New shopping caveat: Don't assume a retailer offers the same prices online as it does at its brick-and-mortar stores. And don't assume that their online prices are always cheaper. That's the conclusion of Consumer World's spot-check of items sold both in-store and online by some major retailers.

When price differences were found, online versus off, they ranged from about 50 cents to nearly $200 depending on the item.

"There is no universal rule-of-thumb that prices are always cheaper online compared to the retailer's own brick-and-mortar store," explained ConsumerWorld.org founder Edgar Dworsky. "In fact, many times the prices are the same, but other times they could be either higher or lower on their website. You always have to check and compare both online and in-store prices if you want the best deal."

Dworsky became interested in price variations between brick-and-mortar stores and their online counterparts when he spotted Sears advertising a set of Kenmore cookware for $129.99 in its Sunday circular in September. At Sears.com, however, the exact same set was $50 less the same day:

Conversely, a week later, Sears advertised a Nakamichi soundbar for $199.99 in its circular with a big bonus, but online the same day it was $100 higher with no bonus:

===> See more examples from other retailers here.

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