ShareThisI'm a big believer in the old "give a man a fish, you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime" adage. As such, I'm changing things up a bit. Instead of looking at trends, bargain buys or OMG gift and product ideas, I've got some amazing tips on tools you should explore for yourself to learn how to customize your Web shopping experience.Chitchat? Live Chat!: It's like having a sales associate right there as you make your online purchases, except you get to IM whatever questions you may have. So instead of wondering, "Should I get this size, or that?," you get the instant gratification on an expert's help. Lands' End, Nordstrom and Steve Madden are just three examples.Give it the old college try: Dressing rooms can be terrifying, which says nothing of the potential horror of "experimenting" with a new haircut. But wait. Create your own virtual model and see how clothes will look on your body (mvm.com lets your model roam in and out of multiple virtual stores). And, if you're hankering for a new 'do, try Beauty.org, where you upload a picture of yourself and try on different haircuts and colors. Believe me, it's a lot easier to say, "I guess I don't look so great with shorn blond locks," when it can be fixed with the click of a mouse.Off the rack is off the hook: Customized products aren't just for royalty and other members of the upper crust anymore. Retailers like Converse, L.L. Bean and inmod.com allow you to create your very own shoes, tote bags and sheets, respectively. It's very easy to do and you're just about guaranteed to love the product, down to the last self-designed detail.The human touch: If you're one of those traditionalists who just don't think there's a substitute for actual face time, then using a personal shopper is probably for you. Places like J.Crew, Bloomingdale's and Macy's offer assistance the likes of which most of us have never seen. The shoppers can help you break out of a style rut, offer up a unique perspective and pre-shop the store for you in some instances. And it's free.Last but by no means least are sites offering up virtual assistants. For most, you pay a flat fee (around $30) and you can get yourself a bona fide telecommuting assistant to do everything from booking your travel to sending your mother-in-law flowers. AskSunday.com, Redbutler.com and Taskseveryday.com are three examples.Enjoy your new arsenal of online tools and enjoy the perks of getting ... personal.(Helen Malani is the chief shopping expert for Shopzilla.com, an E.W. Scripps company and the largest comparison-shopping search engine on the Web. E-mail askhelen(at)shopzilla.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Shopping on the Web gets personal
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
