Why Use Coco?

Every day we're all bombarded with commercial messages. Marketers just want your money; Coco is a completely pro-consumer tool that, like the police, is intended to serve and protect the public rather than to get you to buy anything. Here's why consumers everywhere love it:

1. It saves you money by comparing prices from many shopping sites.
2. It also helps save money by listing alternatives to buying it new (such as borrowing, renting or buying pre-owned.)
3. It helps you search many different consumer-friendly sites so you can get accurate information. You'll avoid shoddy products and rip-offs.
4. You can use it to search locally for products or businesses in your area and see maps that will help you get there fast.
5. You can quickly check weather and traffic, and get driving directions or even have the computer plan your bus routes.
6. It's really easy to use: you can hover your mouse arrow over any link in Coco, and helpful text will appear to explain what the link is good for.

To use it, you only need a recent version of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or Firefox.  It's been extensively tested on IE 7 and Firefox 3, and it will work nearly as well on IE 5 or Firefox 2. If you have an older browser, download an updated FireFox or Internet Explorer browser.

How To Get The "Real Scoop":

The section labeled Get The Real Scoop helps you search 36 popular sites. These sites are the most consumer-friendly sites we could find on the Internet. And imagine the time you'll save by doing your searches from one page, instead of having to visit many different sites.

If you type something into the search box and click the Search Button, you'll get search results from Google. If instead you click any "Site Link" below the box (e.g. the Yahoo! link), you'll get search results from that site.  If there is nothing in the search box, clicking the Site Link will take you to the home page of that site.

Clicking any Search All button will search the three or four listed sites all at once.  You may need to set your popup blocker to allow popups for this site (we don't do commercial popups at all:  it's just that popup blockers aren't smart enough to tell the difference.) Here's what these three box-shaped buttons mean:

Show Site Links for 3-4 sites
Show Site Links for 6-8 sites
Show Site Links for 12-16 sites

Try clicking on each of the three icons in Coco to see all the Site Links you can search.

Comparing Prices:

You can save a lot of money by using these sites:

• Shopping Agents. Froogle, PriceGrabber and MySimon are three shopping agents that will compare prices for you.
  
  
• Coupon Sites. FatWallet, DealCatcher and HotCoupons list money-saving coupons. To save the most money, use these in addition to the shopping agents.  Use HotCoupons to search for coupons you can use in local stores: Just enter your zip code in the Search Box. FatWallet has a nice added benefit -- it pays you rebates when you shop at scores of popular sites such as Amazon.com.
  
  
• Online Discount Stores. Amazon.com, Buy.com and Target.com are three online stores that usually have low prices.
  
  
• Private Sellers. EBay, CraigsList and your Local Newspaper are three good places to look for really cheap offers from private parties, sometimes including new products at very low prices.

Eleven $$$-Saving Tricks:

Any advertisement will only tell you to buy, buy, buy. Marketers are always trying to come up with new titillating ads, mostly intended to part you from your hard-earned money. They'll never remind you of your excellent money-saving options. Because Coco is on your side, you'll always have a defense against crafty ads:  You'll never forget to consider all your options! These eleven money-saving tricks are shown below, exactly as they appear on Coco. Now try hovering your mouse arrow over any of them:

Help Eleven $$$-Saving Tricks

5 Questions Before Buying:   Can I borrow it or trade for it?   Is it too high in continuing costs?   What about less costly activities?   Can I wait-list it and "sleep on it?"   Is it wiser to save for retirement,     emergencies, or rough times? 6 Money-Saving Options:   Rent or virtual rent, i.e. from eBay   Split costs & share with friend(s)   Buy it pre-owned or discount   Use a shopping agent website   Buy with a cash-back credit card   Use money-saving coupon sites

After The Purchase:

You can track any package from UPS, Federal Express or the Post Office by typing its "tracking number" into the search box at the top of the Coco page and then clicking the Site Link. Under the heading After Receiving It are listed a few reminders that could be to your advantage. You might also want to help other consumers by writing an online review of the product.

Local And National Weather:

There are links to get a quick local 4-day Forecast, display Current weather conditions, get a Radar/Satellite map to check rain and cloud cover, get a 10-Day Forecast or see a forecast for the Next 8 Hours. For best results, first enter your home city and zip code.

You can also get a national forecast, or click Hazard Alerts to get a national map of hazardous conditions such as hurricanes, tornadoes or wildfires.

Find Something:

On Google Maps and in the Yellow Pages, you can search for any product or business: Some common examples are "pizza", "pizza hut" or "dentist". You can search for any person in the White Pages. Just fill out the address in the boxes under the "From:" heading, which usually is your home address.

Maps and Traffic:

When you fill in the boxes under the headings "From:" and "To:", you can click the Get Directions button to get turn-by-turn directions to your destination. If you'd like directions plus a traffic report, click the +Traffic button.

When you click the Remember 'From:' or Remember 'To:' buttons, the address will be saved so you won't have to re-enter it again.

Thanks to your wise decision to use Coco, you can look forward to a consumer experience with more accurate information, lower prices and ultimately a happier lifestyle!