How Good is ShopAmex.com?
by Mr Credit CardThough I have been an American Express cardholder for 10 years, I have never used their shopamex.com feature. So I guess it is about time to find out if it is any good.
To test shopamex.com, I’ve decided to use the latest Apple iPod 80GB White model as a test case. Shopamex.com claims to be a shopping comparison site much like pricegrabber.com. In addition to that, you can use your American Express Membership Reward points for purchases made from shopamex.com. Below are my observations after surfing through both shopamex.com and pricegrabber.com.
Observations
On their price comparison page, shopamex.com listed 5 online retailers who carried the latest Apple iPod 80GB White model. The Apple Store was included in one of the five online etailers. The lowest price came from abt.com at $338.00. However, abt.com will charge a sales tax and though there was a enter your zip code beside the merchant, it was not active.
Another observation I made was that shopamex said that the Apple online store did not charge any taxes. Having purchase directly from Apple.com, I know for a fact that they charge a sales tax.
If you decide to use your Membership Reward points instead, you will need qanywhere from 67,600 to 69,998 points. This is way higher than what the Citi ThankYou Redemption Network program requires (around 39,000 points - see our Video review of which credit card reward program has the latest Apple iPod 80Gb Model?).
How does pricegrabber.com compare?
In a nutshell, pricegrabber blows away the shopamex.com. Pricegrabber.com pulled out 27 online etailers who carried the latest Apple iPod. All you have to do is to key in your zip code and it automatically calculates the taxes you have to pay. It also tells you whether there is free shipping. Pricegrabber.com also tells you where to get the lowest price. In this case (at this moment), it is from saveateagle.com at $324.95.
Conclusion
At this moment, shopamex.com is nowhere near the sphistication of an online shopping comparison site like pricegrabber.com. If you want to shop for something (not just Apple products), a place like pricegrabber.com is still a very good starting point.
The number of Membership Reward points you need to exchange for the iPod appears exhorbitant when compared to other credit card reward programs.
At this point, I would not be using shopamex.com. I still love my Blue Cash and Amex Gold Card, but I will not use them at shopamex.com.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Beware! Sometimes the item you choose on shopamex and the item you get from the merchant are not the same. I got an item that does not exactly fit the description and I’m trying to replace it without paying high shipping costs.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I agree that ShopAmex is not as good as pricegrabber.com, or other comparison shopping sites where you can use your credit card. I never use my credit card to buy on shopAmex.
However, if you want to pay with points nothing beats ShopAmex. Lots of credit card companies let you redeem for a limited number of items, but if you don’t want one of the couple of dozen items they have in their catalog you are out of luck. ShopAmex has millions of products to choose from, so I always find just what I am looking for. The items can be a little pricey in terms of points, but I am willing to pay more so I can choose what I want, and not get stuck with something the credit card companies think I should have.
Anyway, what am I going to do with the points anyway. Have you tried to redeem them for an airline ticket lately. As long as you want to go to Anchorage in January and Phoenix in July you can get a ticket, but try going somewhere popular in season and you can’t get a ticket, or have to pay twice as many points.
July 9th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
I’ve tried to redeem points for over a week now. Can get to the Shopamex site, but wehn I try to check out, I get a message that their system is not responding. Tried calling and they say I have to order from their web site. They say their system is working when they log onto it and try to go to checkout. They were supposed to get someone in IT dept to call me, but noone ever did. A totally frustrating experience with American Express trying to redeem points! Two different organizations who do not seem to work very well together. They need to rethink their association and look at it from the customer’s perspective.