Click Smart

By Maryanne Murray Buechner

HOUSE & HOME

Homing in on the right gifts for the house can be tricky. Despite its eponym's legal troubles, MARTHASTEWART.COM is still one of the best places to start. Shop by category: there's gardening, decorating, even "homekeeping" (stylish supplies for laundry and other chores). WILLIAMSSONOMA.COM lures you with attractive cookware, kitchen tools and appliances alongside seasonal recipes. Both sites have a quick-shop feature so you can plug in item numbers from a print catalog to jump to specific products. Price-conscious shoppers should check out OVERSTOCK.COM, a clearance site for excess inventory (bed and bath, appliances, furniture) from brand-name manufacturers. Overstock sells lamps too, but you will find many more options at LIGHTINGUNIVERSE.COM, which organizes its wares by type (table lamps, pendants) and then subdivides by style (Art Deco/Retro, Craftsman/Mission).For gizmos, try TECHNO SCOUT.COM or BROOKSTONE.COM. Too much hardware? Make a softer statement with something from flower merchant CALYXANDCOROLLA.COM. It ships directly from growers, and the plants come in decorative ceramic pots.

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Don't be afraid to use your credit card online. Yes, there's fraud on the Web as well as off. But consumers are rarely left holding the bag (beyond the cardholder's typical $50 maximum liability, and some card issuers don't even charge that). Reputable e-tailers will use a secure server to process transactions, and will make it plain they're doing so. Of course, even secure servers can be hacked; if you think a thief is using your card, run a quick check at CARDCOPS.COM, a database of suspected stolen numbers, compiled in part from merchant reports.

FOR HIM

Inside every man there's a little boy who loves to play. Consider RCWAVE.COM, where we found the iRacer, a teeny remote-controlled car that makes a terrific desk toy for the executive who could use some comic relief. Or GIANTROBOT.COM (from home page, click GR Store), which carries Asian pop-culture kitsch, T shirts, comics, and other random items (Japanese Winney the cow egg toy: $7.50). Need a gift with more gravitas? Get silk ties, merino wool sweaters and other staples at BROOKSBROTHERS.COM. For the outdoorsman, there's REI.COM, which lists products by activity (cycling, cross training, Alpine skiing, fly fishing). And if you can get past the leprechauns and other cheesiness, SHOPIRISH.COM has some charming gifts for golfers. Still stumped? Every guy, whether he admits it or not, couli*Ad use a purse. Choose the perfect leather satchel or a more casual carry-all from the hundreds of options at EBAGS.COM (the hip stuff is under Urban Gear). Just don't use the P word in the card.

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Before you hit the Submit Order button, take note of the shipping charges. Paying $4.95 is fairly standard, but deals abound, particularly during the holidays. SONYSTYLE.COM, for instance, which carries a full line of Sony electronics, charges customers 1-c- per item for regular UPS ground (three to five business days). AMAZON.COM ships free when you spend $25 or more (with some exceptions). Elsewhere, shipping can get pretty steep. If paying CRATEANDBARREL.COM $8.50 to ship a $40 fruit bowl sounds unreasonable to you, check to see if the Crate & Barrel store at your local mall has it in stock.

FOR HER

There are two ways to shop for the woman in your life. You could seek inspiration at a place like UNCOMMONGOODS.COM, which features fun specialty items you won't see anyplace else. Or you could stick with safe bets like LANDSEND.COM, purveyor of can't-miss cashmere scarves and other standards. REDENVELOPE.COM, somewhere in between, always has fresh suggestions and helps nudge shoppers in the right direction by grouping items by personality (click Lifestyle for the site's picks for the decorator, the entertainer, the spa seeker, the traveler). To be really hip, browse GIRLSHOP.COM for clothing and accessories from more than 100 "indie" designers, from Anna Kula's hand-knit caps to Zoe Vice's low-cut cords; there's a guy shop and a tot shop too. If you're in the mood to splurge, ELUXURY.COM features apparel, leather goods, jewelry, crystal and other high-end items from the likes of Dior, DKNY, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. GLOSS.COM, a beauty supersite selling Chanel, Stila and eight other major brands, is easy to navigate and pools all your purchases into a single shopping cart. Amazon.com just introduced a similar portal for apparel, so you can hop from, say, Eddie Bauer to Nordstrom to Guess but check out only once.

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Make sure the price is right. Use BIZRATE.COM's search engine to see which other Web merchants carry the item and for how much. Bizrate also posts online store ratings based on customer feedback. Sometimes it's better to buy from a reliable outfit than to risk purchasing from a small operation with a poor (or nonexistent) track record just to save a few bucks. Other comparison shopping "bots" include PRICEGRABBER.COM, DEALTIME.COM, PRICESCAN.COM and MYSIMON.COM.

