The rapid growth of Internet has changed our lives radically. We tend to perform our routine tasks while online like socializing, reading, emailing, watching multimedia, and even shopping. The trend for online shopping is on the rise because the online merchants are now offering almost everyday utility to shop online. Imagine what you want to buy and you will get it at your doorstep. I literally mean what you need; it will be available to buy online. This fact is further established by Nielsen’s report about the trends and insights related to online shopping. This report was published in early 2008 and states

• In 2006 approximately 10 percent of the world’s population (627 million) had shopped online and within two years, this number has increased by approximately 40 percent (to 875 million).
• The most popular and purchased items over the Internet are Books (41% purchased in the past three months), Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%), Videos / DVDs / Games (24%), Airline Tickets (24%) and Electronic Equipment (23%).

To use the comfort and flexibility provided by Online Shopping, you must have right tools. So that you can search, compare, select, and buy a product safely with minimum effort. Obviously, you will be using a browser for buying and Mozilla Firefox is the best one to provide a customizable and interactive interface for online shopping. Here, you will find a list of most suitable add-ons that will make your Online Shopping experience more relaxed and protected.

Privacy and Security for Online Shopping:

You are subject to many online threats while surfing internet generally or specifically for shopping. These threats are fraud websites, phishing, cookie exploits and many others. The following add-ons will try their best to keep your buying private and secure.

NoScript

It is a very useful add-on which permits JavaScript, Java, Flash and other executable content to run only from reliable domains of your choice. It provides a safeguard against cross-site scripting attacks (XSS) and Click-Jacking attempts. This defensive approach against security loopholes protects you with no loss of functionality.

WOT

You don’t trust the web then trust “Web of Trust”. It is a nice Firefox add-on that notifies you about unsafe websites. It keeps you secure from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT is customizable so that you can adjust your level of protection.

Trustpilot Guard

Trustpilot Guard makes it easy for you to judge the reliability of an online company you consider purchasing from. It combines all consumer reviews on the internet with media reports and certifications in one easy format to deliver an objective, balanced view of a company to customers. Their database currently contains 1,418,382 reviews.

LastPass Password Manager

LastPass is a free online password manager and Auto Form Filler that makes web browsing easier and more protected.  It captures passwords even from AJAX forms, and allows you to make strong passwords easily. This data is encrypted locally before uploading so even LastPass cannot access your data.

Fire Fox Add-ons for Online Shopping and Auction Websites:

To date, ebay and Amazon are most preferred and utilized websites for Online Shopping. Following Firefox add-ons can be used to grab the Online Shopping services easily provided by these websites.

eBay Sidebar

This add-on always keeps you alert about your eBay trading wherever you are surfing the Internet .when you install the eBay Sidebar for Firefox. You are always securely signed into check progress. Further, you can customize your alerts so you always rule on your bids. It awakes you when an auction style format listing for which you have bid is near to finfish.

myibay Auction bid sniper for eBay

You don’t want to remain engaged in bidding activity conducted through out bid period. myibay Auction bid sniper add-on does the job for you. It uses auction sniping i.e. Placing your bid at last seconds. In this way, you will get the advantages like avoiding bid shilling, maximum bid probing, and spying.

myTimeZone for eBay

It is another nice Firefox add-on for eBay, automatically converts eBay times to your local time zone. It also permits you to sort listings by total price including shipping and performs currency conversion automatically. So, it does all the annoying conversions for you and saves your mental exercise.

Better Amazon

This add-on improves Amazon.com with a compilation of user scripts and styles. It highlights Amazon listings with free shipping, automatically enlarges product images, cleans up book pages, and shortens URLs on Amazon.com.

PriceDrop for Amazon

This add-on lowers your burden while shopping on Amazon. You can find deals to buy at right time. You never miss a deal by follow the items you want to buy. You can check the price history chart and get a notification when the price drops.

FireBux

Obviously, you would like to monitor your expenses, money in bank or credit card to maintain your budget. FireBux add-on will simplify your task.  It automatically downloads transactions from your bank or credit card and helps you in analyzing and visualizing where you spend your money.  It also performs many other fatigue tasks.

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