Most Americans are pre programmed to question the validity of what might otherwise seem to be a great deal, and with good reason. Nothing is wrong with that, because everywhere you hear people proffering advice to consumers - do your research, read the fine print, think everything over before making a decision about buying something.

There is no such thing as a "one size fits all" online shopping solution for everybody. The three most important things you want to look for before you make your purchases online are, a money back guarantee, a security certificate, and a good listing with the Better Business Bureau.

Online shopping is most advantageous because of the low prices involved. The difference between buying online and a retail store is the cost to get that product in front of the consumer, including shipping, advertising and storage which in the end comes out of your pocket.

The advertising costs for online products are inexpensive compared to advertising for items bought at retail outlets. There are no employees needed to stock the shelves, and no stores to pay taxes or utilities on, resulting in less out of pocket expense for you on the same product.

More often than not, we always make it a point to inspect a product before we buy it. We do not have this privilege on the Internet. Which is the reason why there are a lot of large companies who offer products for free that come with a service agreement. You'll never see this in a retail store short of buy one get one.

And did we even mention convenience yet? No, we didn't, and that simply means the absence of barbaric crowds, queuing at the gas station to fill 'er up, no checkout lanes at the store, yada yada yada. Online shopping makes it possible for anybody to send gifts to anyone around the country or around the world for that matter, without having to deal with the hassles of crowds and so-called "express lanes" that are anything but express!

Promotional offers online are endless. In fact, you can call them ubiquitous as we often tend to neglect them. In Spanish, it's the Manana habit, or "tomorrow habit", quite literally put. Don't kid yourself my friend, the market changes daily and so do the offers. No time for que sera, sera.

Sure, there will always be promotional offers online, but this doesn't mean it will be one that is going to best suite your needs. If you find an offer that fits the bill, my advice to you is take it. Do it! It's what you were looking for right? Shop away, my friend!