But give yourself some credit. You have the common sense it takes to survive the WWW. It is the same commonsense that helps you make the most of your money on your standard shopping trips. Become familiar and comfortable with an online vendor before jumping into a purchase. Ask questions and do a bit of research.

After doing your research, you?ll feel more confident in searching for your online booty. To refine your findings and whittle your list to only the exceptional sites, look for these additional qualities:

• A focus on local shopping, so you can feel more confident buying from neighbors.
  

• Free education and advice on safe purchasing.
  

• No-cost and easy browsing through available merchandise.
  

• Search tools that let you prioritize items by category, location, and distance.
  

• A straightforward pricing system that avoids the haggling and risk of auction bidding.
  

• Quick price comparisons among different vendors.
  

Unbelievably, a few trustworthy, practical, and exciting Web sites exist that have all of these features. To find these websites, simply browse through Yahoo?s directory under the classifieds category. The best of the online classified sites offer these services free to buyers such as you. Some of these sites can link you at no charge to your neighbor selling the antique lamp that you?ve been hunting for or that retiree looking to unload an incredible piece of real estate?or the cowboy looking to sell his big-screen television.

Copyright 2004 Donald Lee

Donald Lee is a public relations manager at BSCCOM Inc. BSCCOM Inc. provides free online advertisement services for Canadian and U.S. regions. For more information please visit: http://www.buysellcommunity.com.