they have become a common sight in the streets and bylanes of patna men with motorcycles loaded with huge black bags with the logos that scream the names of the countrys most famous eshopping sites internet shopping has caught on in patna not like wildfire but the flame has begun burning brightly my neighbour is a passionate onsite buyer says dinesh patel who works with a social organization in pataliputra colony theres a courier with a package knocking at his door at least three times a week when hes not home i usually receive the packages he buys books boots computer gadgets bedsheets and even underwear from shopping sites one such avid eshopper swears if you look hard enough theres always a site that will have the product you want you know that angloindians and people from goa are fond of seafood theres a particularly smelly but delicious item known as bombay duck which is usually dried and salted this dried fish is available in the village haats of ranchi but you can never get it in patna one day while searching through the net i discovered i could order bombay duck online sure enough i received a kg of it through courier and believe me it was a piece of heaven that my family hadnt savoured for ages ejya yadav who teaches at patna womens college reflects upon the effect such shopping sites have on children who often pester their parents to order merchandise or sometimes go online and order things cod schoolchildren are easily attracted but in my experience the stuff on sale is overpriced my son insisted on a schoolbag from one of the sites later on i bought my daughter a much better bag from the mall at a lesser price anyway eshopping cannot beat the thrill of touching and looking at the item and even doing a bit of bargaining she says bosh says suresh lamba budding computer wizard and avid eshopper you gotta learn how to navigate compare prices between sites sometimes the same product will be cheaper on ebay than on amazon at other times a book may be better priced at landmark than on flipcart then theres the linkup with loyalty sites like payback that is the icing on the cake the smart shopper will click on the payback site and through that go to the shopping site so whatever you buy earns payback points then pay through internet banking that earns more payback points after some time these loyalty points add up considerably and you can cash them in for cool free products this diwali through smart shopping techniques i bought led bulbs at half the price than the patna market but alls not well several people such as doris vijay from kurji have had issues with shopping sites advertised on tv a smartphone she bought stopped working a day after she bought it and she discovered that every time she tried to dial a complaint all she got was