To help narrow down the possibilities, the site offers a section that personalizes suggestions based on individual criteria. One thing to keep in mind is what financial relationships, if any, a site has with merchants. The company says those commercial relationships don't influence its picks. Consumer Reports Online is supported by subscriptions and has no commercial relationships to merchants. Most of the sites allow recipients to sign up for items only from partner merchants.
Gift givers can check the lists for ideas and buy with a few mouse clicks.
Called a shopping bot, it's a software tool that digs through data, bringing back answers to directions you've given. When using bot-driven services, it helps to know detailed information about the product you're looking for, such as the manufacturer and model number. Most bots search for the best prices on the Web, presenting you with a table showing the item, online retailer, price and, sometimes, shipping cost and availability. This year, some have a new feature that will send an e-mail or message to your pager or desktop to alert you when the price of an item drops to a certain point. MySimon allows users to search about 2,000 merchants, along with auction and classified listings.