Where the deals are

Writing the Cyber Monday retail story and perusing all the Web sites with enticing deals and the kind of bargains I haven’t seen outside of a store closing sale definitely got my competitive side all geared up.

I have to admit I’m pumped to try my hand at finding the absolute best deals out there and see how little I can spend this year while the recipients of my gifts hopefully remain clueless about my bottom line.

So far, the best deal I’ve heard about — although it’s not for the faint of heart — is on eBay: every day until Dec. 8, the online auction site will be selling two select items at a limited quantity for $1 each and one “ultimate item” also for $1. Yesterday’s limited items (50 each) were a Juicy Couture dreamer handbag and a Nintendo Wii system and the ultimate item was a 2009 Chevy Corvette coupe.

The search for these items isn’t as simple as entering “Chevy corvette” into the site’s search bar. They are hidden in random spots on eBay’s Web pages and require persistence, patience — and who knows how much time scanning through the site’s nooks and crannies — to find.

According to Jim Griffith, who has been a marketplace expert for eBay since the company’s second year in 1996, eBay is “subsidizing” the market cost of the $1 prizes so the retailer or manufacturer isn’t taking a financial hit. The Web site is paid back, in a sense, by the number of site hits and time spent by visitors online — statistics that are appealing to advertisers. eBay also hopes the promotion will encourage searchers to do a little shopping as long as they’re perusing the site.

“We get people searching the site like crazy and a number of things can happen,” said Griffith. “If you’re new to site, having this incentive to go through the site gives you a familiarity with everyday shopping. And for our regular customers, this is something to reward them.”

Griffith said so far all of the ultimate items — today’s is a men’s Brooks Brothers charcoal wool suit — have been found.

Is this promotion attractive to some of you shoppers out there or have you found other deals online that you can’t get in stores? In the search for the best deal, where are you doing most of your holiday shopping this year?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer