In a time when shoppers are making more and more purchases online, it's important to know that you're getting what you pay for (and what the sample photo shows). It's difficult to get a real sense of the companies, products, and service you'll receive without being able to experience it firsthand. Lucky for us Epinions.com is out to make online shopping easier, less stressful, and problem free.

Epinions (a division of Shopping.com Inc.) mission is to help people make well-informed buying decisions by using tools like customer reviews, unbiased advice, thorough product evaluations, and personal recommendations. By putting consumers in control Epinions is gaining a solid reputation for trustworthy information on everything from tires to baby cribs. The fact that anyone can find honest information (good or bad) only helps Epinions database of info grow, and with millions of user reviews it doesn't look like their spurt is slowing. Epinions developed their Personalized Recommendations tool after they realized that people almost always seek advice before making major purchases. You might call your mom, your best friend, or the administrative assistant at your office to help you figure out what and where you're going to buy. So why not have the same options online? Through their proprietary Web of Trust technology, you can sort through content to find reliable (and more importantly useful) information prior to making your next purchase. You can also choose to receive emails when new reviews are published about products you're interested in. Within the 30 different categories Epinions features, you can find buying guides, product definitions, and how-to guides in addition to more basic product reviews. They also offer pricing and availability options on different merchants that can help make better use of your online buying time. And because Epinions doesn't accept bribes from manufacturers or distributors, you know the advice you're getting is accurate.

People love Epinions because it empowers them to make good decisions with honest merchants - a practice that's mutually beneficial for buyers and sellers. It helps consumers who are constantly looking for more products, better services, and lower prices get all of the info they need in a fraction of the time it would take them to search out the same information individually. Now that's time well spent.