Easy Comparison Shopping
The Price Comparator was created out of the need to save money when purchasing various items, specifically for new computer parts. After creating a basic layout and more features, I saw a more versatile usage for the program.
Adjustable Total Shipping - Amazon.com and other businesses promote a feature that if you spend so much money, you get free or discounted shipping. To factor this money-saving feature in the program, a Manual Adjustment box was added. In addition to entering a negative number to decrease or deduct shipping charges, the subtotals for the shipping and item cost are calculated as well. If the item cost before shipping is at or above a certain amount, you can manually select the shipping charges, delete them, and the total cost for all items for that vendor are factored in. This can result in lower total prices for one vendor among other vendors in the sheet.
Cell Highlights - Using conditional formatting, the item with the lowest cost among vendors gets highlighted in green and also gets calculated to the bottom totals. If two or more vendors have the same price, those prices are highlighted in yellow to signify a match and do not carry down to the bottom totals. This feature exists so that you have a choice as to which of those vendors to choose from. If the yellow-highlighted items are the lowest among other vendors, you can slightly adjust one of the prices to a penny less to make the cell green and signify it as the lowest cost among vendors.
Various Uses - Comparison shopping is common among houses, parts, cars, and more. Why not groceries? If you have a store coupon, (not a manufacturer's coupon - which can be used at any store), you can simply type in a negative amount in the shipping column for that item, and the total cost for the item is adjusted accordingly. If you have a store coupon which can be used among all products from that store, (ex. "Save $10 off of your total order"), that can be entered in the Manual Adjustment box at the bottom, shaving more money off of your total order.
Adjustable Total Shipping - Amazon.com and other businesses promote a feature that if you spend so much money, you get free or discounted shipping. To factor this money-saving feature in the program, a Manual Adjustment box was added. In addition to entering a negative number to decrease or deduct shipping charges, the subtotals for the shipping and item cost are calculated as well. If the item cost before shipping is at or above a certain amount, you can manually select the shipping charges, delete them, and the total cost for all items for that vendor are factored in. This can result in lower total prices for one vendor among other vendors in the sheet.
Cell Highlights - Using conditional formatting, the item with the lowest cost among vendors gets highlighted in green and also gets calculated to the bottom totals. If two or more vendors have the same price, those prices are highlighted in yellow to signify a match and do not carry down to the bottom totals. This feature exists so that you have a choice as to which of those vendors to choose from. If the yellow-highlighted items are the lowest among other vendors, you can slightly adjust one of the prices to a penny less to make the cell green and signify it as the lowest cost among vendors.
Various Uses - Comparison shopping is common among houses, parts, cars, and more. Why not groceries? If you have a store coupon, (not a manufacturer's coupon - which can be used at any store), you can simply type in a negative amount in the shipping column for that item, and the total cost for the item is adjusted accordingly. If you have a store coupon which can be used among all products from that store, (ex. "Save $10 off of your total order"), that can be entered in the Manual Adjustment box at the bottom, shaving more money off of your total order.