The mad rush has begun in my house.
With the first day of school less than two weeks away, I find myself with lots to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Part of it is my fault for sure. I could have started my back-to-school shopping weeks ago, and instead chose not to. But I also blame our school district. While a list of general school supplies has been available for a while now, we only found out who our children's teachers are earlier in the week. And with the classroom assignments come a whole new list of specific supplies that the teacher wants.
So off to the stores I trudge, not willing to pay online merchants for expedited shipping. I comparison shop as best I can, but honestly, at this late date, it's more about finding what we need, rather than finding what we need at the best price.
And then I learned about Milo.com, a service that compares prices on products that are on the shelves in local stores. Type in your zip code, what you are looking for and viola! -- you are given an organized list of what is available, where and for how much.
You can be broad or specific -- I typed in "backpack" and got a price range of $6.99 all the way up to $99 at stores that were anywhere from five to seventy miles away from my home. "Elmo Backpack" with a condition that it had to be within 15 miles of my zip code turned up three products, all under $19.
Click "Buy Now" and Milo.com directs you to the store site where you have the option to buy the product online and pick it up from the store. Right now the site culls information from 50,000 stores and 2.8 million locally available products, with more being added all the time.
More Thrifty Thursday from the About.com Parenting and Family Channel:
- 30% Off at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy
- Winning Blog Giveaways
- Scholarships for Single Parents and Low-Income Families
- Saving Money While Packing for Labor
Where are you on your back-to-school shopping?
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I just tried this site for an electronic item that my granddaughter wants for her birthday. I found that the stores in my area all have it for exactly the same price. I won’t save money on this particular item by using Milo.com, but I will have the peace of mind of knowing that I didn’t pay too much without the pain of driving from place to place to see.
Hi Susan – I’m the brand manager for http://milo.com and I’m so happy that you had a good experience with the site. And, while it’s true that sometimes items will be similarly priced across stores, I always think it helps to know that in advance so you don’t have buyers remorse. Thanks again for using Milo!