Yahoo! Puts on a Big Sale

By Gretchen Hyman

A shoppers dream. Well, at least an Internet shopper’s dream. Yahoo!’s latest attention grabber is the biggest sale in Internet history, or so it’s being called, which entails the amassment of a large number of retail sales and promotional offers all at one Yahoo! destination.

For three shopping-packed days, Yahoo! is featuring thousands of discounted products from name brands, specialty stores, and travel suppliers, in addition to Yahoo!’s own discounted services on in-house services.

For example, Yahoo! is offering a 50 percent discount on 25 MB of email storage at Yahoo! Mail. or, a Yahoo! domain name can be snatched up for 50 percent less off a year lease.

Yahoo! Personals is offering a 14-day free trial, and the Yahoo! Finance Tax Center will file your taxes for 25 percent less if submitted before April 1st.

Among the retailers included in Yahoo!’s shopping madness are JCPenney, Brooks Brothers, Circuit City, Ann Taylor, Gap.com, Macys.com, and Banana Republic.

Travelocity is offering deals on roundtrip fares, and National Leisure Group offering up to 50 percent off on Royal Caribbean cruises.

Sears has zero percent financing with a rebate, and HPshopping.com is luring perspective PC buyers with $75 off on all customized Hewlett-Packard desktop and notebooks.

“HPshopping.com is thrilled to be a part of the first online sale of this magnitude,” said Susan Boyce, chief marketing officer for HP. “Yahoo!’s sale is a prime example of how the Internet continues to revolutionize the face of shopping and enhance the interaction between merchant and customer.”

So many deals, so little time.

Even Starbucks has a piece of the sales action and is offering 25-45 percent off on all brewing machines, if home brewed coffee is your current aspiration.

“This is truly a one-of-a-kind event that leverages our vast relationships with brand name retailers and travel suppliers, as well as highlights our premium services to showcase our own deep product selection,” said John Costello, chief marketing officer for Yahoo!

The Yahoo! sale will run until March 15.