Tis’ the season of giving and you can do it in a double dose over the holidays. Everyone knows that the economy is bad and donations to non-profits/charities are way down.  The good news is, the next time you’re shopping online for that special someone, you can get a great deal for you, a great gift for them and simultaneously have a percentage of your purchase donated to your favorite charity. Sound like a lot of work…well, www.goodshop.com makes it very easy.

There is a growing and innovative trend where online shoppers are receiving discounts at their favorite stores and simultaneously helping their favorite charities…and what makes this concept so compelling is that it doesn’t cost you anything. It’s a form of philanthropy that works for everyone during difficult times where giving is harder than it was before.

GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each purchase from more than 1,400 stores (such as Target, Apple, Best Buy, Macy’s, Gap, Petco and Amazon) to the charity of your choice. It also provides hundreds of coupons and deals so you can even save money!

Gee Larry…is it hard to use? Heck no!  Just go to www.goodshop.com and start searching and buying. Multiple search strategies are available. You can search by store (e.g., just type in Nordstrom or Target or your favorite store name)…once you type in your search criteria, you will see the store name and the amount they will contribute from the purchase…you can even search by nonprofit to make sure that you can designate them on your favorite store or favorite charity.

In addition, the site provides categories of merchandise (e.g., shoes, clothing, cars) and listings of the most popular stores and the amount they will contribute.

The best part of the site may be the list of coupons that are being offered by the store you are searching…so if Target is your favorite store, you will be presented with a list of Target coupons/deals…so you get everything in one place…a good deal…online…with a contribution to your favorite charity…very cool!

How many nonprofits have benefited? More than 85,000 nonprofits have partnered with www.goodshop.com to enable their supporters to generate funds simply by shopping online and searching the Internet.

I love this idea/concept. Try it out and you will too. Happy holidays and happy shopping!

Your local police department probably doesn’t come to mind when you’re thinking about where to do your holiday shopping this year. But, if you’re looking for a good deal, they should. Over 1,500 hundred police departments and other law enforcement agencies from around the country have turned to the internet to auction off stolen property that has been recovered.

Millions of property thefts are reported each year and much of this property is returned as part of the criminal investigation. When law enforcement cannot find the rightful owner, then they are required to auction off the property. This is where www.propertyroom.com comes in.

How about a BMW 5 series for around $3,000? Sound tempting? Then you need to check out www.propertyroom.com. Thousands of items are being auctioned off every minute of every day. Many categories of property are listed….from apparel, automotive, electronics, jewelry, tools to jewelry.

When browsing the site, my recommendation is that you open two windows in your browser, one with www.propertyroom.com and the other with www.shopzilla.com (or another similar site). Then all you need to do is look for items on shopzilla that you find on propertyroom. This will tell you if you have indeed found a real bargain. For example, with little effort, I found a watch being auctioned for $26 dollars that retails for $400. Not a bad for 3 minutes work.

Keep in mind that you must register to bid on an auction item and you must also provide a valid credit card. If you win the auction, your card is automatically charged and the item is yours.

If you have been the victim of theft, then www.propertyroom.com can help you too. They are working on a new program called “Steal It Back.” This program is free. Simply register the serial numbers for items that you own and if this property is ever stolen and listed on propertyroom.com, your possessions will be returned to you. The site lists several success stories of people that have gotten stolen property back by registering on the site.

Happy shopping!

Original Post Date – 12/12/2008