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