. So yes, you should comparison shop among your comparison shopping sites.

A few other tips from smartmoney.com: *Look for coupons *Find free (or discounted) shipping - Full price shipping is a great way to watch your great deal evaporate *If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be - watch for scams, and look at website

reviews for reliability, especially if you have never heard of a retailer, and are about to give them hundreds of dollars.

Lastly - share the savings. It's great that you are finding great deals, but charities are getting clobbered this year. If you save $100 on a TV - think about giving $50 to charity. You still get a great deal (and a tax deduction), and a local charity gets a much needed helping hand.