If you're in the market for an automotive GPS, there are plenty of places to look. You can go to your local electronics superstore where they have a nice selection and you get to see and touch the products. But prices are usually not the best and the sales staff often seems clueless and primarily interested in selling you one of those overpriced extended warranties. My advice: If you already know what you want, an online GPS website is a better choice.

But where do you start? There are literally millions of GPS references on the web, and thousands of places where you can buy a GPS online. So how do you find the best GPS sites? Narrowing your search down always helps. Even if you don't know the exact product you want, looking for online GPS stores that carry the major brands such as TomTom, Garmin and Magellan helps narrowing things down. It further helps if you know the name of a product line (like the Garmin nuvi or StreetPilot, or the Magellan RoadMate or Maestro). Unfortunately, even if you know the exact name and model number of a GPS, your search will still return a large number of GPS websites.

So how do I find a GPS for my car, you may ask. This is where auctions come in. They are often the best and cheapest way to find a GPS online. No matter what it is you're looking for, someone will have it for sale, and often at a reduced price. Global positioning systems may be a relatively new technology, but they have caught on like wildfire and so there is a very active market for new and used systems. The technology is also still advancing, with new products coming out all the time, and so it's often possible to buy last year's or even last month's models at reduced prices.

There is, however, one annoying thing with auctions: you never quite know whom you're dealing with. Most auction sites have vendor ratings and that helps, but personally I feel more comfortable dealing with a GPS website that actually specializes in GPS rather than some vendor who just happens to sell a GPS or two.

So you want to narrow things down some more and look for a vendor that has a dedicated GPS store on an auction site. Yes, they exist, and some of them offer both new and refurbished systems from all of the major GPS manufacturers. They usually carry all the accessories as well, and since they use auctions to sell, you can get some terrific deals. Further, unlike even the best GPS websites, the inventory of auction sites constantly changes. So you not only have a shot at a terrific deal, but there is also an unusually large variety of products to choose from, both new and refurbished.

Yet another advantage of auction-powered GPS websites is that you can usually pay a fixed price if you're into instant gratification, or take a chance with a lower bid. Either way you win.