Students Find Big Bargains On The Web
More college students are using the World Wide Web as an online bazaar for purchasing back-to-school merchandise.
A survey by The NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y., market research firm, found that more than a quarter of college students plan to buy back-to-school items online. Internet purchases will comprise about 13 percent of their total purchases, according to the study.
Of the 28 percent of college students who said they’d make purchases over the Internet — for such things as textbooks, clothing and computer hardware — more than half said they expect to spend more online this year than they did in 1999, the study found.
Among college students buying back-to-school items online, 38 percent plan to order textbooks, 39 percent plan to buy clothing and 27 percent said they’d use the Internet to buy general school supplies.
“Our study has shown textbooks to be almost as prevalently purchased online as apparel,” said Carol Neithercut, vice president of NPD New Media Services.
Results of the study are based on responses from 2,578 college students polled during August.
Students and non-students alike may enjoy any or all of the following Web sites:
* Alphabet soup: Acronyms have become the shorthand of electronic messaging, but novices may have trouble deciphering e-mail peppered with such abbreviations as KWIM (know what I mean?).
A Web service called Acronym Finder can help you decode such terms. The service claims to have the largest database of acronyms in the world. It provides definitions for acronyms, abbreviations and something called “initialisms” on subjects ranging from information technology, telecommunications, military and government, as well as other topics.
http://www.acronymfinder.com
* Jousting with IRS: If you’re looking for help in a clash with the taxman, you can now turn to an unlikely source: the IRS itself.
The agency has carved out a new section on its Web site where information about taxpayer rights is posted. The new “Taxpayer Rights Corner,” found in the “Tax Info for You” section, pulls together information previously scattered throughout the agency’s unwieldy Web site.
Here you’ll find information about basic taxpayer rights, quick links to understanding IRS notices, connections to publications detailing step-by-step IRS processes and how to contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service, among others.
http://www.irs.gov/ind—info/txpyr—rights/index.html
This sidebar appeared with the story:
www.you, compiled by Bill Sallquist, is a feature of the Monday Business page covering the Internet.