Cyber Sites May Be Your Ticket To Finding True Love

With Valentine’s Day only a week away, cyber merchants are jockeying to give Cupid a helping hand.

While the Feb. 14 event can’t match Christmas, Mother’s Day or even Halloween as a catalyst for retail sales, online merchants are nevertheless scrambling for a piece of the action.

For those short of ideas, time or both, the World Wide Web offers a convenient alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar card shops, jewelry stores, candy outlets and florists.

It takes only a few clicks to arrange anything from a bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates to a candlelit dinner or a romantic getaway.

Here’s a sampling of what’s available online for Valentine’s Day:

* Crafty alternative: Romeos on a budget can find lots of options on the Internet.

MyFree.com’s third annual Valentine’s Day Free Stuff site features free or postage-only offers for people who want to fabricate their own special creations. There are offers for cards, hearts, gift tags, personalized gifts, pins and kids.

http://www.myfree.com/kidheart2000.html

* Excite-ment builds: A virtual photo album may take up a little space on your hard drive, but won’t add to the clutter around the house.

Excite Photo Center allows Netizens to create a personalized album without charge.

http://www.photocenter.excite.com

* Broken hearts: If you don’t have a Valentine to share the occasion with, several online dating and “relationship” sites can help change that by next year.

Here’s one:

http://www.people2people.com