KID STUFF

When buying gifts for a child, TOYSRUS.COM is a logical first stop, especially since it joined forces with e-commerce king Amazon.com Shop by age, brand, category or price; check out the new GIFTSRUS.COM service or click over to IMAGINARIUM.COM for more educational items. Seen enough Playmobil people to last a lifetime? MAGICCABIN.COM goes back to basics, with lovely toys, dolls and clothes homemade by a community of Wisconsin craftswomen. ROSIEHIPPO.COM, a mom-and-pop business in Port Townsend, Wash., sells easels and other art supplies, dollhouses, puppets, even kid-size sheepskin hats (click Assorted Treasures). QUINCYSHOP.COM has a huge toys-and-games area; don't miss the Timeless section, with its sock-monkey dolls and little green plastic soldiers (a bag of 50 is $9.95). Determined to buy clothes for the little tikes? A colorful top from HANNAANDERSSON.COM is a winner--but we're not too sure about the matching mother-and-daughter sweaters.

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It's awkward enough when someone wants to return or exchange a gift. Why not let your loved ones off the hook? Hand over return shipping labels, printed receipts and any other information they might need--before they have to ask for it. Some websites (typically those run by big chains like GAP.COM and OLDNAVY.COM) let you return merchandise to any of their bricks-and-mortar locations. If that's the case, be sure to mention it in the card.

ENTERTAINMENT

For books, music, movies and video games, AMAZON.COM always leaps to mind. But there are alternatives. DVDPLANET.COM stocks 3.5 million movies at cut-rate prices (Sexy Beast on DVD, for example, was $2 less than at Amazon). You'll also find the Criterion Collection of films by Fellini, Hitchcock and others. For music, visit DUSTYGROOVE.COM, a site fanatically devoted to soul, funk and jazz with a big Brazilian selection too. Got gamers on your list? EBGAMES.COM neatly organizes its vast inventory by platform (PC, X box, Game Boy, GameCube, PlayStation2) and has hundreds of pre-owned games for older systems like Sega Genesis. For the traditionalist, AREYOUGAME.COM sells all the low-tech classics, including 43 versions of Monopoly. For MP3 players and other electronics, go to BUY.COM, an online-only mall that's easy to search, or BESTBUY.COM, which lets you order online and pick up at the store--great if you can't wait for delivery. RITZCAMERA.COM has something for every shutterbug, while CRUTCHFIELD.COM is great for DVD players and other home-theater equipment. And don't overlook WALMART.COM. It's teeming with DVDs and CDs, and by visiting this mammoth retailer online, you're less likely to get lost in the aisles.

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Do your homework. Without the benefit of the touch-and-feel experience, online shoppers must be that much more diligent about product research. Read what other consumers are saying about their PDAs, golf clubs, toasters and everything else at EPINIONS.COM. For tech items, stick with CNET.COM. There's also plenty of free, thoughtful advice at CONSUMERREVIEW.COM. At CONSUMERREPORTS.ORG, some content is free--including a guide to online shopping, posted under Consumer Advice. Other reports on specific products (DVD players, vacuum cleaners) require a paid subscription ($24 a year or $3.95 a month).

FOOD & DRINK

You can't go wrong with perfect pears from HARRYANDDAVID.COM, but why not try something more exotic? IGOURMET.COM has dozens of gift baskets (Spanish Fiesta, Markets of Provence), even an oyster-of-the-month club. ETHNICGROCER.COM ships gourmet dinner kits; there's French, Greek, Indian and Thai. At COOKING.COM, gift ideas--from fondue pots to waffle irons--are grouped by price range. Click Gifts at DEANANDDELUCA.COM for beautifully presented (if pricey) delicacies, from a $48 set of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the $1,000 "Ultimate" pile of goodies. Have a friend who likes tea the old-fashioned way? TEALUXE.COM has playfully packed samplers, each with a variety of loose-leaf teas plus a stainless-steel-mesh snap ball for easy brewing. For caffeine addicts, STARBUCKS.COM offers gift trays that pack cookies and candy with its house blend and other beans. GODIVA.COM has a special Holiday Collection; look under the Shop Online tab for preselected assortments packed in decorative tins. Or take the gimmicky route: send a digital photo to TRENDYCHOCOLATE.COM, and the company will print it using edible ink on a 14-oz. Belgian bar for $27.

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Shield yourself from spam. Most Web stores will ask you to register with a working e-mail address before you buy. Establish a secondary address at YAHOO.COM, LYCOS.COM or another free Web-based service, so that future sales alerts and other direct-marketing messages won't clog your primary In box.