COMMENT
Rip-Off Online Shopping!

Where do you intend to do the majority of your Christmas shopping? For many of us, the Internet is the first choice. Not only can we benefit from the convenience of being able to browse from an armchair and have the items delivered to our door, we can usually save a few pounds too, as Internet retailers pass on some of the savings they make from their reduced overheads.

Unfortunately, it seems that not all retailers are happy with this situation. It's recently been reported that electrical manufacturer Sony has been doing quite the opposite in fact, by charging its web retailers up to 15% more for its wholesale products as compared to its High Street retailers. What's more, other major manufacturers are believed to be considering the same move.

So what has prompted this move from Sony? Well, it appears that the electrical giant is not very happy that Internet firms have been undercutting High Street stores, which in turn have suffered huge losses in sales over the past five years. In a bid to bolster its stores, Sony has introduced this so-called "dual pricing" - charging its online retailers and High Street stores different prices. Sony puts this down to its discounting system, where a common basic selling price is offered to all retailers, but higher discounts are given to retailers with staff that can demonstrate the products. High Street stores are the clear winners, and benefit from cheaper wholesale prices that they can pass on to customers.

Unfortunately, it's the small online retailers that are likely to suffer most, and there are concerns that some could even be put out of business. As a result, the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has lodged a complaint to both the Office of Fair Trading and the European Commission.

It could certainly create an annoying situation for us, the consumers. High Street shops have their place and many of us are happy to pay a premium to buy from them, knowing that we're essentially covering the cost of their sales advice and demonstration time.

However, an increasing number of us now prefer to do our own research and buy online. In return for not having the benefit of a sales person to advise us, we typically enjoy a discount. And as electrical items can be up to 15% cheaper online, many of us ignore the High Street altogether when looking to make a purchase. It would therefore be quite annoying to find that the item you'd assumed was a bargain to be cheaper on the High Street after all.

If you're thinking of purchasing an electrical item, make sure you check out all of your options:

• Firstly, decide upon the item you're interested in and note down its model number.
• Check out both the High Street stores and online retailers to find out its price.
• You can use a price comparison website such as Kelkoo or Pricerunner to find the cheapest online retailer
• Don't simply assume the online price will be cheaper - compare and decide where you would prefer to make your purchase. Don't forget to take delivery costs and lead times into consideration.
• Finally, if you can afford to wait it may just be worth your while hanging on for a few weeks to see if your item gets reduced in the sales!

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