It pays to shop around and that principle applies equally to the web as it does to traditional shopping. I’ve had a couple of good online purchasing experiences in the past fortnight.

The first bargain was picking up a Sony Ericsson K800i 3G mobile phone for $518 including postage from Are-Jays. The same phone was over $700 in the Telstra Shop and sells for $649 elsewhere.

The phone came with a 64MB M2 micro memory card. Considering it has a 3.2 megapixel camera that wouldn’t store many photos, so I looked around for a bigger card.

I was pleased to find a 2GB SanDisk card from Cheap Chips for $108 including postage. I was even more surprised when the card arrived by Express Post two days later.

I thought it must have come from Perth, instead of the east coast as I expected, but it was actually mailed from Norseman, about halfway between Kalgoorlie and Esperance.

It turns out there’s a sophisticated online business being run from that small, isolated town. I  had a story written about it for the paper this week.

I have seen a cheaper version of the card online since then, but the Norseman price is still competitive and cheaper than many other outlets.

The risk of buying online has diminished in recent years, I believe. It pays though to know the business you are purchasing from has a physical address and an Australian Business Number (ABN). I would be hesitant to buy from overseas.