Watch CBS News

Shopping Online Not Always Cheaper, Survey Finds

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In the battle for holiday shopping dollars, there's a bit of a price war breaking out.

It turns out that buying a gift online may not always be cheaper than going into a store.

Cheapism.com did the research.

"We're an online business and we thought on-line would be much cheaper, and it wasn't," Max Levitte said.

A Cheapism.com survey found that product prices at Amazon.com didn't always beat those at a brick and mortar store like Walmart.

Karen Kallam manages the Walmart Supercenter in Robinson and wasn't surprised that Cheapism.com found that adding up 41 similar inexpensive Christmas gifts, Walmart beat Amazon by $9.13.

For many shoppers, it's not just prices that bring them into the store.

While there's an obvious convenience to going on line at home and buying a particular product, nothing quite beats going into the store itself and touching and feeling and seeing the gift you want to buy.

Levitte says retail stores may have another advantage.

"If you're buying a kid's bike, you can order it at Amazon, but Walmart actually puts it together for you," he said.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Consumer News

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.