Web offers wonderful world of consumer tips

Dear CartShark Readers: I’d like to think the Inland Northwest is home to some of the savviest online consumers anywhere. Which makes this, my final CartShark column, that much easier to write.

Although I’ve enjoyed sharing shopping tips about coupon codes and misguided attempts at Internet product promotion, the newspaper is perhaps not the most efficient delivery vehicle for such fodder.

CartShark was a short-lived endeavor, but over the past few months I amassed a body of online tips, shopping sites and other material held in reserve for future columns. Here, in no particular order, are a handful of sites I had hoped to explore in more detail. Then again, there’s a lot to be said for brevity, so here goes:

• Consumerist.com - I could have saved us all a lot of time by referring readers directly to this site, rather than stringing you all along with my protracted rambling. A consumer advocacy site that deals with shopping both on- and off-line, Consumerist is a place for the little guy to vent about feeling ripped-off. Readers share shopping woes, service complaints, and general consumer news. Best of all, the site lists personal contact information for the heads of major U.S. corporations.

• Exboyfriendjewelry.com - Wondering what to do with the bling after a bad break-up? Looking for an alternative to the eBay or Craigslist route? At Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry you can auction off that engagement ring while sharing your tale of heartbreak. Although a handful of such sites exist, including idonowidon’t.com, I like Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry as much for the sordid tales of cheating lovers as for the deals on second-hand rocks.

• Mylastemail.com - Your Internet legacy, preserved for all time, comprised of one or more electronic messages delivered in a final memorial blast to those special people in your life. Hopefully, the e-mail accounts of your friends and loved-ones won’t expire before you do.

• Buymytronics.com - A relatively new startup, BuyMyTronics.com seeks an equitable and environmentally friendly solution to disposing of broken or outdated electronic gadgets. Cell phones, computers, radios, electric can-openers - this site buys used and broken devices, repairing those that are fixable and selling them for a profit while recycling the rest.

• Knickerpicker.com - No, you perverts, it’s not porn, although the site probably generates a fair amount of traffic from lonely Web crawlers. A clever tool for online shoppers, this U.K.-based site lets you try outfits on real models (they range in size and body-type) before purchasing. Added bonus: deciphering the blurred tattoos sported by one or two of the models.